Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vote Trading With and Without Party Leaders. Theory and Experiments. 1

Two groups of voters of known sizes disagree over a single binary decision to be taken by simple majority. Individuals have di¤erent, privately observed intensities of preferences and before voting can buy or sell votes among themselves for money. We study the implication of such trading for outcomes and welfare when trades are coordinated by the two group leaders and when they take place anonymously in a competitive market. The theory has strong predictions. In both cases, trading falls short of full e¢ ciency, but for opposite reasons: with group leaders, the minority wins too rarely; with market trades, the minority wins too often. As a result, with group leaders, vote trading improves over no-trade; with market trades, vote trading can be welfare reducing. Although the experimental data show evidence of overpricing, these predictions on outcomes are satis ed by all experimental sessions.
A nocturnal rail with a simple territorial call eavesdrops on interactions between rivals

The behaviour of most animals has evolved in a communication network environment, in which signals produced by senders are perceived by many intended and unintended receivers. In this study, we tested whether the corncrake (Crex crex), a nocturnal rail species with innate (non-learned) calls, is able to eavesdrop on the interactions of conspecific males and how this eavesdropping affects subsequent responses by the eavesdropper to territorial intrusion. In the first step, simulated aggressive or neutral interactions between male dyads were presented to a focal male. In the second step, the calls of winning, losing or neutral males from the first step were played within the territory of the focal male. We measured behavioural and vocal responses of focal males. We found that corncrakes eavesdropped on signal exchange between rivals. Males often began responding to distant aggressive interactions during the eavesdropping phase, and they responded strongly during the intrusion phase of the experiments. The response was significantly weaker to playback of males from neutral interactions than to those involved in aggressive interactions, and we found no differences between the responses to Winners and Losers entering a focal male territory.
Unresolved Problems by Shock Capturing: Taming the Overheating Problem

The overheating problem, first observed by von Neumann (1) and later studied extensively by Noh (2) using both Eulerian and Lagrangian formulations, remains to be one of the unsolved problems by shock capturing. It is historically well known to occur when a flow is under compression, such as when a shock wave hits and reflects from a wall or when two streams collides with each other. The overheating phenomenon is also found numerically in a smooth flow undergoing rarefaction created by two streams receding from each other. This is in contrary to one's intuition expecting a decrease in internal energy. The excessive amount in the temperature increase does not reduce by refining the mesh size or increasing the order of accuracy. This study finds that the overheating in the receding flow correlates with the entropy generation. By requiring entropy preservation, the overheating is eliminated and the solution is grid con- vergent. The shock-capturing scheme, as being practiced today, gives rise to the entropy generation, which in turn causes the overheating. This assertion stands up to the convergence test.
N,N-dimethyltryptamine and the pineal gland: Separating fact from myth

The pineal gland has a romantic history, from pharaonic Egypt, where it was equated with the eye of Horus, through various religious traditions, where it was considered the seat of the soul, the third eye, etc. Recent incarnations of these notions have suggested that N,N-dimethyltryptamine is secreted by the pineal gland at birth, during dreaming, and at near death to produce out of body experiences. Scientific evidence, however, is not consistent with these ideas. The adult pineal gland weighs less than 0.2 g, and its principal function is to produce about 30 µg per day of melatonin, a hormone that regulates circadian rhythm through very high affinity interactions with melatonin receptors. It is clear that very minute concentrations of N,N-dimethyltryptamine have been detected in the brain, but they are not sufficient to produce psychoactive effects. Alternative explanations are presented to explain how stress and near death can produce altered states of consciousness without invoking the intermediacy of N,N-dimethyltryptamine.
Intergenerational transmission of age at first birth in Norway

ABSTRACT Using data from administrative registers, we examine the intergenerational transmission of timing of first birth in Norway for all men and women born between 1954 and 1964. We assess the extent of any intergenerational transmission using discrete-time event history analysis, and estimate associations between the age at first birth of parents and their children. Results suggest that intergenerational transmission of age at first birth is evident in all four parent–child dyads and at all ages of the first-birth process. This means that even in a society as contemporary Norway, with a welfare state that offers a range of universal social benefits, own fertility timing is correlated with parents’ fertility behavior. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that fathers’ high age at first birth is closely associated with postponed birth of sons. Results from a microsimulation suggest that the fertility timing of daughters is less malleable by changes in parental age at birth than the fertility timing of sons. Controlling for a limited set of possible confounders, we find that the intergenerational transmission of age at first birth largely persist.
Evaluation of antiparasitic, anticancer, antimicrobial and hypoglycemic properties of organic extracts from Panamanian mangrove plants

Objective: To investigate 33 organic extracts of mangrove plants for: antiparasitic, anticancer, and antibacterial activities, as well as their ability to inhibit the activity of the α-glucosidase enzyme. Methods: Leaves from all different plant mangrove species located in five mangrove zones of the Pacific coast of Panama were collected according to standard procedures. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the organic extracts was performed by thin layer chromatography. The antiparasitic activity against Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania donovani, toxicity against Artemia salina, anticancer activity in MCF-7 cell line, and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa of all organic extract were investigated according protocols stablished in our institution. Finally, the ability to inhibit the enzymatic activity of α-glucosidase was evaluated by monitoring the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl α-D- glucopyranoside. Results: Thirty-three different samples belonging to nine different species of vascular plants with seeds of true mangroves were collected. Triterpenoids, phenolics, and tannins were the main groups of compounds found in the sampled mangroves. Saponins, quinones, and coumarins were found in less than 50% of the samples. Laguncularia racemosa showed moderate activity against Plasmodium falciparum. None of the extracts presented anticancer activity. Rhizophora mangle exhibited potent activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis [(90.41±7.33)% and (96.02±6.14)% of inhibition]; Avicennia germinans and Conocarpus erectus had activity against Escherichia coli [(71.17±6.15)% and (60.60±5.13)% of inhibition, respectively]. About 60% of the mangroves showed α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. In particular, extracts from Laguncularia racemosa, Pelliciera rhizophorae, Conocarpus erectus, Mora oleifera, and Tabebuia palustris species showed α-glucosidase inhibitory potential, with IC50 values of (29.45±0.29), (20.60±0.70), (730.06±3.74), (25.59±0.37), and (853.39±5.30) μg/mL, respectively. Conclusions: Panamanian mangroves are mainly a promising potential source of hypoglycemic compounds, specifically α-glucosidase inhibitors. These results highlight the therapeutic virtues of extracts from American mangrove plants.
Counting of RBCs and WBCs in noisy normal blood smear microscopic images

This work focuses on the segmentation and counting of peripheral blood smear particles which plays a vital role in medical diagnosis. Our approach profits from some powerful processing techniques. Firstly, the method used for denoising a blood smear image is based on the Bivariate wavelet. Secondly, image edge preservation uses the Kuwahara filter. Thirdly, a new binarization technique is introduced by merging the Otsu and Niblack methods. We have also proposed an efficient step-by-step procedure to determine solid binary objects by merging modified binary, edged images and modified Chan-Vese active contours. The separation of White Blood Cells (WBCs) from Red Blood Cells (RBCs) into two sub-images based on the RBC (blood's dominant particle) size estimation is a critical step. Using Granulometry, we get an approximation of the RBC size. The proposed separation algorithm is an iterative mechanism which is based on morphological theory, saturation amount and RBC size. A primary aim of this work is to introduce an accurate mechanism for counting blood smear particles. This is accomplished by using the Immersion Watershed algorithm which counts red and white blood cells separately. To evaluate the capability of the proposed framework, experiments were conducted on normal blood smear images. This framework was compared to other published approaches and found to have lower complexity and better performance in its constituent steps; hence, it has a better overall performance.
Relative efficiency of different cropping sequences in a farmers participatory research programme in semi-arid agro-ecosystem of Rajasthan

A farmers participatory field experiment with seven crop sequences was conducted during 2002-07 in Tonk district of Rajasthan. The groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) wheat [ Triticum aestivum (L.) emend. Fiori & Paol. ] and greengram [ Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] - wheat crop sequences were found more productive and energy effi- cient than sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) and pearlmillet [ Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. Emend Stuntz] -chickpea cropping sequences. Groundnut-wheat (10.41 t/ha) crop sequence registered the 8.89, 16.90, 27.5 and 35.37 per cent higher Pearlmillet equivalent (PEs) than the greengram-wheat, greengram-barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.), groundnut-mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czernj & Cosson] and pearlmillet-wheat crop sequences, respectively. However, the maximum sustainable yield index (SYI) was re- corded with pearlmillet-wheat (0.91), followed by groundnut-wheat (0.88) and green gram-barley (0.79) crop se- quence. Highest land-use efficiency (LUE) was obtained in groundnut-wheat system (72.05%) followed by pearlmillet-wheat system (69.42%) and both were statistically at par, whereas the lowest LUE was recorded in greengram-barley (55.89%) cropping system. As regards production efficiency (PE) greengram-wheat greengram- barley and groundnut-wheat crop sequences were at par. Groundnut-wheat crop sequences registered signifi- cantly higher energy output over all other cropping sequences. The energy produced by groundnut-wheat was 13.06, 15.31 and 19.19 per cent higher than pearlmillet-wheat, greengram-barley and greengram-wheat cropping sequences respectively. Sorghum-chickpea crop sequence was significantly more energy intensive than other cropping sequences. Groundnut-wheat and greengram-wheat were at par and recorded net returns of `37,806 and `33,104/ha, B:C ratio of 2.22 and 2.07 and economic efficiency of ` 143.5 and `153.4/ha/day, respectively. Sorghum-chickpea cropping system registered the lowest net returns (`2143/ha), B:C ratio (1.12) and economic efficiency (`9.6/ha/day). The soil health was not affected much by different cropping sequences but mean soil nu- trient balance (NPK) was found positive with all the cropping sequences.
Personality and inflammation: the protective effect of openness to experience.

BACKGROUND Prior research found reduced mortality in coronary heart patients with higher scores on the Openness to Experience domain and its facets. Decreased C-reactive protein level (CRP) levels may be one mechanism by which higher Openness to Experience leads to decreased mortality. Thus, the current study aimed to test the association between the Openness to Experience domain and its facets, as assessed by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, and CRP in a sample of 165 healthy Black and White, male and female community volunteers. METHODS Blood samples were taken before and after a 40-minute mental stress protocol. BMI and education were significant predictors of CRP and, in addition to age, were included as covariates in all analyses. Race and sex were tested as possible moderating variables. RESULTS In a mixed effects model the main effect of time (pre/post-stress), Openness to Experience (O) and their interaction were not significant predictors of CRP. However, results showed a significant race x O effect on CRP (P=.03). In Blacks, higher Openness to Experience domain (r=-.41, P<.01), aesthetics facet (r=-.30, P=.01), feelings facet (r= -.41, P<.01), and ideas facet (r=-.38, P<.01) scores were associated with lower mean CRP levels. In contrast, among White participants, neither the Openness to Experience domain nor its related facets were associated with CRP. DISCUSSION The Openness to Experience domain and its facets may be associated with markers of the inflammatory process among Blacks but not Whites.
A Survey on User Search Goal Inferring and Re-Ranking System

: We know that a non-detachable part of human beings is the internet throughout the world. But as the internet called as an ocean of information so that each and every information we can get from the internet. To infer the user search goals through user profiles an excellent effort have made by many researchers, knowledge of user searching or history of user searching and pattern but their failed the most of the techniques as it’s not that over the internet the same contents or documents there will always try to search by the user. To find the location specific queries another technique to guess the user goals made use of user location and answer them. Thus for the user goal search we are going to analyze all the implemented algorithms.
R&D intensity, economic growth and firm-size growth: theory and practice

ABSTRACT This article proposes a theoretical knowledge-driven horizontal research and development (R&D) endogenous-growth model to explain, for 10 innovative countries, the co-movement of the respective R&D intensity, economic growth and firm-size growth, by exploring short-medium-run and long-run growth effects. Bearing in mind some recent literature, we improve the R&D technology, by considering that R&D is more labour intensive through time as complexity increases, that the diffusion of designs is affected by coordination, organizational and transportation costs, and that a potential entrant will come up with the right idea is reduced because of the presence of a larger number of entrants. We show that when the economy is not initially in a steady state, it can take a saddle path towards the unique and locally saddle-path stable interior steady state. Both transitional-dynamics and steady-state behaviours of our theoretical model are then consistent with, respectively, the time-series and the cross-sectional evidence.
FACTORS AFFECTING ECONOMIC WELL-BEING AMONG POOR AND NON-POOR HOUSEHOLDS

This paper focuses on examining the key factors affecting the living standards of Vietnam at the household-level in 2010. In this study, the multiple linear regression model was used to determine the impacts of variables related to the household characteristics, main jobs of heads, and the access of public services on the monthly per capita expenditure of the poor and non-poor based on the data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey 2010. The empirical findings indicate that in 2010 the expenditure per capita of the poor and non-poor households was affected by many factors, including education and qualification level, region, ethnicity, size of household, working member proportion and water source. However, the empirical study shows that although employment sector was one of the determinants of per capita expenditure of the non-poor households, it had an insignificant impact on per capita expenditure of the poor households.
Design of Spin-Frustrated Monomer-Type C60•− Mott Insulator

Spin-frustrated monomer-type Mott insulator C60•− solids are discussed in this review article. For the C60•− solids, the interfullerene center-to-center distance (r) is the key parameter that controls the competition between covalent bond-formation, itinerancy, and spin frustration. Eight C60•− salts with various compositions and dimensionalities are reviewed. In all of these C60•− salts except one, neither bond-formation nor long-range magnetic ordering was observed down to low temperatures. A plot of Weiss temperature (|ΘCW|) against r shows that |ΘCW| grows rapidly below r = 10.0 A.
Revisiting the functional anatomy of the palmaris longus as a thenar synergist

Surgical studies describe the palmaris longus (PL) as a synergist in thumb abduction, which may facilitate its use in restoring thumb function using opponensplasty. However, beyond morphological descriptions and isometric thenar abduction strength measures, the evidence supporting the PL as a thenar synergist in‐vivo is limited. The purpose here was to determine whether the PL provides synergistic contributions to thenar musculature by: (1) recording PL muscle activity using indwelling electromyography (EMG) during thumb movements; and (2) quantifying changes in PL muscle architecture using ultrasonography. In 10 healthy males, PL muscle activity was recorded during maximal thenar muscle contractions (abduction, flexion, opposition, adduction, and extension) with the wrist secured in a neutral position. The PL EMG was normalized to its maximal EMG recorded during isometric wrist flexion. Dynamic changes in PL muscle thickness (MT) were determined during abduction and adduction using ultrasound imaging. The results indicate that the PL is activated during thenar movements with greatest relative PL EMG recorded during thenar abduction (46%), flexion (35%) and opposition (37%). Compared to rest, PL MT significantly increased (21%) during maximal thenar abduction. With direct measures in vivo, this study supports morphological and surgical observations indicating the PL acts as an extrinsic hand muscle in enhancing thenar muscle actions. Knowledge of the synergistic relationship between the PL and thenar musculature may allow for further development of surgical opponensplasty approaches using the abductor pollicis brevis and PL as a functional digastric unit. Clin. Anat. 31:760–770, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Government Expenditure and National Income: Causality Tests for Twelve New Members of E.E.

This study aims to determine the direction of causality between national income and government expenditures for twelve new members of E.E. namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Support for the hypothesis that causality runs from government expenditures to national income has been found only in the case of Bulgaria and Cyprus. The results of Granger causality tests indicate that Wagner’s law is supported by the data of countries (Cyprus, Poland, and Romania) in our sample.
Effect of Pain and Audiovisual Stimulation on the Depression of Acute Hypoxic Ventilatory Response by Low-dose Halothane in Humans

Background:The effects of different low-dose volatile agents in blunting the acute hypoxic ventilatory response (AHVR) are variable. Arousal (due to audiovisual stimulation) may prevent isoflurane-induced blunting of AHVR. The purpose of this study was to assess whether this was also the case for halothane. The authors also assessed the effects of pain on the interaction of halothane and AHVR. Methods:Step decreases in end-tidal partial pressure of oxygen using dynamic end-tidal forcing were performed from normoxia to hypoxia (50 mmHg) in 10 healthy volunteers, with end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide held 1–2 mmHg above normal, in six protocols: (1) control conditions (darkened, quiet room, eyes closed) without halothane and (2) with 0.1 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) halothane; (3) audiovisual stimulation (bright room, loud television) without halothane and (4) with 0.1 MAC halothane; (5) pain (electrical stimulation of skin over the tibia to produce a visual analog pain score of 5–6 out of 10) without halothane and (6) with 0.1 MAC halothane. The Bispectral Index of the electroencephalogram was also monitored. Results:Halothane did not affect normoxic minute ventilation in any arousal state but significantly reduced the magnitude of AHVR by 50% regardless of the background arousal state (P < 0.001). Bispectral Index values were reduced by halothane only in the absence of arousal (P < 0.003). Both pain and audiovisual stimulation modestly increased normoxic minute ventilation (P < 0.002) and AHVR (P < 0.003). Conclusions:Audiovisual stimulation does not prevent the blunting of AHVR by low-dose halothane. This result with halothane differs from previous results with isoflurane. Therefore, different anesthetics interact in different ways with arousal states. This finding raises the possibility that different anesthetics might differentially affect the hypoxic chemoreflex loop or that they might act in the brain at sites separate from the chemoreflex loop, differently to influence the wakefulness drive to ventilation.
REPORTS : HEALTH DISPARITIES RISK OF PRENATAL DEPRESSION : DIFFERENCES BY RACE

Jay J. Shen, PhD; Fang Lin, BS; Tara Jackson, MHA Background: Approximately 20 million adults suffer from depressive illnesses each year and women are at least twice as likely as men to experience depressive disorders and symptoms. Empirical results have been mixed regarding racial differences in depression prevalence. Given that depression has negative effects on maternal outcomes, little has been explored in regard to prenatal depression across racial/ethnic groups.
Feasibility of synthetic MRI in knee imaging in routine practice

Background Synthetic magnetic resonance (MR) is a method allowing reduction of examination time and access to quantitative imaging. Purpose This study sought to assess the image quality and diagnostic accuracy of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to standard MRI in patients with knee pain. Material and Methods In total, 22 patients underwent standard 1.5 knee MRI with an added synthetic sequence. Quantitative T1, T2, and proton density (PD) images were generated synthetically; T1, PD, and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) weighted images were created with chosen echo time (TE), repetition time (TR), and inversion time (TI). Two blinded musculoskeletal radiologists evaluated the overall sequence quality, visualization of anatomic structures, and presence of artifacts using a 3-point score. Results The synthetic sequence was acquired in 39% less time than the conventional MRI. Synthetic PD, T1, and STIR images were rated fair (2%, 5%, and 2%, respectively) or good quality (98%, 95%, and 98%, respectively), despite the presence of popliteal artery artifacts. Cartilage and meniscus were well visualized in all cases. Anterior cruciate ligament visualization was rated poor in 7%, 14%, and 30% of PD, STIR, and T1 images, respectively. Conclusion Our pilot study confirmed the feasibility of synthetic MRI in knee examinations, proving faster and achieving appropriate quality and good diagnostic confidence.