Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From ɛ-entropy to KL-entropy: Analysis of minimum information complexity density estimation

We consider an extension of e-entropy to a KL-divergence based complexity measure for randomized density estimation methods. Based on this extension, we develop a general information-theoretical inequality that measures the statistical complexity of some deterministic and randomized density estimators. Consequences of the new inequality will be presented. In particular, we show that this technique can lead to improvements of some classical results concerning the convergence of minimum description length and Bayesian posterior distributions. Moreover, we are able to derive clean finite-sample convergence bounds that are not obtainable using previous approaches.
Mandarin and English Single Word Processing Studied with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The cortical organization of language in bilinguals remains disputed. We studied 24 right-handed fluent bilinguals: 15 exposed to both Mandarin and English before the age of 6 years; and nine exposed to Mandarin in early childhood but English only after the age of 12 years. Blood oxygen level-dependent contrast functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed while subjects performed cued word generation in each language. Fixation was the control task. In both languages, activations were present in the prefrontal, temporal, and parietal regions, and the supplementary motor area. Activations in the prefrontal region were compared by (1) locating peak activations and (2) counting the number of voxels that exceeded a statistical threshold. Although there were differences in the magnitude of activation between the pair of languages, no subject showed significant differences in peak-location or hemispheric asymmetry of activations in the prefrontal language areas. Early and late bilinguals showed a similar pattern of overlapping activations. There are no significant differences in the cortical areas activated for both Mandarin and English at the single word level, irrespective of age of acquisition of either language.
Gadara: Dynamic Deadlock Avoidance for Multithreaded Programs

Deadlock is an increasingly pressing concern as the multicore revolution forces parallel programming upon the average programmer. Existing approaches to deadlock impose onerous burdens on developers, entail high runtime performance overheads, or offer no help for unmodified legacy code. Gadara automates dynamic deadlock avoidance for conventional multithreaded programs. It employs whole-program static analysis to model programs, and Discrete Control Theory to synthesize lightweight, decentralized, highly concurrent logic that controls them at runtime. Gadara is safe, and can be applied to legacy code with modest programmer effort. Gadara is efficient because it performs expensive deadlock-avoidance computations offline rather than online. We have implemented Gadara for C/Pthreads programs. In benchmark tests, Gadara successfully avoids injected deadlock faults, imposes negligible to modest performance overheads (at most 18%), and outperforms a software transactional memory system. Tests on a real application show that Gadara identifies and avoids both previously known and unknown deadlocks while adding performance overheads ranging from negligible to 10%.
Contribution of Catchment and Anthropogenic Activities to Metal Bioavailability in the Lake Victoria Sediments using Sequential Extraction and Radiotracer Analysis

Sequential extraction and radiotracer analyses were used to evaluate the geochemical partitioning of metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu) in the sediments of Lake Victoria to partition the contribution of catchment areas. Highest total concentration and enrichments of Pb, Cd and Cr occurred near river inlets from polluted urban areas discharging municipal effluents into the rivers. Partitioning coefficient (Kd) of all metals were lowest in lake sediments at the sites receiving water with high concentration of metals, which showed an apparent decrease with increasing metal enrichment. The exchangeable phase and Fe/Mn oxides were the most important binding phases for Pb, Cd and Cr at the sites receiving industrial and municipal wastes, indicating that these sediments were subjected to recent anthropogenic metal pollutants. Cu partitioned in the residual phase at the site with high geological Cu suggesting Cu enrichment from the natural sources. At the reference sites, metals were bound to the secondary (residual) phase suggesting natural sources. This study demonstrates that the partitioning of metals in the sediments at the shore of the recipient waterbodies are characteristic signatures for anthropogenic activities in the catchment areas.
Risk Management in the Scheduling of Batch Plants under Uncertain Market Demand

A stochastic optimization approach is presented to manage risk in the short-term scheduling of multiproduct batch plants with uncertain demand. The problem is modeled using a two-stage stochastic optimization approach accounting for the maximization of the expected profit. The model is also extended to incorporate the availability of option contracts, thus providing significant flexibility within the uncertain environment. Management of risk is explicitly addressed by adding a control measure as a new objective to be considered, thus leading to multiobjective optimization formulations. Three alternative methodologies are assessed and compared. The importance of considering the uncertainty not only in the decision-making process but also in the control of the variability of outcomes is highlighted. Parametric solutions appealing to decision makers with different attitudes toward risk are obtained.
An inequality with applications to statistical estimation for probabilistic functions of Markov processes and to a model for ecology

1. Summary. The object of this note is to prove the theorem below and sketch two applications, one to statistical estimation for (proba-bilistic) functions of Markov processes [l] and one to Blakley's model for ecology [4]. 2. Result. THEOREM. Let P(x)=P({xij}) be a polynomial with nonnegative coefficients homogeneous of degree d in its variables {##}. Let x= {##} be any point of the domain D: ## §:(), ]pLi ## = 1, i = l, • • • , p, j=l, • • • , q%. For x= {xij} ££> let 3(#) = 3{##} denote the point of D whose i, j coordinate is (dP\ \ f « dP 3(*)<i = (Xij 7—) / 2* *<i — \ dXij\(X)// ,-i dXij (»> Then P(3(x))>P(x) unless 3(x)=x. Notation, fi will denote a doubly indexed array of nonnegative integers: fx= {M#}> i = l> • • • > <lu i=l, • • • , A #* then denotes Ilf-iHî-i^* Similarly, c M is an abbreviation for C[ MiJ }. The polynomial P({xij}) is then written P(x) = ]CM V^-In our notation : (1) 3(&)*i = (Z) «Wnys*) / JLH CpiiijX».
Self-harm And Dementia: A Case Report

The association between dementia and self-harm behavior remains controversial.Some authors report that the diagnosis of dementia is rarely found in those who commit suicide, yet others have reported Alzheimer pathology to be overrepresented in this same group. We report the case of a man with a dementia superimposed on a longstanding mood disorder who recently started to express self-harm ideation.This case highlights several aspects of management including the importance of differentiating self-harm ideation and behavior as a symptom of psychosis in dementia vs a symptom of affective illness.
Linear Koszul duality

Abstract In this paper we construct, for F1 and F2 subbundles of a vector bundle E, a ‘Koszul duality’ equivalence between derived categories of 𝔾m-equivariant coherent(dg-)sheaves on the derived intersection $F_1 \rcap _E F_2$, and the corresponding derived intersection $F_1^{\perp } \rcap _{E^*} F_2^{\perp }$. We also propose applications to Hecke algebras.
Reducing effect of aerobic exercise on blood pressure of essential hypertensive patients

Background: The comprehensive meta-analysis aimed to explore the reductive effect of aerobic exercise on blood pressure of hypertensive patients. Methods: The related researches were selected from PubMed and Embase databases up to June 2016. Based on specific inclusive criteria, the eligible studies were selected, and the heterogeneities in their results were estimated by &khgr;2-based Q-test and I2 statistics. Quantitative meta-analysis was assessed by R 3.12 software, and results were presented by standardized mean difference (SMD) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Outcome indicators were systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The publication biases were estimated by Egger test. Besides, the “leave one out” method was used for sensitivity evaluations. Results: As a result, a total of 13 papers with 802 samples were included. Based on the meta-analysis results, there were no significant differences in SBP and DBP between aerobic and control groups before exercise (SMD = 0.15, 95%CI: −0.16–0.46; SMD = 0.16, 95% CI: −0.23–0.55). However, significant reductions were obviously in aerobic group after aerobics, compared with control (SMD = −0.79, 95% CI: −1.29 to −0.28; SMD = −0.63, 95% CI: −1.14 to −0.12). A significant publication bias was detected in SBP (t = −2.2314, P = 0.04549) but not in DBP (t = −1.4962, P = 0.1604). Additionally, the DBP result would be altered after the exclusion of 2 individual papers. Conclusion: Aerobic exercise may be a potential nonpharmacological treatment for blood pressure improvement in essential hypertensive patients.
Antimicrobial-resistant Klebsiella species isolated from free-range chicken samples in an informal settlement

Introduction Sub-therapeutic doses of antimicrobial agents are administered routinely to poultry to aid growth and to prevent disease, with prolonged exposure often resulting in bacterial resistance. Crossover of antibiotic resistant bacteria from poultry to humans poses a risk to human health. Material and methods In this study, 17 chicken samples collected from a vendor operating in an informal settlement in the Cape Town Metropolitan area, South Africa were screened for antimicrobial-resistant Gram-negative bacilli using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion assay. Results In total, six antibiotics were screened: ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline and trimethoprim. Surprisingly, Klebsiella ozaenae was identified in 96 and K. rhinoscleromatis in 6 (n=102) of the samples tested. Interestingly, ∼40% of the isolated Klebsiella spp. showed multiple resistance to at least three of the six antibiotics tested. Conclusions Klebsiella ozaenae and K. rhinoscleromatis cause clinical chronic rhinitis and are almost exclusively associated with people living in areas of poor hygiene.
Curcumin Promotes A-beta Fibrillation and Reduces Neurotoxicity in Transgenic Drosophila

The pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of extracellular deposits of misfolded and aggregated amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide and intraneuronal accumulation of tangles comprised of hyperphosphorylated Tau protein. For several years, the natural compound curcumin has been proposed to be a candidate for enhanced clearance of toxic Aβ amyloid. In this study we have studied the potency of feeding curcumin as a drug candidate to alleviate Aβ toxicity in transgenic Drosophila. The longevity as well as the locomotor activity of five different AD model genotypes, measured relative to a control line, showed up to 75% improved lifespan and activity for curcumin fed flies. In contrast to the majority of studies of curcumin effects on amyloid we did not observe any decrease in the amount of Aβ deposition following curcumin treatment. Conformation-dependent spectra from p-FTAA, a luminescent conjugated oligothiophene bound to Aβ deposits in different Drosophila genotypes over time, indicated accelerated pre-fibrillar to fibril conversion of Aβ1–42 in curcumin treated flies. This finding was supported by in vitro fibrillation assays of recombinant Aβ1–42. Our study shows that curcumin promotes amyloid fibril conversion by reducing the pre-fibrillar/oligomeric species of Aβ, resulting in a reduced neurotoxicity in Drosophila.
Hemispheric differences in word‐meaning processing: Alternative interpretations of current evidence

Background: Drawing heavily on results from studies with divided visual field (dvf) presentation, current models of hemispheric differences in word semantic processing converge on a proposal (henceforth, “the standard model”) that is increasingly being applied in studies of individuals with brain damage. According to this model, left hemisphere processes focus word meanings to their core, whereas right hemisphere processes keep wider representations active. Aims: This paper has three aims: (a) to raise concerns about methodological aspects of the dvf studies that are usually cited in support for the standard model, specifically assumptions about interpretation of lateral dvf prime presentation and priming measures; (b) to highlight areas of further research and theoretical clarification, with reference to studies with central presentation and general models of word‐meaning processing; and (c) to discuss the implications of these concerns for deriving a model of hemispheric differences in word‐meaning processing, using evidence from paired word priming studies as an example. Main Contribution: The paper discusses problematic assumptions about paired word priming studies of hemispheric contributions to word semantic processing and proposes further research to clarify these assumptions. Furthermore, it introduces an alternative interpretation of the available data, which provides a more parsimonious account of hemispheric engagement in the paired word semantic priming task. Conclusions: Current evidence about hemispheric differences in word‐meaning processing is far from conclusive. It is important to consider alternative interpretations of the available evidence when applying models based on this evidence to the study of language disorders. The alternative account proposed in this paper suggests that LH processing, rather than generally reducing activated word meanings to their core, is important for maintaining meanings that are unambiguous and consistent.
Helping Johnny 2.0 to encrypt his Facebook conversations

Several billion Facebook messages are sent every day. While there are many solutions to email security whose usability has been extensively studied, little work has been done in the area of message security for Facebook and even less on the usability aspects in this area. To evaluate the need for such a mechanism, we conducted a screening study with 514 participants, which showed a clear desire to protect private messages on Facebook. We therefore proceeded to analyse the usability of existing approaches and extracted key design decisions for further evaluation. Based on this analysis, we conducted a laboratory study with 96 participants to analyse different usability aspects and requirements of a Facebook message encryption mechanism. Two key findings of our study are that automatic key management and key recovery capabilities are important features for such a mechanism. Following on from these studies, we designed and implemented a usable service-based encryption mechanism for Facebook conversations. In a final study with 15 participants, we analysed the usability of our solution. All participants were capable of successfully encrypting their Facebook conversations without error when using our service, and the mechanism was perceived as usable and useful. The results of our work suggest that in the context of the social web, new security/usability trade-offs can be explored to protect users more effectively.
Ethical decision making in counterfeit purchase situations: the influence of moral awareness and moral emotions on moral judgment and purchase intentions

Purpose Counterfeiting is an increasingly global phenomenon that threatens the economy as a whole and also presents a risk for the consumers. The purpose of this study is to explore moral emotions along with moral awareness and moral judgment with respect to their influence in the consumption of counterfeits. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire was distributed among participants (n = 225) who were asked to respond to a counterfeit purchase scenario. Findings Results highlight the importance of moral awareness as an essential element of moral decision-making. Also, moral emotions were found to influence moral judgment as well as purchase intention. Research limitations/implications A limitation refers to the fact that a scenario was used to evoke participants’ emotional responses. Although the situation was realistic and the majority of the people could very well imagine experiencing the reported scenario, results might change in an actual purchase situation. Practical Implications This study’s findings may be particularly relevant for authorities and educators who design campaigns to curtail counterfeit consumption, thus seeking to encourage consumers to recognize the several negative consequences that result from counterfeiting behavior. Originality/value This is one of the few studies that examine the impact of cognitive and emotional influences in a counterfeit purchase decision. Fighting this problem requires an in-depth understanding of consumers’ motivations and how they feel about engaging in this morally questionable behavior.
Numeracy, Health Numeracy, and Older Immigrants’ Primary Language: An Observation-Oriented Exploration

ABSTRACT Health information is often provided in number formats not equally present in all languages. We explored the relation between immigrants’ primary language and comprehension of context-free and health numeric information presented in English. The study compared speakers of Kikuyu (Kenya) and Mandarin (China), two languages that differ in the quantity of numeric concepts in their structures. Observation-oriented analysis was performed to determine how accurately the observed data conform to language group. We show how such analysis compares to standard statistical analysis. We argue that primary language contributes to some of the differences in numeracy and health numeracy.
Early Growth Inhibition Is Followed by Increased Metastatic Disease with Vitamin D (Calcitriol) Treatment in the TRAMP Model of Prostate Cancer

The active metabolite of vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (calcitriol) has antiproliferative effects in non-aggressive prostate cancer, however, its effects in more aggressive model systems are still unclear. In these studies, effects of calcitriol and a less-calcemic vitamin D analog, QW-1624F2-2 (QW), were tested in vivo, using the aggressive autochthonous transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP) model. To study prevention of androgen-stimulated prostate cancer, vehicle, calcitriol (20 µg/kg), or QW (50 µg/kg) were administered to 4 week-old TRAMP mice intraperitoneal (i.p.) 3×/week on a MWF schedule for 14 weeks. Calcitriol and QW slowed progression of prostate cancer as indicated by reduced urogenital tract (p = 0.0022, calcitriol; p = 0.0009, QW) and prostate weights (p = 0.0178, calcitriol; p = 0.0086, QW). However, only calcitriol increased expression of the pro-differentiation marker, cadherin 1 (p = 0.0086), and reduced tumor proliferation (p = 0.0467). By contrast, neither vitamin D analog had any effect on castration resistant prostate cancer in mice treated pre- or post-castration. Interestingly, although vitamin D showed inhibitory activity against primary tumors in hormone-intact mice, distant organ metastases seemed to be enhanced following treatment (p = 0.0823). Therefore, TRAMP mice were treated long-term with calcitriol to further examine effects on metastasis. Calcitriol significantly increased the number of distant organ metastases when mice were treated from 4 weeks-of-age until development of palpable tumors (20–25 weeks-of-age)(p = 0.0003). Overall, data suggest that early intervention with vitamin D in TRAMP slowed androgen-stimulated tumor progression, but prolonged treatment resulted in development of a resistant and more aggressive disease associated with increased distant organ metastasis.
Combination use of Beck Depression Inventory and two-question case-finding instrument as a screening tool for depression in the workplace

Objectives The present study aimed to validate screening tools that could be used to identify depression among workers. Design Diagnostic test study. Settings Workers from three Japanese companies agreed to participate. Participants Recruitment for the group 1 occurred between January 2001 and February 2004, and 89 participants (81 men and 8 women with a mean age of 38.4±6.6 years) (98.8%) took part in the study. Recruitment for the group 2 occurred between July 2000 and February 2004, and 1500 participants (1408 men and 92 women with a mean age of 40.9±7.2 years) (94.2%) took part in the study. Demographic data are shown in supplementary table 1. Interventions Primary and secondary outcome measures: the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a two-question case-finding instrument (TQI) were administered to 89 workers and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview was conducted to verify the diagnosis of depression. A second group of 1500 workers completed the BDI and TQI to detect possible sample bias for the distribution of depression. Specificity, sensitivity and positive predictive value were calculated in order to obtain the optimal cut-off scores for BDI and TQI and receiver operating characteristic curves, and Youden Index were applied to further refine the optimal cut-off scores. Results When paired together, BDI score ≥10 and TQI score of 2 adequately identified workers who had major depressive disorder and those who had other psychiatric disorders that are frequently comorbid with major depressive disorder. Conclusions The combination of BDI score ≥10 and TQI score of 2 can adequately screen for current and potential cases of depression among workers. Furthermore, BDI and TQI offer the advantage of being relatively easy to administer to a large number of workers. Early detection of depression could improve treatment outcomes and decrease economic burden. Trail registration
Asymmetric Volatility Risk: Evidence from Option Markets

We show how to extract the expected risk-neutral correlation between risk-neutral distributions of the market index (S&P 500) return and its expected volatility (VIX). Comparing the implied correlation with its realized counterpart reveals a significant index-to-volatility correlation risk premium. It compensates for the fear of enduring negative market returns and measures a new dimension of conditional risk not covered by other variables such as the variance risk premium or skewness. Incorporating information from both equity and volatility markets, it predicts future investment opportunities and (conditional as well as unconditional) risk.
Boundedness in generalized Šerstnev PN spaces

The motivation of this paper is a suggestion by Höle of comparing the notions of D-boundedness and boundedness in Probabilistic Normed spaces (briefly PN spaces), with non necessarily continuous triangle functions. Such spaces are here called “pre-PN spaces”. Some results on Šerstnev spaces due to B. Lafuerza, J. A. Rodŕıguez, and C. Sempi, are here extended to generalized Šerstnev spaces (these are pre-PN spaces satisfying a more general Šerstnev condition). We also prove some facts on PN spaces (with continuous triangle functions). First, a connection between fuzzy normed spaces defined by Felbin and certain Šerstnev PN spaces is established. We further observe that topological vector PN spaces are F -normable and paranormable, and also that locally convex topological vector PN spaces are bornological. This last fact allows to describe continuous linear operators between certain generalized Šerstnev spaces in terms of bounded subsets. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 54E70, 46S50. 1 Motivation and main results After the work done by Lafuerza, Rodŕıguez, and Sempi in [14], Höhle suggested the following: Problem 1.1 Compare D-boundedness and boundedness in the PN spaces (V, ν, τ, τ ), with τ and τ ∗ non necessarily continuous.