Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cross-Limb Interference during Motor Learning

It is well known that following skill learning, improvements in motor performance may transfer to the untrained contralateral limb. It is also well known that retention of a newly learned task A can be degraded when learning a competing task B that takes place directly after learning A. Here we investigate if this interference effect can also be observed in the limb contralateral to the trained one. Therefore, five different groups practiced a ballistic finger flexion task followed by an interfering visuomotor accuracy task with the same limb. Performance in the ballistic task was tested before the training, after the training and in an immediate retention test after the practice of the interference task for both the trained and the untrained hand. After training, subjects showed not only significant learning and interference effects for the trained limb but also for the contralateral untrained limb. Importantly, the interference effect in the untrained limb was dependent on the level of skill acquisition in the interfering motor task. These behavioural results of the untrained limb were accompanied by training specific changes in corticospinal excitability, which increased for the hemisphere ipsilateral to the trained hand following ballistic training and decreased during accuracy training of the ipsilateral hand. The results demonstrate that contralateral interference effects may occur, and that interference depends on the level of skill acquisition in the interfering motor task. This finding might be particularly relevant for rehabilitation.
Improve Sentiment Analysis of Citations with Author Modelling

In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to sentiment polarity classification of citations, which integrates data about the authors’ reputation. More specifically, our method extends the h-index with citation polarities and utilizes it in sentiment classification of citation sentences. Our computational results show that our method yields significant improvement in terms of classification performance
Mining the Galactic halo for very metal-poor stars

We study the age and metallicity distribution function (MDF) of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way halo as a function of galactocentric radius by combining N-body simulations and semi-analytical methods. We find that the oldest stars populate the innermost region, while extremely metal-poor stars are more concentrated within r =40 per cent for r > 20kpc. This is due to the faster descent of the spatial distribution (as seen from Earth) of the more enriched population. This implies that the outer halo <40kpc is the best region to search for very metal-poor stars. Beyond ~60kpc the density of [Fe/H]
LEARNING AND VERIFICATION OF SAFETY PARAMETERS FOR AIRSPACE DECONFLICTION

We present a Bayesian approach to learning exible safety constraints and subsequently verifying whether plans satisfy these constraints. Our approach, called the Safety Constraint Learner/Checker (SCLC), is embedded within the Generalized Integrated Learning Architecture (GILA), which is an integrated, heterogeneous, multi-agent ensemble architecture designed for learning complex problem solving techniques from demonstration by human experts. The SCLC infers safety constraints from a single expert demonstration trace, and applies these constraints to the solutions proposed by the agents in the ensemble. Blame for constraint violations is then transmitted to the individual learning/planning/reasoning agents, thereby facilitating new problem-solving episodes. We discuss the advantages of the SCLC and demonstrate empirical results on an Airspace Planning and Deconiction Task, which was a benchmark application in the DARPA Integrated Learning Program.
Banking Competition, Housing Prices and Macroeconomic Stability

We develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with an imperfectly competitive bank-loans market and collateral constraints that tie investors credit capacity to the value of their real estate holdings. Banks set optimal lending rates taking into account the effects of their price policies on their market share and on the volume of funds demanded by each customer. Lending margins have a significant effect on aggregate variables. Over the long run, fostering banking competition increases total consumption and output by triggering a reallocation of available collateral towards investors. However, as regards the short-run dynamics, we find that most macroeconomic variables are more responsive to exogenous shocks in an environment of highly competitive banks. Key to this last result is the reaction of housing prices and their effect on borrowers' net worth. The response of housing prices is more pronounced when competition among banks is stronger, thus making borrowers' net worth more vulnerable to adverse shocks and, specially, to monetary contractions. Thus, regarding changes in the degree of banking competition, the model generates a trade-off between the long run level of economic activity and its stability at the business cycle frequency.
Glycosylated Hemoglobin in Relationship to Cardiovascular Outcomes and Death in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Chronic hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes increases the risk of microvascular events. However, there is continuing uncertainty about its effect on macrovascular outcomes and death. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective studies to estimate the association of glycosylated hemoglobin level with the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes. Methodology/Principal Findings We systematically searched the MEDLINE database through April 2011 by using Medical Subject Heading search terms and a standardized protocol. We included prospective cohort studies that reported data of glycosylated hemoglobin level on the risk of incident cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Relative risk estimates (continuous and categorical variables) were derived or abstracted from each cohort study. Twenty six studies were included in this analysis with a mean follow-up rang of 2.2–16 years. The pooled relative risk associated with a 1% increase in glycosylated hemoglobin level among patients with type 2 diabetes was 1.15 (95% CI, 1.11 to 1.20) for all-cause mortality, 1.17 (95% CI, 1.12 to 1.23) for cardiovascular disease, 1.15 (95% CI, 1.10 to 1.20) for coronary heart disease, 1.11 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.18) for heart failure, 1.11 (95% CI, 1.06 to 1.17) for stroke, and 1.29 (95% CI, 1.18 to 1.40) for peripheral arterial disease, respectively. In addition, a positive dose-response trend existed between glycosylated hemoglobin level and cardiovascular outcomes. Conclusions/Significance Chronic hyperglycemia is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality among patients with type 2 diabetes, likely independently from other conventional risk factors.
Feature Relevance Estimation for Learning Pedestrian Behavior at Crosswalks

For future automated driving functions it is necessary to be able to reason about the typical behavior, intentions and future movements of vulnerable road users in urban traffic scenarios. It is crucial to have this information as early as possible, given the typical reaction time of human drivers. Since this is a highly complex problem, it needs to be addressed in small portions. In this paper we will focus on the behavior of pedestrians at crosswalks. We use a database of real pedestrian trajectories to learn a model which is able to predict if a pedestrian will cross the street. Therefore, we first introduce a large set of possible features that could be suitable to describe the behavior. Afterwards, we perform relevance determination to identify those features that are necessary to reach the best possible generalisation performance. We provide experimental results on data collected at a pedestrian crossing in a city in southern Germany. Our results shows, that a very sparse set of features, which depends only on the pedestrians' trajectory, gives the best result.
Choosing the Bandwidth for Decomposing the Redistributive Effect: Evidence from Milan Using AMeRIcA Data

When close equals groups are used for decomposing the redistributive effect of taxation, it arises the issue related to the choice of a proper bandwidth. Recent literature (Kim and Lambert, 2008; Urban and Lambert, 2008) suggests to set the bandwidth for close equals groups to maximize the vertical effect measure in accordance with van de Ven, Creedy and Lambert’s suggestion (van de Ven et al., 2001). But the close equals methodology proposed by Urban and Lambert differs from the van de Ven, Creedy and Lambert’s one. Then the choice of the bandwidth still involves a sensitivity analysis of the decomposition results. In this work we recall the various decomposition methods and, following Vernizzi and Pellegrino (2007) approach, we select the bandwidth by comparing the behaviours of the alternative vertical components over a wide bandwidths range. We consider a micro data set derived from AMeRIcA Data Warehouse which collects pre-tax and post-tax incomes of residents in the Milanese area. Our findings show that for the selected bandwidth all the alternative measures of vertical effect explain a potential redistribution.
Changes in Oxidative Stress Markers and Biological Markers of Muscle Injury with Aging at Rest and in Response to an Exhaustive Exercise

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate whether oxidative stress markers and biomarkers of muscle injury would be affected by aging at rest and in response to an incremental exhaustive exercise. Methods Fifteen young (20.3±2.8 years) and fifteen older adults (65.1±3.5 years) performed an incremental cycle ergometer test to exhaustion. Before and after exercise, oxidative stress [superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), ascorbic acid, α-Tocopherol, malondialdehyde (MDA)] and muscle injury [creatine kinase (CK), lactate deshydrogenase (LDH)] biomarkers were assessed. Results At rest, there was no difference in oxidative stress markers and LDH level between the groups, however CK was significantly higher in the young group than the elderly group (p<0.05). During recovery, in comparison with resting values, a significant increase in SOD (1092±145.9 vs. 1243±98 U/g Hb), GPX (67.4±12.7 vs. 79.2±15.6 U/g Hb) and GR (6.5±0.9 vs. 7.7±0.5 U/g Hb) activities were observed only in the young group (p<0.05). MDA has increased only in the older group (0.54±0.2 vs. 0.79±0.2 µmol/l) (p<0.01). CK increased in both groups (young group: 122.5±22.2 vs. 161.9±18.7 UI/l; older group: 88.8±34.1 vs. 111.1±25.9 UI/l) (p<0.01), however LDH has increased only in the young group (400.5±22.2 vs. 485±18.7 UI/l) (p<0.01) without alteration in the older group (382.8±34.1 vs. 418.5±25.9 UI/l). Conclusions These findings indicate that aging is associated with a decrease in antioxidant efficiency and an increase in oxidative stress damage. Furthermore, older adults would not more susceptible to exercise-induced muscle injury than young people.
Simulation of pedestrian flows by optimal control and differential games

Gaining insights into pedestrian flow operations and assessment tools for pedestrian walking speeds and comfort is important in, for instance, planning and geometric design of infrastructural facilities, as well as for management of pedestrian flows under regular and safety‐critical circumstances. Pedestrian flow operations are complex, and vehicular flow simulation modelling approaches are generally not applicable to pedestrian flow modelling. This article focusses on pedestrian walking behaviour theory and modelling. It is assumed that pedestrians are autonomous predictive controllers that minimize the subjective predicted cost of walking. Pedestrians predict the behaviour of other pedestrians based on their observations of the current state as well as predictions of the future state, given the assumed walking strategy of other pedestrians in their direct neighbourhood. As such, walking can be represented by a (non‐co‐operative or co‐operative) differential game, where pedestrians may or may not be aware of the walking strategy of the other pedestrians. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Demand for Brokers' Services: The Relation Between Security Trading Volume and Transaction Cost

In this paper a probability model with links to portfolio theory is constructed which, for any security, implies (1) that the expected number of transactions per unit time is a decreasing linear function of the ratio (r) of transaction cost to the security's price per share; and (2) that both the expected number of shares exchanged on any single transaction and the expected trading volume over any fixed time interval are decreasing -- but more complicated -- functions of r. The last function represents a demand function for brokers' services in the market for some security. Such functions are estimated for each of 20 common stocks, and it is found that volume is indeed measurably responsive to changes in transaction cost. The elasticity of the overall demand for brokers' services in the market for common stocks is estimated to be approximately -0.25.
Energy dissipation rate surrogates in incompressible Navier–Stokes turbulence

Abstract High-resolution direct numerical simulations of isotropic homogeneous turbulence are used to understand the differences between the effects of spatial intermittency on the energy dissipation rate and on surrogates for the dissipation rate that are based on measurements of a subset of the strain rate tensor. In particular, the one-dimensional longitudinal and transverse surrogates, as well as a surrogate based on the asymmetric part of the strain rate tensor, are considered. The instantaneous surrogates are studied locally, locally averaged in space and conditionally averaged to see what statistics of the dissipation rate might accurately be inferred given measurements of the surrogates. The simulations with the Reynolds numbers based on the Taylor microscale of 102–235 are highly resolved for accurate evaluation of higher-order statistics. The probability densities of the local and locally averaged surrogates are significantly different from the corresponding statistics for the dissipation rate itself. All of the surrogates are more intermittent than the dissipation rate, the transverse surrogate is more intermittent than the longitudinal and these trends are still prominent even when the fields are spatially averaged at length scales close to the integral length scale. As a consequence, the intermittency exponent computed from the moments of the locally averaged longitudinal and transverse surrogates is approximately 1.5 and 2.2 times higher, respectively, than that computed by the same method from the dissipation rate field. In addition, while different methods of computing intermittency exponent from the dissipation rate field yield the same result, different methods applied to a surrogate are inconsistent.
Determinants of livestock farmers’ perception of future droughts and adoption of mitigating plans

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to determine if there is an association between farmers’ socio-economic profile and their perception of climate change and related events (drought). Understanding of farmers’ perceptions of drought and climate change may assist in informing policy decisions and development of appropriate intervention strategies. Design/methodology/approach – Discriminant analysis was used to assess the relative importance of the discriminating characteristics (socio-economic characteristics) through the utilization of the weights of the discriminant function. Findings – Age, education, literacy level, farm type, location and gender were important predictors of how farmers perceive climate change and drought phenomena. Originality/value – Most of the studies carried out in the study area were largely descriptive and did not find the association between farmer socio-economic profiles and how they perceive climate change and drought events. This paper also uses discriminant analysis wh.
Party Colonisation of the Media in Central and Eastern Europe

1. Political and Media Systems in Central and Eastern Europe1 1.1. Media Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe 1.2. Conditions for Media Freedom 1.3. Theories of Media Capture 1.4. Party Colonisation of the Media 1.5. Party Colonisation and Media Freedom 1.6. Further Specifications 1.7. Normative Implications 1.8. Methodological Notes 2. Hungary 2.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 2.2. Media Policy under the Horn Government 2.3. Media Policy under the Second Orban Government 2.4. The Horn Government vs. the Second Orban Government 3. Bulgaria 3.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 3.2. Media Policy under the Kostov Government 3.3. Media Policy under the Simeon Government 3.4. The Kostov vs. the Simeon Governments 4. Poland 4.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 4.2. The Media Policy of the Miller - Belka Governments 4.3. The Media Policy of the Marcinkiewicz - Kaczynski Governments 4.4. The Miller - Belka vs. the Marcinkiewicz - Kaczynski Governments 5. Romania 5.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 5.2. Media Policy under the Nastase Government 5.3. Media Policy under the Tariceanu Government 5.4. The Nastase vs. the Tariceanu Governments 6. Slovenia 6.1. The Political and Media Landscapes 6.2. Media Policy under the Second Drnovsek Government 6.3. Media Policy under the first Jansa Government 6.4. The Second Drnovsek vs. the First Jansa Government 7. Summary and Conclusions: Veto Points in the System Appendices Table 1. Freedom House press freedom indexes and ranking Table 2. List of interviewees Table 3. Composition of governments studied Table 4. Selected party systems indicators References Index of names and places
Foreign Aid, Institutions and Economic Development in West Africa: Implications for Post-2015 Development Agenda

This paper examines the relationship between foreign aid and income per capita using a simple augmentation of the neoclassical cross-country specification for Western Africa states. The study disaggregated aid into seven categories (agriculture, communication, industrial, engineering, education, health and food security) and shown that in most cases, aid becomes significant when conditioned on sound macroeconomic policy whereas institutional quality and infrastructural development do not significantly influence the aid-growth relation. Similarly, the study established a decreasing return to aid, as the marginal impact of aid on growth appears negligible in all likelihood. Likewise, trade structure and financial depth do not meaningfully enhance economic development in the region. We conclude by stressing the need to develop absorptive capacity, ensure sound pro-development policies and urge donors to systematically link aid to performance.
Consolidating the Evidence on Income Mobility in the Western States of Germany and the U.S. From 1984-2006

The cross-national intragenerational income mobility literature assumes within-country mobility is invariant over the period measured. We argue that a great social transformation--German reunification-- abruptly and permanently altered economic mobility. Using standard measures of mobility (with panel data for the western states of Germany and the U.S.) over the entire period 1984-2006, we find the conventional result that income mobility is greater in Germany. But when we cut the data into moving five-year windows and compare mobility before and after reunification, income mobility declines significantly over the years immediately following reunification in Germany but not in the U.S.
Role of mtDNA Haplogroups in the Prevalence of Osteoarthritis in Different Geographic Populations: A Meta-Analysis

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and has become an increasingly important public-health problem. However, the pathogenesis of OA is still unclear. In recent years, its correlation with mtDNA haplogroups attracts much attention. We aimed to perform a meta-analysis to investigate the association between mtDNA haplogroups and OA. Methods Published English or Chinese literature from PubMed, Web of Science, SDOS, and CNKI was retrieved up until April 15, 2014. Case-control or cohort studies that detected the frequency of mtDNA haplogroups in OA patients and controls were included. The quality of the included studies was evaluated by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) assessment. A meta-analysis was conducted to calculate pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) through the random or fixed effect model, which was selected based on the between-study heterogeneity assessed by Q test and I2 test. Subgroup analysis was performed to explore the origin of heterogeneity. Results A total of 6 case-control studies (10590 cases and 7161 controls) with an average NOS score of 6.9 were involved. For the analysis between mtDNA haplogroup J and OA, random model was selected due to high heterogeneity. No significant association was found initially (OR = 0.73, 95%CI: 0.52–1.03), however, once any study from UK population was removed the association emerged. Further subgroup analysis demonstrated that there was a significant association in Spain population (OR = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.46–0.71), but not in UK population. Also, subgroup analysis revealed that there was a significant correlation between cluster TJ and OA in Spain population (OR = 0.70, 95%CI: 0.58–0.84), although not in UK population. No significant correlation was found between haplogroup T/cluster HV/cluster KU and OA. Conclusions Our current meta-analysis suggests that mtDNA haplogroup J and cluster TJ correlate with the risk of OA in Spanish population, but the associations in other populations require further investigation.
Growth in the ‘Cohesion Countries’: the Irish tortoise and the Portuguese hare, 1979-2002

The deepening of economic and financial integration in the European Union has led to different responses from the group of ‘cohesion’ countries. Ireland and Portugal stand out as the two extreme examples, as Ireland caught-up to the forerunners very rapidly after the launching of EMU, in 1992, whereas Portugal lost ground. This paper looks at structural shifts in order to explain the different performances of the two economies. We conclude that Portugal’s labour productivity lag was the outcome of a less favourable structure of employment; that differences in the structure of employment are not clustered in specific industries; and that such structural differences are associated with different factor endowments, namely physical and human capital.