Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Entropy Complexity and Stability of a Nonlinear Dynamic Game Model with Two Delays

In this paper, a duopoly game model with double delays in hydropower market is established, and the research focus on the influence of time delay parameter on the complexity of the system. Firstly, we established a game model for the enterprises considering both the current and the historical output when making decisions. Secondly, the existence and stability of Hopf bifurcation are analyzed, and the conditions and main conclusions of Hopf bifurcation are given. Thirdly, numerical simulation and analysis are carried out to verify the conclusions of the theoretical analysis. The effect of delay parameter on the stability of the system is simulated by a bifurcation diagram, the Lyapunov exponent, and an entropic diagram; in addition, the stability region of the system is given by a 2D parameter bifurcation diagram and a 3D parameter bifurcation diagram. Finally, the method of delayed feedback control is used to control the chaotic system. The research results can provide a guideline for enterprise decision-making.
Oscillatory hyperactivity and hyperconnectivity in young APOE-ɛ4 carriers and hypoconnectivity in Alzheimer’s disease

We studied resting-state oscillatory connectivity using magnetoencephalography in healthy young humans (N = 183) genotyped for APOE-ɛ4, the greatest genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Connectivity across frequencies, but most prevalent in alpha/beta, was increased in APOE-ɛ4 in a set of mostly right-hemisphere connections, including lateral parietal and precuneus regions of the Default Mode Network. Similar regions also demonstrated hyperactivity, but only in gamma (40–160 Hz). In a separate study of AD patients, hypoconnectivity was seen in an extended bilateral network that partially overlapped with the hyperconnected regions seen in young APOE-ɛ4 carriers. Using machine-learning, AD patients could be distinguished from elderly controls with reasonable sensitivity and specificity, while young APOE-e4 carriers could also be distinguished from their controls with above chance performance. These results support theories of initial hyperconnectivity driving eventual profound disconnection in AD and suggest that this is present decades before the onset of AD symptomology.
Crossover Dreams: Consumer Responses to Ethnic-Oriented Products

The authors develop and evaluate a framework for investigating and understanding ethnic product crossover, that is, when a product intended for one ethnic minority group gains significant penetration among consumers outside the referent ethnic group. In three studies, the authors investigate how a product's characteristics, the promotion and distribution decisions made for the product, and consumers’ propensity for diversity influence the product's likelihood of crossing over from the intended ethnic target market to mainstream white consumers. Product characteristics interact with both other marketing decisions and consumers’ diversity-seeking tendencies to influence whether consumers will be interested in ethnic products and the social context in which they are willing to consume them. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for theory and practice and provide directions for further research that include consideration of the product's ethnic embeddedness, the context in which the product will be consumed, and consumers’ diversity-seeking tendencies.
Communication between Brain Areas Based on Nested Oscillations

Abstract Unraveling how brain regions communicate is crucial for understanding how the brain processes external and internal information. Neuronal oscillations within and across brain regions have been proposed to play a crucial role in this process. Two main hypotheses have been suggested for routing of information based on oscillations, namely communication through coherence and gating by inhibition. Here, we propose a framework unifying these two hypotheses that is based on recent empirical findings. We discuss a theory in which communication between two regions is established by phase synchronization of oscillations at lower frequencies (<25 Hz), which serve as temporal reference frame for information carried by high-frequency activity (>40 Hz). Our framework, consistent with numerous recent empirical findings, posits that cross-frequency interactions are essential for understanding how large-scale cognitive and perceptual networks operate.
Eradication of Mycobacterium abscessus Pulmonary Infection in a Child With Idiopathic Bronchiectasis

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC-BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits noncommercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). Brief Report
Changes in the Molecular Epidemiological Characteristics of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Objective. To determine whether the molecular epidemiological characteristics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) had changed in a level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Design. Retrospective review of medical records. Setting. Level III NICU of a university-affiliated children's hospital in New York, New York. Patients. Case patients were neonates hospitalized in the NICU who were colonized or infected with MRSA. Methods. Rates of colonization and infection with MRSA during the period from 2000 through 2008 were assessed. Staphylococcal chromosomal cassette (SCC) mecA analysis and genotyping for S. aureus encoding protein A (spa) were performed on representative MRSA isolates from each clonal pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern. Results. Endemic MRSA infection and colonization occurred throughout the study period, which was punctuated by 4 epidemiologic investigations during outbreak periods. During the study period, 93 neonates were infected and 167 were colonized with MRSA. Surveillance cultures were performed for 1,336 neonates during outbreak investigations, and 115 (8.6%) neonates had MRSA-positive culture results. During 2001-2004, healthcare-associated MRSA clones, carrying SCC mec type II, predominated. From 2005 on, most MRSA clones were community-associated MRSA with SCC mec type IV, and in 2007, USA300 emerged as the principal clone. Conclusions. Molecular analysis demonstrated a shift from healthcare-associated MRSA (2001-2004) to community-associated MRSA (2005-2008).
An adaptive edge detection based colorization algorithm and its applications

Colorization is a computer-assisted process for adding colors to grayscale images or movies. It can be viewed as a process for assigning a three-dimensional color vector (YUV or RGB) to each pixel of a grayscale image. In previous works, with some color hints the resultant chrominance value varies linearly with that of the luminance. However, it is easy to find that existing methods may introduce obvious color bleeding, especially, around region boundaries. It then needs extra human-assistance to fix these artifacts, which limits its practicability. Facing such a challenging issue, we introduce a general and fast colorization methodology with the aid of an adaptive edge detection scheme. By extracting reliable edge information, the proposed approach may prevent the colorization process from bleeding over object boundaries. Next, integration of the proposed fast colorization scheme to a scribble-based colorization system, a modified color transferring system and a novel chrominance coding approach are investigated. In our experiments, each system exhibits obvious improvement as compared to those corresponding previous works.
Implementation and Evaluation of Scalable Approaches for Automatic Chinese Text Categorization

The purpose of this research is to identify scalable approaches that can handle large amount of training data such as several years of news articles, and automatically assign predefined category to Chinese free text documents. Our approach consists of the following processes: (i) term extraction, (ii) term selection, and (iii) document classification. The approach first builds a recently developed SB-tree to identify all repeated substrings, called patterns, from the text. We then proceed to identify possible boundary of terms appearing in the identified patterns. After terms are extracted from the training articles, we run term selection algorithms to select the most significant terms and to reduce the number of terms to an acceptable level. The selected terms are med by the classifier to assign a predefined category to each text document. Our current experiment uses CNA one year news as training data, which consists of 73,420 articles and is far more than previous related research. In the experiment, we implement and compare four term selection methods, the odds ratio method, the mutual information method, the information gain method and the x2-test method, when they are combined with the naive Bayes classifier.
Diagnostic appraisal of simultaneous application of two nested PCRs targeting MPB64 gene and IS6110 region for rapid detection of M. tuberculosis genome in culture proven clinical specimens.

BACKGROUND Early diagnosis of tuberculosis is critical for its effective management and prevention. Several gene amplification methods are used in the detection of tubercle bacilli from clinical specimens. MPB64 gene and IS6110 region have been identified as potential gene targets for the specific detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from direct clinical specimens. OBJECTIVE The present study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic utility of simultaneous application of two nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCRs) targeting MPB64 and IS6110 region for the detection of M. tuberculosis genome. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 100 and 354 clinical specimens from the control group and clinically suspected tuberculosis patients, respectively, were included in the study. nPCRs targeting MPB64 and IS6110 region were performed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION All of the 100 clinical specimens from the control group were negative for both nPCRs. Out of the 354 clinical specimens, 339 were positive for both culture and nPCRs, 10 and 5 were positive for culture, and nPCR targeting IS6110 and MPB64 regions, respectively. To conclude, nPCRs targeting MPB64 and IS6110 region are reliable and specific targets when applied simultaneously on clinical specimens to attain 100% sensitivity for the detection of M. tuberculosis genome.
Myopic shift after combined phacoemulsification and vitrectomy with gas tamponade.

BACKGROUND Combination surgery of vitrectomy and phacoemulsification is a common procedure. The present study was undertaken to determine whether gas tamponade plays a role in the myopic shift that has been found previously after this type of surgery. METHODS The study compared 26 subjects undergoing combined procedures without gas tamponade and 28 subjects undergoing the same combined procedures with gas tamponade. The preoperative anticipated refraction was compared with the postoperative measured refraction. RESULTS The difference (Delta) between the predicted preoperative refraction and the resulting refractive status 2 months postoperatively was significantly different (t = 2.66, df = 48, p < 0.01) in eyes undergoing the combined procedure with gas tamponade (mean Delta = -0.30 D, SD = 0.66) compared with those eyes not receiving gas tamponade (mean Delta = 0.16 D, SD = 0.55). A difference in final refraction between the 2 groups of -0.46 D was found. INTERPRETATION Patients undergoing combined procedures with gas tamponade show a statistically significant myopic shift compared with those patients not receiving gas tamponade. Ophthalmologists performing combined procedures with gas tamponade should be aware of this shift in order to select the appropriate intraocular lens and to secure the best visual outcome postoperatively.
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3 levels and incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation

Abstract Low circulating levels of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been associated with an increased risk of adverse effects after cardiac surgery. The metabolites, 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3, provide a good index of vitamin D status. In this study, we examined the association between preoperative plasma levels of total 25(OH)D, 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 and the risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) following open heart surgery. The levels of plasma 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 in 118 patients, who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valvular surgery, were measured immediately prior to surgery and on postoperative day 3 by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Patients who developed POAF had higher median plasma levels of 25(OH)D2 than those who remained in sinus rhythm (SR) (P = 0·003), but no significant difference was noted in levels of 25(OH)D3 or total 25(OH)D between the two groups (P > 0·05). By univariate analysis, patients with total 25(OH)D and 25(OH)D2 levels above the median had higher frequency of POAF (P < 0·05) and the incidence of POAF increased significantly with each higher quartile of preoperative plasma levels of 25(OH)D2 (P = 0·001), an association that was independent of confounding factors. In both the SR and POAF groups, the median plasma levels of 25(OH)D2, 25(OH)D3 and total 25(OH)D were lower (P < 0·05) on the third postoperative day compared with preoperatively. Our findings demonstrate that higher plasma levels of 25(OH)D2 are associated with increased risk of POAF, while this is not the case for 25(OH)D3 or total 25(OH)D. The reason for these discrepant results is not clear but warrants further study.
Informal Sector, Government Policy and Institutions

We document cross-country differences in informal activity, government policies and institutions using a data set covering 127 countries. Five key facts emerge from this data set. Better institutions are associated with lower inflation, higher income tax rates and less informal activity. Related to these, we also find that higher levels of informal activity is associated with lower income tax rates and higher inflation. We develop a general equilibrium model where households optimally choose the extent of informal activity and the government optimally chooses policies, both taking as given the institutions of the economy. The model is able to account for most of the cross-country differences in policies, and other key facts that emerge from the data. The performance of the model is significantly reduced for various subsets of countries, where some of the key assumptions that underlie our model are violated.
Characterization of Alpha-fetoprotein Levels in Three Dolphin Species: Development of Sensitive Immunoassays for Analysis of the Pregnancy-associated Variations

Abstract A single radial immunodiffusion (SRID) assay and a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) were initially developed for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) of the striped dolphin. Utilizing these developed assays, we investigated pregnancy-associated changes in the levels of AFP in the sera of fetuses and pregnant females of three dolphin species; samples were either collected from captive individuals or obtained as fishery by-products. The concentrations of AFP in the fetal serum ranged from 419.0 to 2026.3 μg/ml in the striped dolphin, 12.6 to 1218.7 μg/ml (for an AFP equivalent; eqAFP) in the common bottlenose dolphin and 770.6 to 3129.1 μg eqAFP/ml in the Risso's dolphin. AFP levels decreased with increased fetal size in fetuses over 20 cm in length. The concentrations of AFP in sera of pregnant females ranged from 7.18 to 8068.7 ng/ml in the striped dolphin, 6.6 to 1241.1 ng eqAFP/ml in the common bottlenose dolphin and 3.4 to 2868.7 ng eqAFP/ml in the Risso's dolphin. The levels in most pregnant females were equal to or lower than those found in males and nonpregnant individuals, although a few pregnant females exhibited extremely high levels (in the range of hundreds to thousands of nanograms per milliliter). Such high levels of AFP were not observed during pseudopregnancy. To our knowledge, this is the first report on basal profiles for serum AFP levels in small odontocetes. The profiles indicated that AFP may play a significant role during embryonic development, although maternal levels do not appear to be a diagnostic biomarker for monitoring pregnancy.
Hip-abductor fatigue and single-leg landing mechanics in women athletes.

CONTEXT Reduced hip-abductor strength and muscle activation may be associated with altered lower extremity mechanics, which are thought to increase the risk for anterior cruciate ligament injury. However, experimental evidence supporting this relationship is limited. OBJECTIVE To examine the changes in single-leg landing mechanics and gluteus medius recruitment that occur after a hip-abductor fatigue protocol. DESIGN Descriptive laboratory study. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Twenty physically active women (age = 21.0 ± 1.3 years). INTERVENTION(S) Participants were tested before (prefatigue) and after (postfatigue) a hip-abductor fatigue protocol consisting of repetitive side-lying hip abduction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Outcome measures included sagittal-plane and frontal-plane hip and knee kinematics at initial contact and at 60 milliseconds after initial contact during 5 single-leg landings from a height of 40 cm. Peak hip and knee sagittal-plane and frontal-plane joint moments during this time interval were also analyzed. Measures of gluteus medius activation, including latency, peak amplitude, and integrated signal, were recorded. RESULTS A small (<1°) increase in hip-abduction angle at initial contact and a small (<1°) decrease in knee-abduction (valgus) angle at 60 milliseconds after contact were observed in the postfatigue landing condition. No other kinematic changes were noted for the knee or hip at initial contact or at 60 milliseconds after initial contact. Peak external knee-adduction moment decreased 27% and peak hip adduction moment decreased 24% during the postfatigue landing condition. Gluteus medius activation was delayed after the protocol, but no difference in peak or integrated signal was seen during the landing trials. CONCLUSIONS Changes observed during single-leg landings after hip-abductor fatigue were not generally considered unfavorable to the integrity of the anterior cruciate ligament. Further work may be justified to study the role of hip-abductor activation in protecting the knee during landing.
Emotional Intelligence and Teaching: Further Validation Evidence.

Further evidence is presented to demonstrate the validity of a new measure of emotional intelligence: Reactions to Teaching Situations (RTS). Using criterion-related groups of high and low scorers on the RTS, it is shown that high scorers give more responses coded as emotional intelligence in their answers to sentence completion tasks relating to ten situations found in teaching. The questions of convergent and discriminant validity is tackled by examination of correlations of emotional intelligence scores and scores on the Multiple Intelligences Checklist for Adults (MICA) and information processing preferences as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The results confirm that emotional intelligence (as assessed by the RTS) bears significant relationships to both intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences and also to linguistic intelligence, but emotional intelligence shows no significant relationships with the MBTI preferences.
Examination of Racial Differences on the MMPI-2 Clinical and Restructured Clinical Scales in an Outpatient Sample

The current study examined the possibility of differential predictive accuracy of selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Second Edition (MMPI-2) clinical and Restructured Clinical (RC) scales in a group of Black and White mental health center clients. Results indicate that Black clients scored higher than White clients on one non-K-corrected clinical scale and 4 RC scales. All these differences produced medium effect sizes and were clinically significant according to Greene's (1987) criterion. These differences, however, were not accompanied by differential predictive accuracy of the scales in Black versus White clients. Although additional research is needed, especially on the RC scales, this study indicates that the MMPI-2 is not a biased predictor of symptomatology for Black versus White test takers.
Twelve-Months Follow-up of Supervised Exercise after Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty for Intermittent Claudication: A Randomised Clinical Trial

The aim of this study was to explore the effects during 12 months follow-up of 12 weeks of supervised exercise therapy (SET) after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) compared to PTA alone on physical function, limb hemodynamics and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with intermittent claudication. Fifty patients were randomised to an intervention or a control group. Both groups received usual post-operative care and follow-up measurements at three, six and 12 months after PTA. The intervention group performed 12 weeks of SET after PTA. The control group did not receive any additional follow-up regarding exercise. During the 12 months’ follow-up, the members of the intervention group had significantly better walking distance than the control group. The intervention group had a significantly higher HRQoL score in the physical component score of the SF-36, and the domains of physical function, bodily pain and vitality. For limb hemodynamics, there was a non-significant trend towards better results in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusion: SET after PTA yielded statistically significantly better results for walking distance and HRQoL in the intervention group than the control group during the 12 months of follow-up.
Semecarpus anacardium (Bhallataka) Alters the Glucose Metabolism and Energy Production in Diabetic Rats

Glucose produced by gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis plays an important role in aggravating hyperglycemia in diabetes, and altered mitochondrial function is associated with impaired energy production. The present study focuses on the effect of Semecarpus anacardium on carbohydrate metabolism and energy production in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by the administration of Streptozotocin at a dose of 50 mg/kg.b. wt. Three days after the induction, Semecarpus anacardium at a dose of 300 mg/kg.b. wt was administered for 21 days. After the experimental duration, the activities of the enzymes involved in Glycolysis, TCA cycle, gluconeogenesis, and glycogen were assayed in the liver and kidney of the experimental animals. In addition, to the complexes the protein expression of AKT and PI3K were assayed. The levels of the enzymes involved in Glycolysis and TCA cycle increased, while that of gluconeogensis decreased. The activities of the mitochondrial complexes were also favorably modulated. The expressions of PI3K and AKT also increased in the skeletal muscle. These effects may be attributed to the hypoglycemic and the antioxidative activity of Semecarpus anacardium. The results of the study revealed that Semecarpus anacardium was able to restore the altered activities of the enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and energy production.