Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional Differences in the Coupling between Resting Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism may Indicate Action Preparedness as a Default State

Although most functional neuroimaging studies examine task effects, interest intensifies in the “default” resting brain. Resting conditions show consistent regional activity, yet oxygen extraction fraction constancy across regions. We compared resting cerebral metabolic rates of glucose (CMRgl) measured with 18F-labeled 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose to cerebral blood flow (CBF) 15O-H2O measures, using the same positron emission tomography scanner in 2 samples (n = 60 and 30) of healthy right-handed adults. Region to whole-brain ratios were calculated for 35 standard regions of interest, and compared between CBF and CMRgl to determine perfusion relative to metabolism. Primary visual and auditory areas showed coupling between CBF and CMRgl, limbic and subcortical regions—basal ganglia, thalamus and posterior fossa structures—were hyperperfused, whereas association cortices were hypoperfused. Hyperperfusion was higher in left than right hemisphere for most cortical and subcallosal limbic regions, but symmetric in cingulate, basal ganglia and somatomotor regions. Hyperperfused regions are perhaps those where activation is anticipated at short notice, whereas downstream cortical modulatory regions have longer “lead times” for deployment. The novel observation of systematic uncoupling of CBF and CMRgl may help elucidate the potential biological significance of the “default” resting state. Whether greater left hemispheric hyperperfusion reflects lateral dominance needs further examination.
Motoneurons Have Different Membrane Resistance during Fictive Scratching and Weight Support

The passive membrane properties of motoneurons may be affected in a behavior-specific manner because of differences in synaptic drive during different motor behaviors. To explore this possibility, the changes in input resistance (Rin) and membrane time constant (τm) of single extensor motoneurons were compared during two different types of motor activities: fictive scratching and fictive weight support. These two activities were selected because the membrane potential of extensor motoneurons follows a very different trajectory during fictive scratching (multiphasic, mostly rhythmic trajectory) and fictive weight support (monophasic, tonic trajectory). The intracellular recordings were performed in vivo in the immobilized, decerebrate cat using QX-314-containing microelectrodes to block action potentials. The Rin and τm at rest (control) were reduced substantially during all phases of fictive scratching. In contrast, Rin and τm changed only little during fictive weight support. Such a differential effect on the membrane resistance was observed even in motoneurons in which the peak voltage of the rhythmic depolarization during scratching was similar to the peak voltage of the tonic depolarization during weight support. The differential effect was attributed mainly to a difference in synaptic drive and, in particular, to a larger amount of inhibitory synaptic activity during fictive scratching. The present study demonstrates how the same motoneuron can have a different membrane resistance while participating in two different behaviors. Such tuning of the membrane resistance may provide motoneurons with behavior-specific integrative capabilities that, in turn, could be used advantageously to increase motor performance.
A High Sensitivity IDC-Electronic Tongue Using Dielectric/Sensing Membranes with Solvatochromic Dyes

In this paper, an electronic tongue/taste sensor array containing different interdigitated capacitor (IDC) sensing elements to detect different types of tastes, such as sweetness (glucose), saltiness (NaCl), sourness (HCl), bitterness (quinine-HCl), and umami (monosodium glutamate) is proposed. We present for the first time an IDC electronic tongue using sensing membranes containing solvatochromic dyes. The proposed highly sensitive (30.64 mV/decade sensitivity) IDC electronic tongue has fast response and recovery times of about 6 s and 5 s, respectively, with extremely stable responses, and is capable of linear sensing performance (R2 ≈ 0.985 correlation coefficient) over the wide dynamic range of 1 µM to 1 M. The designed IDC electronic tongue offers excellent reproducibility, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of about 0.029. The proposed device was found to have better sensing performance than potentiometric-, cascoded compatible lateral bipolar transistor (C-CLBT)-, Electronic Tongue (SA402)-, and fiber-optic-based taste sensing systems in what concerns dynamic range width, response time, sensitivity, and linearity. Finally, we applied principal component analysis (PCA) to distinguish between various kinds of taste in mixed taste compounds.
Transmitter-Side Multipath Preprocessing for Pulsed UWB Systems Considering Pulse Overlapping and Narrow-Band Interference

We analyze a prerake diversity combining scheme for pulsed ultrawideband systems to shift signal processing needs from the receiver to the transmitter. We consider the realistic case that received pulses carrying the same transmitted symbol could overlap with one another in optimizing the prerake scheme based on zero-forcing and eigenanalysis techniques. We show that in the presence of interpulse interference caused by pulse overlapping, the optimum prerake combining scheme in the sense of maximizing the received signal-to-noise ratio derived by using the eigenanalysis technique performs the same as a conventional rake with maximal ratio combining. We also analyze the different behaviors of prerake and rake schemes in the presence of tone interferers and provide numerical results to validate the conclusions in the presence of in-band-modulated interferers. We find that when the number of narrow-band interference (NBI) signals is small, the prerake scheme outperforms the rake scheme; as the number of NBI sources increases, however, this performance gap reduces.
Nber Working Paper Series Efficient Bailouts?

I am grateful to Ufuk Akcigit, Manuel Amador, Maya Eden, Huberto Ennis, Juan C. Hatchondo, Andreas Horstein, Todd Keister, Anton Korinek, Enrique Mendoza, Andy Powell, Thomas Sargent, John Shea, Ali Shourideh, Carlos Vegh, Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, for helpful comments. I also thanks seminar participants at Harvard, NYU, Stanford, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Minneapolis Fed, New York Fed, Richmond Fed, World Bank, Bank of Italy, Central Bank of Uruguay, Universidad de Montevideo, Society of Economic Dynamics (SED), HKUST ’International Workshop on Macroeconomics’, Di Tella ‘XIV Workshop in International Economics and Finance’, and Dallas Fed Conference on ‘Financial frictions and Monetary Policy in an Open Economy’ for useful comments. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
A New Sequence-Based Iterative Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks, the localization space can be divided into distinct regions that can each be uniquely identified by sequences in traditional sequence-based localization (SBL). The sequences represent the ranking of distances from the reference nodes to that region. But the average estimate error for locations in a face region is quite in evidence. For the problem of location error, a new localization technique which is an improvement of SBL is proposed here. It uses the triangular area enclosed by the centroids of the three “nearest” location regions to exclude areas in which the unknown nodes do not exist, so it will narrow the range to some extend and then improve the accuracy of localization. Then the new localization chooses the centroid of the triangular represented as location estimate of the unknown node, at last it regards the unknown node as a reference node and locates the next unknown node iteratively. The new localization technique will bring some computing increases, however it does not need additional improvement in hardware or complexity of nodes. Simulation experiments prove that the new localization provides comparable or better accuracy than SBL and the centroid method. If the proportion of reference nodes increases, the location error will decrease markedly. Keywords-reference nodes; sequence-centroid localization; location sequence; wireless sensor networks
How financial literacy and demographic variables relate to behavioral biases

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how financial literacy and demographic variables (gender, age, income level, education, occupation, marital status and investment experience) related to behavioral biases.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), factor analysis and multiple regression analysis to examine survey data from more than 500 individual investors in India.FindingsThe results reveal the presence of different behavioral biases including overconfidence and self-attribution, the disposition effect, anchoring bias, representativeness, mental accounting, emotional biases and herding among Indian investors. Hence, the findings support the view that individual investors do not always act rationally. The results also show that financial literacy has a negative association with the disposition effect and herding bias, a positive relation with mental accounting bias, but no significant relation with overconfidence and emotional biases. Age, occupation and investment experience are the most important demographic variables that relate to the behavioral biases of individual investors in the sample. Regarding gender, males are more overconfident than are females about their knowledge of the stock market.Research limitations/implicationsThe study does not test for causality, only association between the variables. Thus, the findings in this study should not be interpreted as suggesting causality. The study may have implications for financial educators in promoting the financial awareness programs for individuals. Financial advisors can potentially become more effective by understanding their clients’ decision-making processes.Originality/valueDespite an extensive literature on behavioral finance, limited academic research attempts to unravel the relation of how financial literacy and demographic variates relate to behavioral biases. This study contributes to this literature by trying to fill this gap.
The Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud Cluster NGC 1866 and the Surrounding Field

We use the main-sequence stars in the LMC cluster NGC 1866 and red clump stars in the local field to obtain two independent estimates of the LMC distance. We apply an empirical main-sequence-fitting technique based on a large sample of subdwarfs with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes in order to estimate the cluster distance modulus, and the multicolor red clump method to derive distance and reddening of the LMC field. We find that the main-sequence fitting and the red clump distance moduli are in significant disagreement; the NGC 1866 distance modulus is equal to (m - M)0,NGC 1866 = 18.33 ± 0.08 (consistent with a previous estimate using the same data and theoretical main-sequence isochrones), while the field stars provide (m - M)0,field = 18.53 ± 0.07. This difference reflects the more general dichotomy in the LMC distance estimates found in the literature. Various possible causes for this disagreement are explored, with particular attention paid to the still uncertain metallicity of the cluster and the star formation history of the field stars.
Connected Speech in Neurodegenerative Language Disorders: A Review

Language assessment has a crucial role in the clinical diagnosis of several neurodegenerative diseases. The analysis of extended speech production is a precious source of information encompassing the phonetic, phonological, lexico-semantic, morpho-syntactic, and pragmatic levels of language organization. The knowledge about the distinctive linguistic variables identifying language deficits associated to different neurodegenerative diseases has progressively improved in the last years. However, the heterogeneity of such variables and of the way they are measured and classified limits any generalization and makes the comparison among studies difficult. Here we present an exhaustive review of the studies focusing on the linguistic variables derived from the analysis of connected speech samples, with the aim of characterizing the language disorders of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases, including primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer's disease, movement disorders, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A total of 61 studies have been included, considering only those reporting group analysis and comparisons with a group of healthy persons. This review first analyzes the differences in the tasks used to elicit connected speech, namely picture description, story narration, and interview, considering the possible different contributions to the assessment of different linguistic domains. This is followed by an analysis of the terminologies and of the methods of measurements of the variables, indicating the need for harmonization and standardization. The final section reviews the linguistic domains affected by each different neurodegenerative disease, indicating the variables most consistently impaired at each level and suggesting the key variables helping in the differential diagnosis among diseases. While a large amount of valuable information is already available, the review highlights the need of further work, including the development of automated methods, to take advantage of the richness of connected speech analysis for both research and clinical purposes.
Turbulence Modeling of Flows with Extensive Crossflow Separation

The reasons for the difficulty in simulating accurately strong 3-D shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions (SBLIs) and high-alpha flows with classical turbulence models are investigated. These flows are characterized by the appearance of strong crossflow separation. In view of recent additional evidence, a previously published flow analysis, which attributes the poor performance of classical turbulence models to the observed laminarization of the separation domain, is reexamined. According to this analysis, the longitudinal vortices into which the separated boundary layer rolls up in this type of separated flow, transfer external inviscid air into the part of the separation adjacent to the wall, decreasing its turbulence. It is demonstrated that linear models based on the Boussinesq equation provide solutions of moderate accuracy, while non-linear ones and others that consider the particular structure of the flow are more efficient. Published and new Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations are reviewed, as well as results from a recent Large Eddy Simulation (LES) study, which indicate that in calculations characterized by sufficient accuracy the turbulent kinetic energy of the reverse flow inside the separation vortices is very low, i.e., the flow is almost laminar there.
Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid Disrupts the Antioxidant Ability of Helicobacter pylori through the Repression of SodB Activity In Vitro

Iron-cofactored superoxide dismutase (SodB) of Helicobacter pylori plays an indispensable role in the bacterium's colonization of the stomach. Previously, we demonstrated that FecA1, a Fe3+-dicitrate transporter homolog, contributes to SodB activation by supplying ferrous iron (Fe2+) to SodB, and fecA1-deletion mutant strains have reduced gastric mucosal-colonization ability in Mongolian gerbils, suggesting that FecA1 is a possible target for the development of a novel eradication therapy. This study aimed to identify novel FecA1-binding compounds in silico and then examined the effect of a predicted FecA1-binding compound on H. pylori SodB activity in vitro. Specifically, we demonstrated that nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a predicted FecA1-binding compound. NDGA reduced intracellular Fe2+ levels in H. pylori and reduced SodB activity. Additionally, NDGA increased H2O2 sensitivity of H. pylori and increased the metronidazole (Mtz) sensitivity. The present study demonstrated that NDGA repressed SodB activity associated with the gastric mucosal-colonization via inhibition of intracellular Fe2+ uptake by FecA1, suggesting that NDGA might be effective for the development of a novel eradication therapy.
Influence of Rotor Geometry of an IPM Motor on Sensorless Control Feasibility

The sensorless control technique based on the superimposition of a high-frequency stator voltage is commonly used to detect the rotor position of a synchronous interior-permanent-magnet (IPM) motor. This technique is effective at zero and low motor speed, where back electromotive force is null or extremely low. Then, the accuracy of the rotor-position detection depends strictly on the rotor saliency, that is, on the geometry of the IPM rotor. This paper aims to determine some IPM rotor-design criteria so as to improve the sensorless rotor-position detection. Since the design has to be effective in different operating conditions, both saturation and cross-coupling effects have to be taken into account. It is found that the effectiveness of the sensorless rotor-position detection can be improved by means of a proper design of the IPM motor geometry even under heavy operating conditions
Evaluation of a Study Skills Intervention Programme: A Mixed Methods Study

ABSTRACT This article reports on a mixed methods study that evaluated the efficacy of a study counselling intervention programme at a South African university. Quantitative data, collected by means of the Learning and Study Strategy Inventory, indicated that the study skills intervention programme brought about statistically significant improvements in participants' study skills profiles. The qualitative findings that were collected from 10 participants served as a contextual lens to develop a more holistic understanding of the quantitative results. It is argued that multidisciplinary collaboration is required to address the heteregenous needs of students within the higher education context.
Statistical significance analysis of longitudinal gene expression data

MOTIVATION Time-course microarray experiments are designed to study biological processes in a temporal fashion. Longitudinal gene expression data arise when biological samples taken from the same subject at different time points are used to measure the gene expression levels. It has been observed that the gene expression patterns of samples of a given tumor measured at different time points are likely to be much more similar to each other than are the expression patterns of tumor samples of the same type taken from different subjects. In statistics, this phenomenon is called the within-subject correlation of repeated measurements on the same subject, and the resulting data are called longitudinal data. It is well known in other applications that valid statistical analyses have to appropriately take account of the possible within-subject correlation in longitudinal data. RESULTS We apply estimating equation techniques to construct a robust statistic, which is a variant of the robust Wald statistic and accounts for the potential within-subject correlation of longitudinal gene expression data, to detect genes with temporal changes in expression. We associate significance levels to the proposed statistic by either incorporating the idea of the significance analysis of microarrays method or using the mixture model method to identify significant genes. The utility of the statistic is demonstrated by applying it to an important study of osteoblast lineage-specific differentiation. Using simulated data, we also show pitfalls in drawing statistical inference when the within-subject correlation in longitudinal gene expression data is ignored.
93% of the $ {{ 3}\over { 4}}$-Conjecture Is Already Verified

One of the most important challenges in the context of fix-free codes is proving the 3/4-conjecture, which guarantees the existence of fix-free codewords of lengths ℓ<sub>1</sub>,ℓ<sub>2</sub>,. , ℓ<sub>N</sub> if Σ<sub>i=1</sub><sup>N</sup>2<sup>-ℓi</sup> ≤ 3/4. Although this conjecture has not become a theorem yet, some researchers have proved the problem with some extra constraints on the codelengths. One of those, we call it Yekhanin's constraint, is Σ<sub>i:ℓi-λ ≤1</sub> 2<sup>-ℓi</sup> ≥ 1/2, where λ = minklk. In this paper, it is shown that such a constraint is not so restrictive. We prove that almost 93.8% of the N-tuple codelength vectors with Kraft sum 3/4 do satisfy Yekhanin's constraint. One can optimistically interpret this result as almost 93.8% of the road of proving the 3/4-conjecture is paved.
The Relation between Black Hole Mass, Bulge Mass, and Near-Infrared Luminosity

We present new accurate near-infrared (NIR) spheroid (bulge) structural parameters obtained by a two-dimensional image analysis of all galaxies with a direct black hole (BH) mass determination. As expected, NIR bulge luminosities Lbul and BH masses are tightly correlated, and if we consider only those galaxies with a secure BH mass measurement and an accurate Lbul (27 objects), the spread of MBH-Lbul is similar to MBH-σe, where σe is the effective stellar velocity dispersion. We find an intrinsic rms scatter of ≃0.3 dex in log MBH. By combining the bulge effective radii Re measured in our analysis with σe, we find a tight linear correlation (rms ≃ 0.25 dex) between MBH and the virial bulge mass (∝Reσ), with ⟨MBH/Mbul⟩ ~ 0.002. A partial correlation analysis shows that MBH depends on both σe and Re and that both variables are necessary to drive the correlations between MBH and other bulge properties.
Composition du conseil d’administration et divulgation d’informations RSE 

Cet article examine l’impact de la composition du CA (conseil d’administration) sur la qualite des informations RSE (responsabilite societale des entreprises) divulguees. Notre echantillon comporte 82 societes francaises cotees a l’indice SBF120 entre 2008 et 2015. Apres avoir controle les biais d’endogeneite, nos resultats montrent un fort impact de la diversite de genre et de la representation des administrateurs elus par les salaries sur la divulgation des informations sociales. Une relation positive et significative entre la diversite des nationalites au sein du CA et nos mesures RSE. Neanmoins, notre etude revele l’absence de liens entre la diversite des formations et des ecoles les dispensant d’une part, et la qualite de ces informations d’autre part.
Towards More Effective E-Marketplaces : A Novel Incentive Mechanism

In the context of electronic commerce, the problem of unfair ratings arises when modeling the trustworthiness of a selling agent relies (partially) on propagation of ratings provided by buying agents that have personal experience with the seller. Extreme diversity of open and dynamic electronic marketplaces causes difficulties in handling unfair ratings in trust management systems. To ease this problem, we propose a novel incentive mechanism for eliciting fair ratings of sellers from buyers. In our mechanism, buyers model other buyers, using an approach that combines both private and public reputation values. In addition, however, sellers model the reputation of buyers. Reputable buyers provide fair ratings of sellers, and are likely considered trustworthy by many other buyers. In marketplaces operating with our mechanism, sellers will offer more attractive products to satisfy reputable buyers, in order to build their reputation. In consequence, our mechanism creates incentives for buyers to provide fair ratings of sellers, leading to more effective e-marketplaces where honest buyers and sellers can gain more profit.