Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Firm Fundamentals and Variance Risk Premiums

We develop a tractable valuation model which shows that future asset returns are predictably related to two firm characteristics, book-to-market (bm) and return on equity (roe), because these measures carry information about priced risk. The model we derive predicts a negative relation between expected variance returns embedded in option prices (variance risk premiums) and both bm and roe. We confirm this prediction using a variety of empirical specifications. Our results show that accounting-based characteristics simultaneously inform investors about cash flows as well as the priced risk of those cash flows.
Shift-invert diagonalization of large many-body localizing spin chains

We provide a pedagogical review on the calculation of highly excited eigenstates of disordered interacting quantum systems which can undergo a many-body localization (MBL) transition, using shift-invert exact diagonalization. We also provide an example code at https://bitbucket.org/dluitz/sinvert_mbl. Through a detailed analysis of the simulational parameters of the random field Heisenberg spin chain, we provide a practical guide on how to perform efficient computations. We present data for mid-spectrum eigenstates of spin chains of sizes up to L=26L=26. This work is also geared towards readers with interest in efficiency of parallel sparse linear algebra techniques that will find a challenging application in the MBL problem.
The Association of Blood Cholinergic Esterases and Other Risk Factors on the Development of Postoperative Delirium

Study Objective: Delirium is an important complication after surgical intervention. One of the potential risk factors for cognitive disorders is deterioration in cholinergic neurotransmission including anticholinergic medications. We hypothesize that changes in blood cholinesterases (CHE) are associated with postoperative delirium. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Postoperative delirium was assessed at least once daily in all included patients (n=103) preoperatively and on the first and third postoperative day during their stay on the intensive care unit (ICU) or in hospital. Patients: undergoing a surgery on the head were included. Interventions and Measurements: Postoperative delirium was assessed using the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC). Blood samples were taken parallel to delirium testing and analyzed for serum anticholinergic activity (SAA) using radioactive competitive assay; acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase activities (ACHE, BuCHE) were measured spectrophotometrically. Furthermore, patients’ characteristics and medication were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate potential predictors of postoperative delirium. Main Results: Postoperative delirium was identified in 32% of patients and was associated with significant longer duration of surgery, prolonged artificial ventilation, and longer stays on the ICU and in hospital. In contrast to ACHE and SAA, a significantly reduced BuCHE (mean of n=3 time points ± SD, U/l) was associated with delirious patients (2918.9 ± 645) compared to non-delirious (3484.0 ± 928.4). Reduction in BuCHE was associated with a higher number of administered drugs with greater anticholinergic potency (≥ 1, classified according to the Anticholinergic Drug Scale). Conclusion: Patients with reduced pre- or postoperative BuCHE activity are at higher risk for the development of postoperative delirium, this may be because of polypharmacy with anticholinergic drugs. Highlights: • Postoperative delirium was investigated in head and neck cancer patients. • Delirium was associated with reduced pre- and postoperative BuCHE activity. • Reduced BuCHE activity seems to be associated with polypharmacy of anticholinergic drugs.
Absorbable collagen implants localise delivery of gentamicin in uncemented primary total hip arthroplasty

Infection remains a major reason for revision arthroplasty. Localised antibiotic delivery can produce effective concentrations while minimising risks from systemic exposure. Gentamicin-impregnated collagen implants can reduce surgical site infection rates, but orthopaedic usage has been limited. As a preliminary test of appropriate dosage and safety, we measured local and systemic gentamicin levels after implanting collagen carriers during primary total hip arthroplasty (uncemented, anterior approach), in addition to routine intravenous cephalosporin prophylaxis. The day after surgery, blood samples were taken and wound fluid was sampled from an anaesthetic-infiltrating catheter. Median gentamicin levels were 54.7 mg/l in wound fluid (n=32) and 0.7 mg/l in serum (n=37). Serum levels were all below 2 mg/l; they showed a moderate negative correlation to time elapsed between surgery and sampling, but no significant correlation with local concentrations. No infections or adverse effects were detected over six weeks’ follow-up. These data suggest that delivery of gentamicin to the surgical site via collagen pads achieves high local antibiotic concentrations, with corresponding serum levels within an accepted low-risk range. A single pad produced levels likely to be effective against bacteria associated with infected joint prostheses. Gentamicin- collagen pads may thus provide a useful adjunct to systemic prophylaxis in primary arthroplasty.
Ostracism among Gifted Adolescents: A Preliminary Study in Turkey

Ostracism has an influence on psychological and social functioning. The aim of this study is to examine ostracism among gifted students, with regard to gender and grade levels. Also, the relationship between ostracism and intelligence level was investigated. The study was conducted in a gifted education center, with 94 gifted students who were attending middle school (grades 5-8). The Ostracism Experience Scale for Adolescents and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised Form were employed as data collection tools. According to the findings obtained from the study, it is concluded that ostracism did not differ in terms of gender among gifted students. Besides, being socially excluded may be higher in 8 th grades than 6 th and 7 th grades. Also in the study, a positive correlation was found between intelligence level and ostracism. Discussion and suggestions were also provided based on the results.
Terrestrial Condition Assessment for National Forests of the USDA Forest Service in the Continental US

The terrestrial condition assessment (TCA) evaluates effects of uncharacteristic stressors and disturbance agents on land-type associations (LTAs) to identify restoration opportunities on national forest system (NFS) lands in the United States. A team of agency scientists and managers, representing a broad array of natural resource disciplines, developed a logic structure for the TCA to identify appropriate data sources to support analyses. Primary national data sources included observed insect- and pathogen-induced mortality, key critical loads for soil and the atmosphere, long term seasonal departures in temperature and precipitation, road densities, uncharacteristic wildfires, historical fire regime departure, wildfire potential, insect and pathogen risk, and vegetation departure from natural range of variability. The TCA was implemented with the ecosystem management decision support (EMDS) system, a spatial decision support system for landscape analysis and planning. EMDS uses logic models to interpret data, synthesizes information over successive layers of logic topics, and draws inferences about the ecological integrity of LTAs as an initial step to identifying high priority LTAs for landscape restoration on NFS lands. Results from the analysis showed that about 74 percent of NFS lands had moderate or better overall ecological integrity. Major impacts to ecological integrity included risk of mortality due to insects and disease, extent of current mortality, extent of areas with high and very high wildfire hazard potential, uncharacteristically severe wildfire, and elevated temperatures. In the discussion, we consider implications for agency performance reporting on restoration activities, and subsequent possible steps, including strategic and tactical planning for restoration. The objective of the paper is to describe the TCA framework with results from a national scale application on NFS lands.
Crime Simulation Using GIS and Artificial Intelligent Agents

This chapter presents an innovative agent-based model for crime simulation. The model is built on the integration of geographic information systems (GIS) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. An AI algorithm (reinforcement learning) is applied in designing mobile agents that can find their ways on a street network. The multi-agent system is implemented as a Windows desktop program and then loosely coupled with ESRI ArcGIS. The model allows users to create artificial societies which consist of offender agents, target agents
Noisy coupled qubits: Operator spreading and the Fredrickson-Andersen model

We study noise-averaged observables for a system of exchange-coupled quantum spins (qubits), each subject to a stochastic drive, by establishing mappings onto stochastic models in the strong-noise limit. Averaging over noise yields Lindbladian equations of motion; when these are subjected to a strong-noise perturbative treatment, classical master equations are found to emerge. The dynamics of noise averages of operators displays diffusive behaviour or exponential relaxation, depending on whether the drive conserves one of the spin components or not. In the latter case, the second moment of operators -- from which the average subsystem purity and out-of-time-order correlation functions can be extracted -- is described by the Fredrickson-Andersen model, originally introduced as a model of cooperative relaxation near the glass transition. It is known that fluctuations of a ballistically propagating front in the model are asymptotically Gaussian in one dimension. We extend this by conjecturing, with strong numerical evidence, that in two dimensions the long-time fluctuations are in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class, complementing a similar observation in random unitary circuits.
Decrease in CD 8 + lymphocyte number and altered cytokine profile in human prostate cancer

The tumor microenvironment is comprised of multiple cell types arranged in a three-dimensional structure. Interactions amongst the various cell components play an important role in neoplasia, including the inflammatory reaction that occurs as part of the host response. In this study, the regional lymphocyte subpopulations and cytokine profiles associated with prostate cancer were examined using a quantitative imaging approach and expression microarray analysis. Lymphocytes were measured in four different epithelial phenotypes in prostate cancer specimens: carcinoma; prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN); benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH); and normal epithelium. The data indicate that CD8 positive, cytotoxic T lymphocytes are significantly decreased in regions adjacent to hyperplasia and carcinoma as compared to normal epithelium and PIN. In contrast the relative number of CD4 positive and CD20 positive lymphocytes did not change markedly. Parallel mRNA expression array analysis of the normal and tumor microenvironments identified a distinct cytokine profile in cancer, with 24 dysregulated genes in tumor epithelium and nine altered in tumor-associated stroma. Overall, these data indicate that the spatial distribution of CD8 positive, cytotoxic T lymphocytes is dysregulated in human prostate glands that contain cancer, and cytokine profiles are altered at the mRNA level.
Insurance - Economic Growth Nexus: Evidence from Botswana

The paper investigates the influence of insurance penetration on economic growth in Botswana for the period 1994-2013. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test approach to Cointegration by Pesaran et al. (2001) the study finds a negative long-run relationship between insurance penetration and economic growth. This suggests that the recent rapid expansion of the insurance sector could be hurting the economy? s long-run growth. We contend that this finding could reflect a saving-substitution effect in which insurance assets mobilized locally are invested abroad. However, the effect is economically small and statistically significant only at the 10 percent level. Furthermore, there is no evidence that insurance penetration affects growth in the short-run. Nonetheless we argue that there is a need to pay more attention to the insurance sector in financial sector policy analysis, lest it becomes a significant leakage of funds from the income-expenditure stream.
ExoMol linelists XXVIII: the rovibronic spectrum of AlH

A new line list for AlH is produced. The WYLLoT line list spans two electronic states $X\,{}^1\Sigma^+$ and $A\,{}^1\Pi$. A diabatic model is used to model the shallow potential energy curve of the $A\,{}^1\Pi$ state, which has a strong pre-dissociative character with only two bound vibrational states. Both potential energy curves are empirical and were obtained by fitting to experimentally derived energies of the $X\,{}^1\Sigma^+$ and $A\,{}^1\Pi$ electronic states using the diatomic nuclear motion codes Level and Duo. High temperature line lists plus partition functions and lifetimes for three isotopologues $^{27}$AlH, $^{27}$AlD and $^{26}$AlH were generated using ab initio dipole moments. The line lists cover both the $X$--$X$ and $A$--$X$ systems and are made available in electronic form at the CDS and ExoMol databases.
Identification and Characterization of a New Enterobacter Onion Bulb Decay Caused by Lelliottia amnigena in China

Objectives: Enterobacter is a genus with numerous species associated with clinical relevance, plants, foods and environmental sources. However, the taxonomy of Enterobacter is complicated and confusing. In order to identify the taxonomy of the causal agent isolated from decay onion bulbs in China and provide an example to identify plant pathogens, we used biochemical technologies in combination with molecular biology to confirm the status of the pathogen. Methods: In this study, biochemical test, colonial and microscopic morphology analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and multilocus sequences analysis (MLSA) based on partial sequencing of rpoB, atpD, gyrB and infB were performed on the isolates obtained from the decayed onion bulbs. According to the biochemical characteristics and genetic relationship, we compared the pathogen with related strains obtained from BLASTn alignment. Finally, pathogenicity test was performed on healthy onion bulbs to verify the Koch’s postulates. Results: Biochemical test, colonial and electron microscopic morphology indicated that the pathogen is gramnegative, belongs to the genus Lelliottia and in combination with phylogenetic analysis, it is most similar to L. amnigena. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first report of L. amnigena naturally causing soft rot disease on harvested onion.
Theory of the optical spin-polarization loop of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is of high importance in quantum information processing applications which relies on the efficient optical polarization of its electron spin. However, the full optical spinpolarization process, in particular, the intersystem crossing between the shelving singlet state and the ground state triplet, is not understood. Here we develop a detailed theory on this process which involves strong electron-phonon couplings and correlation of electronic states that can be described as a combination of pseudo and dynamic Jahn-Teller interactions together with spin-orbit interaction. Our theory provides an explanation for the asymmetry between the observed emission and absorption spectra of the singlet states. We apply density functional theory to calculate the intersystem crossing rates and the optical spectra of the singlets and we obtain good agreement with the experimental data. As NV center serves as a template for other solid-state-defect quantum bit systems, our theory provides a toolkit to study them that might help optimize their quantum bit operation.
Clot formation and lysis in platelet rich plasma of healthy donors and patients with resistant hypertension

Hemostatic balance in blood is affected by numerous factors, including coagulation and fibrinolytic proteins, the wide spectrum of their inhibitors, and blood cells. Since platelets can participate in contradictory processes, they significantly complicate the whole picture. Therefore, nowadays the development of global assays of hemostasis, which can reflect the physiological process of hemostasis and can be used for point-of-care diagnosis of thrombosis, is crucial. This paper outlines a new approach we used to analyze the capabilities of clot waveform analysis tools to distinguish the response of platelet-rich plasma from healthy donors and patients with arterial hypertension caused by stimulation of coagulation and lysis (with exogenous thrombin and recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, respectively). In donor plasma, when the clot degradation was accompanied by 40 IU/ml of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, platelets potentiated fibrinolysis more than coagulation, which ultimately shifts the overall balance to a profibrinolytic state. at the same time, for patients with hypertension, platelets, embedded in clot obtained from platelet-rich plasma, showed a weaker ability to stimulate fibrinolysis. The obtained data gives the evidence that platelets can act not only as procoagulants but also as profibrinolytics. By simultaneously amplifying coagulation and fibrinolysis, making their rates comparable, platelets would control plasma procoagulant activity, thereby regulating local hemostatic balance, the size and lifetime of the clot. Moreover, clot waveform analysis may be used to distinguish the effects of platelet-rich plasma on clotting or lysis of fibrin clots in healthy donors and patients with essential hypertension.
A review of pulmonary function in Parkinson’s disease

: Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, secondary to dopaminergic depletion, which primarily affects motor control via the basal ganglia. It is a multi-system disease affecting dopaminergic neurons throughout the body. The Parkinsonian syndromes are associated with excess morbidity and mortality from respiratory causes. Pulmonary function studies have yielded conflicting results in PD. Understanding the pattern of any respiratory dysfunction in PD, and interventions that could modify these, is of importance in dyspnea, hypoxia, hypercapnia, pneumonia, speech, swallowing, sleep disordered breathing, daytime somnolence, acute respiratory failure, extubation difficulties, increased respiratory infections and reduced exercise tolerance and functional capacity. The aims of this review are to summarize the patterns of pulmonary dysfunction described in previous research in PD, describe the possible implications of pulmonary dysfunction on symptoms in PD, highlight considerations for physicians managing patients and suggest areas for future research.
Performance of Different Size True Potato Seed Seedling Tubers at Khumaltar

A field study was carried out at Khumaltar-Lalitpur, during 2002-2004 to evaluate and compare the performance of different sizes of seedling tubers (1-5 g, 5-10 g, 10-20 g and 20-40 g) of true potato seed (TPS) with whole and half cut seed tubers of Desiree of 20-40 g size at 60- × 25-cm spacing. Percent emergence, plant height, ground cover by foliage, stems/plant, number of tubers per plant, marketable and total yields were significantly increased with the increase in seedling tubers weight as compared to whole and half cut seed tubers of Desiree. Late blight ( Phytophthora infestans L.) disease was quite low in the TPS crops than Desiree. Both whole and half cut seed tubers of Desiree produced significantly higher average per tuber weight. Uniformity of the tubers harvested from different sizes of seedling tubers was statistically similar and tubers from Desiree were statistically uniform as compared to seedling tubers. The three years result suggests that more than 1 g size seedling tubers can be successfully used for potato production as from the seed tubers of any standard variety. Key words: Desiree; seedling tuber; tuber size; tuber yield DOI: 10.3126/narj.v6i0. 3341 Nepal Agriculture Research Journal Vol.6 2005 pp.28-34
Epidermoids Of The Posterior Cranial Fossa – Surgical Experiences & Review Of Literature

Epidermoids are rare, non-neoplastic tumors that account for 0.2% to 1% of intracranial tumors. 50% of these congenital lesions develop in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) and displace or encase neurovascular structures. There is little data on clinical presentation and neurological outcome in larger series. We extracted patients with epidermoids of the posterior cranial fossa (PCF), who had been treated at our center, and discussed our findings in the context of current literature.
Recent Developments in the Rapid Diagnosis of MDR-TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major infectious disease causing considerable morbidity and mortality among the most vulnerable individuals around the globe. Most active TB disease cases in humans are caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis [1]. Active TB disease typically results from recent infection/re-infection in low-income, high TB burden countries while in high income, low TB incidence countries, it is usually caused by reactivation of a previously acquired infection (reactivation of latent infection) [1,2]. Despite declining trends in TB disease incidence and deaths in the past few years, the disease burden is still enormous. According to the recent WHO estimates, there were 10.4 million active TB disease cases (including 1 million patients coinfected with HIV in 2016 which killed 1.7 million people worldwide [3]. The largest number (45%) of disease cases occurred in South-East Asia region with five countries accounting for ~56% of all TB cases [3]. The incidence varies considerably around the globe and is usually low
Quantum Mechanics in a Time-Asymmetric Universe: On the Nature of the Initial Quantum State

In a quantum universe with a strong arrow of time, we postulate a low-entropy boundary condition (the past hypothesis, PH) to account for the temporal asymmetry. In this article, I show that the PH also contains enough information to simplify the quantum ontology and define a natural initial condition. First, I introduce ‘density-matrix realism’, the thesis that the quantum state of the universe is objective and impure. This stands in sharp contrast to wave-function realism, the thesis that the quantum state of the universe is objective and pure. Second, I suggest that the PH is sufficient to determine a natural density matrix, which is simple and unique. This is achieved by what I call the ‘initial projection hypothesis’: the initial density matrix of the universe is the (normalized) projection onto the PH-subspace (in the Hilbert space). Third, because the initial quantum state is unique and simple, we have a strong case for the nomological thesis: the initial quantum state of the universe is on a par with laws of nature. This new package of ideas has several interesting implications, including on the harmony between statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics, theoretical unity of the universe and the subsystems, and the alleged conflict between Humean supervenience and quantum entanglement.