Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ionic currents and intrinsic properties of key interneurons and their influence on network activity in a chain of coupled oscillators

Post-inhibitory rebound (PIR) plays an important role in producing rhythmic network activity. By inducing new excitation, following a phase of inhibition it promotes the generation of rhythmic neuronal activity. I investigated this property in identified neurons of the swimmeret system. These neurons are characterized by membrane potential oscillations and create the well-coordinated Power- and Return-Stroke movements of four pairs of swimmerets at the abdomen of crayfish. I isolated the abdominal nervous system and performed current clamp recordings with sharp electrodes at the dendritic aborizations of the neurons. I tested whether the neurons are able to produce a PIR by injecting hyperpolarizing current pulses. All spiking neurons (PSE, RSE, ASCE and DSC) possessed the ability to produce a PIR, which was accompanied by a small sag potential. In contrast, not all neurons of the central pattern generator, IPS, generated a PIR. The only neuron receiving excitatory synaptic input, ComInt1, also produce a PIR. Different ionic currents are shown in various studies to account for the generation of a PIR. Those are the L-type calcium current (ICaL), the hyperpolarization activated cation current (IH), and in some systems the persistent sodium current (INaP). In the following experiments, I investigated the ionic basis of the PIR in the above described neuron groups. I could detect that both ICaL and IH and partially INaP generate PIR responses in the spiking neurons PSE, RSE, ASCE and DSC, while only IH seemed to be involved in generating the PIR in IPS. To test the significance of the identified ionic conductances for generation of rhythmic motor output, I blocked the respective ionic currents individually while monitoring fictive locomotion of the system on the network-, as well as on the single cell level. During this series of experiments also the contribution of the transient potassium current, IA, was investigated by application of 4-AP. Confirming the importance of the above identified currents (ICaL, IH and INaP), all ion channel blockers altered the ability of the entire system to produce a steady motor rhythm. Similar strong effects were observed when blocking IA. These results of this study demonstrate that PIR is an essential mechanism for the neurons in the swimmeret system to induce new excitability after a phase of inhibition. This suggests that PIR plays a crucial role in establishing rhythmic cellular activity. Furthermore, I could show that PIR responses were mediated by different ionic current depending on the neuron group.
Revisiting Calibration of the Solvency II Standard Formula for Mortality Risk: Does the Standard Stress Scenario Provide an Adequate Approximation of Value-at-Risk?

The primary objective of this work is to analyze model based Value-at-Risk associated with mortality risk arising from issued term life assurance contracts and to compare the results with the capital requirements for mortality risk as determined using Solvency II Standard Formula. In particular, two approaches to calculate Value-at-Risk are analyzed: one-year VaR and run-off VaR. The calculations of Value-at-Risk are performed using stochastic mortality rates which are calibrated using the Lee-Carter model fitted using mortality data of selected European countries. Results indicate that, depending on the approach taken to calculate Value-at-Risk, the key factors driving its relative size are: sensitivity of technical provisions to the latest mortality experience, volatility of mortality rates in a country, policy term and benefit formula. Overall, we found that Solvency II Standard Formula on average delivers an adequate capital requirement, however, we also highlight particular situations where it could understate or overstate portfolio specific model based Value-at-Risk for mortality risk.
A hybrid resonant converter utilizing a bidirectional GaN AC switch for high-efficiency PV applications

This paper introduces a novel isolated hybrid resonant converter with smooth transition between multiple operating modes. With the simple addition of a bidirectional ac switch, the highly-efficient series resonant converter operating in the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) is combined with a phase-shifted full-bridge buck converter and a pulse width modulated (PWM) boost converter in order to provide high power conversion efficiency over a wide input-voltage operating range utilizing a simple topology and simple control techniques. First, the topology is introduced and the converter's operating modes are discussed. Next, closed-loop input-voltage controllers are designed for the different operating modes and a smooth transition technique is introduced using a two-carrier modulation scheme. Experimental results are provided to verify the proposed system using a 300-W prototype that achieved a 97.5% California Energy Commission (CEC) weighted efficiency with a 30-V input including all auxiliary and control losses.
Deep neural semantic parsing: translating from natural language into SPARQL

Semantic parsing is the process of mapping a natural-language sentence into a machine-readable, formal representation of its meaning. The LSTM Encoder-Decoder is a neural architecture with the ability to map a source language into a target one. We are interested in the problem of mapping natural language into SPARQL queries, and we seek to contribute with strategies that do not rely on handcrafted rules, high-quality lexicons, manually-built templates or other handmade complex structures. In this context, we present two contributions to the problem of semantic parsing departing from the LSTM encoder-decoder. While natural language has well defined vector representation methods that use a very large volume of texts, formal languages, like SPARQL queries, suffer from lack of suitable methods for vector representation. In the first contribution we improve the representation of SPARQL vectors. We start by obtaining an alignment matrix between the two vocabularies, natural language and SPARQL terms, which allows us to refine a vectorial representation of SPARQL items. With this refinement we obtained better results in the posterior training for the semantic parsing model. In the second contribution we propose a neural architecture, that we call Encoder CFG-Decoder, whose output conforms to a given context-free grammar. Unlike the traditional LSTM encoder-decoder, our model provides a grammatical guarantee for the mapping process, which is particularly important for practical cases where grammatical errors can cause critical failures. Results confirm that any output generated by our model obeys the given CFG, and we observe a translation accuracy improvement when compared with other results from the literature.
Productivity and production risk effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties in Zambia

Purpose Productivity and production risks affect the use of agricultural production practices and inputs, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) on farm productivity, yield variance and downside risk exposure of maize growing households of Zambia. Design/methodology/approach The study uses household survey data collected from 11 maize producing districts of Eastern, Southern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia using a structured questionnaire. The Antle’s flexible moment-based approach was used in specifying, estimating and testing a stochastic production function. The study further applied an endogenous switching regression model to control for both observable and unobservable sources of bias. Findings The study revealed that DTMV adoption increases maize yield by 15 per cent and reduces the risk of crop failure: reducing yield variance by 38 per cent and exposure to downside risk by 36 per cent. Originality/value This study establishes the benefits of DTMV adoption in Zambia with regards to productivity, yield stability and downside risk in the face of climate change. Results from this study underscore the need for more concerted efforts to scale-out DTMVs for both maize productivity enhancement and for risk mitigation against weather shocks.
On fundamental tradeoffs between delay bounds and computational complexity in packet scheduling algorithms

We clarify, extend, and solve a long-standing open problem concerning the computational complexity for packet scheduling algorithms to achieve tight end-to-end delay bounds. We first focus on the difference between the time a packet finishes service in a scheduling algorithm and its virtual finish time under a GPS (General Processor Sharing) scheduler, called GPS-relative delay. We prove that, under a slightly restrictive but reasonable computational model, the lower bound computational complexity of any scheduling algorithm that guarantees O(1) GPS-relative delay bound is Ω(log n). We also discover that, surprisingly, the complexity lower bound remains the same even if the delay bound is relaxed to O(na) for O < a < 1. This implies that the delay-complexity tradeoff curve is flat in the "interval" [O(1), O(n)). We later conditionally extend both complexity results (for O(1) or O(na) delay) to a much stronger computational model, the linear decision tree. Finally, we show that the same complexity lower bounds are conditionally applicable to guaranteeing tight end-to-end delay bounds, if the delay bounds are provided through the Latency Rate (LR) framework.
Compensatory Responses of Common Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) and Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti) to Partial Shading

Lower leaves of greenhouse-grown common cocklebur and velvetleaf were shaded to 5% of full light over a 12-d period while upper leaves remained exposed to full light to determine weed foliar and branching responses to partial shading similar to that encountered in soybean crops. Shading increased lower leaf senescence and specific leaf area, and decreased branch length and number of second-order leaves in both species compared to unshaded controls. Common cocklebur branched more extensively along the lower portion of its stem than velvetleaf under both shaded and unshaded conditions. Upper leaves of partially shaded velvetleaf were held in a more perpendicular position to the light source beginning 3 days after treatment (DAT) compared to upper leaves of unshaded plants. Shading of lower leaves caused an increase in upper (unshaded) leaf area beginning 3 and 6 DAT in velvetleaf and common cocklebur, respectively. Petiole length of upper leaves also increased in response to shading in both species. Total plant dry weight at 12 DAT was unaffected by shading in velvetleaf but was reduced 10% by shading in common cocklebur. While common cocklebur maintained greater lower shoot growth in the presence of shade than velvetleaf, there was a greater change in upper leaf angle by velvetleaf in response to shading than by common cocklebur. These results support previous field observations of apparent greater shade tolerance of common cocklebur compared to velvetleaf and indicate that both species have the ability to compensate for shading of lower leaves by altering upper shoot growth.
The Resilient Spouse: Understanding Factors Associated With Dispositional Resilience Among Military Spouses

Abstract Spouses of soldiers face several unique challenges due to the demands of being in the military, such as frequent moves, and multiple family separations due to trainings and deployments. Although the military has several programs targeted to enhance spouse resilience, no research has examined the characteristics associated with dispositional (trait) resilience in military spouses or the extent to which trait resilience predicts health outcomes. Anonymous, cross-sectional survey data were collected from a sample of military spouses (n = 333) as part of the Land Combat Study. Survey items asked about dispositional resilience, mental health and well-being, as well as other psychosocial and demographic factors potentially associated with resilience. Characteristics associated with higher resilience included having more children, being a nonminority, social support, less work–family conflict, and better soldier mental health. Trait resilience also predicted several health outcomes including general psychological distress, relationship functioning, sleep quality, and overall health. Notably, the number of soldier deployments was not associated with resilience. Findings suggest these factors are important to the resilience of military spouses and can be used direct future resilience training efforts towards factors that most affect resilience among the population.
Adaptive Label Propagation for Facial Appearance Transfer

Facial appearance transfer (FAT) is a critical component of various facial editing tasks. It aims to transfer the facial appearance of a reference into a target with good visual consistency. When there are considerable visual differences between a reference and a target, however, it may introduce visual artifacts into the results. To tackle this problem, we propose a facial appearance map with illumination-aware and region-aware properties that allows seamless FAT. We formulate the appearance-map generation as label propagation (LP) on a similarity graph, and propose a new regularization structure to facilitate the adaptive appearance-map diffusion. Solving the original LP model of appearance map in general requires on the order <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(kn^2)$</tex-math></inline-formula> time for an <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$</tex-math></inline-formula>-nodes graph where each node has <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k$</tex-math></inline-formula> neighbors. It may be computationally prohibitive for an image with a large spatial resolution. To tackle this problem, we mathematically analyze the graph-based LP model and propose a fast algorithm with smart subset sampling. It selects a subset with <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m$</tex-math></inline-formula> nodes of the graph with <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$</tex-math></inline-formula> nodes (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m\ll n$</tex-math></inline-formula>) to approximate the solution to the original system, which significantly reduces its computational requirements from <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(kn^2)$</tex-math></inline-formula> to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(m^2n)$</tex-math></inline-formula>. Based on the adaptive LP-based appearance map, we construct a framework to achieve various editing effects with FAT, including face replacement, face dubbing, face swapping, and transfiguring. Comparisons with related methods show the effectiveness of the adaptive LP model for FAT. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations verify the computational improvements of the approximation algorithm.
Disorders of Bulldogs under primary veterinary care in the UK in 2013

The Bulldog is a popular companion breed in the UK despite widely reported disease predispositions. This study aimed to characterise the demography, mortality and common disorders of Bulldogs under veterinary care in the UK during 2013. VetCompass collates anonymised clinical data from UK primary-care veterinary practices for epidemiological research. The clinical records of all Bulldogs available in the VetCompass study dataset were reviewed manually in detail to extract the most definitive diagnoses recorded for all disorders that existed during 2013 and for all deaths. Bulldogs comprised 1621 (0.36%) of 445,557 study dogs. Bulldogs increased from 0.35% of the 2009 birth cohort to 0.60% in 2013. Median longevity was 7.2 years, which was lower in males (6.7 years) than females (7.9 years) (P = 0.021). The most prevalent fine-level precision disorders recorded were otitis externa (n = 206, prevalence 12.7%, 95% CI: 11.1–14.4), pyoderma (142, 8.8%, 95% CI: 7.4–10.2) and overweight/obesity (141, 8.7%, 95% CI: 7.4–10.2). The most prevalent disorder groups were cutaneous (n = 463, prevalence: 28.6%, 95% CI: 26.4–30.8), ophthalmological (292, 18.0%, 95% CI: 16.2–20.0), aural (211, 13.0%, 95% CI: 11.4–14.8), enteropathy (188, 11.6%, 95% CI: 10.1–13.3) and upper respiratory tract (171, 10.5%, 95% CI: 9.1–12.1). Provision of an evidence base on the most common disorders and causes of mortality within breeds can support owners, breeders and the veterinary profession to improve health and welfare within these breed.
Socio-Economic Violence Against the Post Revitalization Traders of New Dinoyo Market in Malang City

In this modernity era, the government does a lot of development revitalization as well as revitalizing the New Dinoyo Traditional Market in Malang City. This traditional market improvement is intended to improve the welfare of traditional market traders and beautify the urban layout. The improvement of the Dinoyo market has actually been carried out for a long time which made the traders relocated to Merjosari Market, Malang City. After years of the project are completed, the Merjosari market is destroyed and traders are relocated to various markets such as the New Dinoyo Market which has been completed. However, the transfer of the market causes various kinds of socioeconomic problems. The purpose of this study is to find out how violence experienced by traders of the New Dinoyo Market, after being relocated to the New Dinoyo Market, Malang City. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative with observation, interview, and documentation techniques carried out directly in the field. The results shows that the relocation of traders to the New Dinoyo Market has an impact on socio-economic violence on traders both structural and non-structural violence. Keywords-Socio-Economic Violence, Market, Traders,
Skill mismatch and work–life conflict: the mediating role of job satisfaction

ABSTRACT Previous research examining skill mismatch in the labour market has ignored potential implications for workers outside of the work environment. We argue that the psychological strain that the discrepancy between worker’s skills and job requirements wields on workers spills over into the non-work sphere, increasing work–life conflict. This study explores the consequence of skill mismatch for work–family life and various dimensions of job satisfaction. Using the 2011 British Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS), we find that both over- and underskilled workers reported lower satisfaction with achievement and autonomy, opportunity for development, and pay and security. Results also suggest that not only does skill mismatch have a negative influence on work–life conflict but that this association is completely mediated through job satisfaction. Given this better understanding of the complex ways that skill mismatch in employment shapes non-work life, implications for employees and firms are discussed.
Female weir fishers of the southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea: implications for an archaeology of gendered activities

Abstract In this paper we examine a set of ethnographic practices from the mid-reaches of the Kikori River, specifically pertaining to women’s crustacean fishing, and in doing so re-examine the archaeological record of nearby rock shelter Epe Amoho. These practices, we argue, are poorly represented in many archaeological sites across the landscape. Such patterned biases of the archaeological record (e.g. of some gendered activities) have major implications for how we understand individual sites and for the utility of ethnography in archaeological interpretation. We conclude that the archaeological record of Epe Amoho underrepresents some elements of women’s dry season activities.
Crizotinib and Surgery for Long-Term Disease Control in Children and Adolescents With ALK-Positive Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumors

PURPOSE Before anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors, treatment options for ALK-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (AP-IMTs) were unsatisfactory. We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of patients with AP-IMT treated with crizotinib to document response, toxicity, survival, and features associated with relapse. METHODS The cohort comprised eight patients with AP-IMT treated with crizotinib and surgery. Outcome measures were progression-free and overall survival after commencing crizotinib, treatment-related toxicities, features associated with relapse, outcome after relapse, and outcome after ceasing crizotinib. RESULTS The median follow-up after commencing crizotinib was 3 years (range, 0.9 to 5.5 years). The major toxicity was neutropenia. All patients responded to crizotinib. Five were able to discontinue therapy without recurrence (median treatment duration, 1 year; range, 0.2 to 3.0 years); one continues on crizotinib. Two critically ill patients with initial complete response experienced relapse while on therapy. Both harbored RANBP2-ALK fusions and responded to alternative ALK inhibitors; one ultimately died as a result of progressive disease, whereas the other remains alive on treatment. Progression-free and overall survival since commencement of crizotinib is 0.75 ± 0.15% and 0.83 ± 0.15%, respectively. CONCLUSION We confirm acceptable toxicity and excellent disease control in patients with AP-IMT treated with crizotinib, which may be ceased without recurrence in most. Relapses occurred in two of three patients with RANBP2-ALK translocated IMT, which suggests that such patients require additional therapy.
The Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury and Associated Hospital Mortality.

BACKGROUND Studies from multiple countries have shown that acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized patients is associated with mortality and morbidity. There are no reliable data at present on the incidence and mortality of AKI episodes among hospitalized patients in Germany. The utility of administrative codings of AKI for the identification of AKI episodes is also unclear. METHODS In an exploratory approach, we retrospectively analyzed all episodes of AKI over a period of 3.5 years (2014-2017) on the basis of routinely obtained serum creatinine measurements in 103 161 patients whose creatinine had been measured at least twice and who had been in the hospital for at least two days. We used the "Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes" (KDIGO) criteria for AKI. In parallel, we assessed the administrative coding of discharge diagnoses of the same patients with codes from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10-GM). RESULTS Among 185 760 hospitalizations, stage 1 AKI occurred in 25 417 cases (13.7%), stage 2 in 8503 cases (4.6%), and stage 3 in 5881 cases (3.1%). AKI cases were associated with length of hospital stay, renal morbidity, and overall mortality, and this association was stage-dependent. The in-hospital mortality was 5.1% for patients with stage 1 AKI, 13.7% for patients with stage 2 AKI, and 24.8% for patients with stage 3 AKI. An administrative coding for acute kidney injury (N17) was present in only 28.8% (11 481) of the AKI cases that were identified by creatinine criteria. Like the AKI cases overall, those that were identified by creatinine criteria but were not coded as AKI had significantly higher mortality, and this association was stage-dependent. CONCLUSION AKI episodes are common among hospitalized patients and are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality, yet they are inadequately documented and probably often escape the attention of the treating physicians.