Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Projections of climate‐driven changes in tuna vertical habitat based on species‐specific differences in blood oxygen affinity

Oxygen concentrations are hypothesized to decrease in many areas of the ocean as a result of anthropogenically driven climate change, resulting in habitat compression for pelagic animals. The oxygen partial pressure, pO2, at which blood is 50% saturated (P50) is a measure of blood oxygen affinity and a gauge of the tolerance of animals for low ambient oxygen. Tuna species display a wide range of blood oxygen affinities (i.e., P50 values) and therefore may be differentially impacted by habitat compression as they make extensive vertical movements to forage on subdaily time scales. To project the effects of end‐of‐the‐century climate change on tuna habitat, we calculate tuna P50 depths (i.e., the vertical position in the water column at which ambient pO2 is equal to species‐specific blood P50 values) from 21st century Earth System Model (ESM) projections included in the fifth phase of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Overall, we project P50 depths to shoal, indicating likely habitat compression for tuna species due to climate change. Tunas that will be most impacted by shoaling are Pacific and southern bluefin tunas—habitat compression is projected for the entire geographic range of Pacific bluefin tuna and for the spawning region of southern bluefin tuna. Vertical shifts in P50 depths will potentially influence resource partitioning among Pacific bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin, and skipjack tunas in the northern subtropical and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. By establishing linkages between tuna physiology and environmental conditions, we provide a mechanistic basis to project the effects of anthropogenic climate change on tuna habitats.
Dual antiplatelet therapy in stroke and ICAS

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether the efficacy and safety of clopidogrel plus aspirin vs aspirin alone were consistent between patients with and without intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS), in the Clopidogrel in High-Risk Patients with Acute Non-disabling Cerebrovascular Events (CHANCE) trial. Methods: We assessed the interaction of the treatment effects of the 2 antiplatelet therapies among patients with and without ICAS, identified by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in CHANCE (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00979589). Results: Overall, 1,089 patients with MRA images available in CHANCE were included in this subanalysis, 608 patients (55.8%) with ICAS and 481 (44.2%) without. Patients with ICAS had higher rates of recurrent stroke (12.5% vs 5.4%; p < 0.0001) at 90 days than those without. But there was no statistically significant treatment by presence of ICAS interaction on either the primary outcome of any stroke (hazard ratio for clopidogrel plus aspirin vs aspirin alone: 0.79 [0.47–1.32] vs 1.12 [0.56–2.25]; interaction p = 0.522) or the safety outcome of any bleeding event (interaction p = 0.277). Conclusions: The results indicated higher rate of recurrent stroke in minor stroke or high-risk TIA patients with ICAS than in those without. However, there was no significant difference in the response to the 2 antiplatelet therapies between patients with and without ICAS in the CHANCE trial. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with acute minor stroke or TIA with and without ICAS identified by MRA, clopidogrel plus aspirin is not significantly different than aspirin alone in preventing recurrent stroke.
Neural Discrete Representation Learning

Learning useful representations without supervision remains a key challenge in machine learning. In this paper, we propose a simple yet powerful generative model that learns such discrete representations. Our model, the Vector Quantised-Variational AutoEncoder (VQ-VAE), differs from VAEs in two key ways: the encoder network outputs discrete, rather than continuous, codes; and the prior is learnt rather than static. In order to learn a discrete latent representation, we incorporate ideas from vector quantisation (VQ). Using the VQ method allows the model to circumvent issues of "posterior collapse" -- where the latents are ignored when they are paired with a powerful autoregressive decoder -- typically observed in the VAE framework. Pairing these representations with an autoregressive prior, the model can generate high quality images, videos, and speech as well as doing high quality speaker conversion and unsupervised learning of phonemes, providing further evidence of the utility of the learnt representations.
Stability of KcsA tetramer depends on membrane lateral pressure.

The potassium channel KcsA forms an extremely stable tetramer. Despite this high stability, it has been shown that the membrane-mimicking solvent 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) can induce tetramer dissociation [Valiyaveetil, F. I. , et al. (2002) Biochemistry 41, 10771-7, and Demmers, J. A. A. , et al. (2003) FEBS Lett. 541, 69-77]. Here we have studied the effect of TFE on the structure and oligomeric state of the KcsA tetramer, reconstituted in different lipid systems. It was found that TFE changes the secondary and tertiary structure of KcsA and that it can dissociate the KcsA tetramer in all systems used. The tetramer is stabilized by a lipid bilayer as compared to detergent micelles. The extent of stabilization was found to depend on the nature of the lipids: a strong stabilizing effect of the nonbilayer lipid phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was observed, but no effect of the charged phoshosphatidylglycerol (PG) as compared to phosphatidylcholine (PC) was found. To understand how lipids stabilize KcsA against TFE-induced tetramer dissociation, we also studied the effect of TFE on the bilayer organization in the various lipid systems, using (31)P and (2)H NMR. The observed lipid dependency was similar as was found for tetramer stabilization: PE increased the bilayer stability as compared to PC, while PG behaved similar to PC. Furthermore, it was found that TFE has a large effect on the acyl chain ordering. The results indicate that TFE inserts primarily in the membrane interface. We suggest that the lipid bilayer stabilizes the KcsA tetramer by the lateral pressure in the acyl chain region and that this stabilizing effect increases when a nonbilayer lipid like PE is present.
Teaching spreadsheet proficiency: beyond hitting the keys

Many tertiary institutions teach spreadsheets as part of the introductory course on computing. The time allocated for spreadsheet teaching is usually limited and instructors are often faced with the dilemma of how to ensure effective coverage of the subject. Some instructors end up "dumping" manual-like materials onto the students, thinking that they will read the materials religiously. It is possible that the frequent occurrence of spreadsheet errors that has been established in prior research is a result of inadequate teaching. It is important, therefore, for instructors to know how to teach effectively. This paper identified six teaching methods and discussed their advantages and disadvantages. This paper also proposed a three-stage spreadsheet teaching model that emphasises teaching the procedural and conceptual aspects of the software. The model provides a useful guide for instructors and it should help to address the concern regarding frequent occurrence of spreadsheet errors.
Future reef decalcification under a business-as-usual CO2 emission scenario

Significance The study explores the impact of anthropogenic ocean warming and acidification on intact coral reef assemblages using large-scale, replicated mesocosms that simulate future conditions under natural levels of seasonal variability. Increasing atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) is a major threat to coral reefs, but some argue that the threat is mitigated by factors such as the variability in the response of coral calcification to acidification, differences in bleaching susceptibility, and the potential for rapid adaptation to anthropogenic warming. However the evidence for these mitigating factors tends to involve experimental studies on corals, as opposed to coral reefs, and rarely includes the influence of multiple variables (e.g., temperature and acidification) within regimes that include diurnal and seasonal variability. Here, we demonstrate that the inclusion of all these factors results in the decalcification of patch-reefs under business-as-usual scenarios and reduced, although positive, calcification under reduced-emission scenarios. Primary productivity was found to remain constant across all scenarios, despite significant bleaching and coral mortality under both future scenarios. Daylight calcification decreased and nocturnal decalcification increased sharply from the preindustrial and control conditions to the future scenarios of low (reduced emissions) and high (business-as-usual) increases in pCO2. These changes coincided with deeply negative carbonate budgets, a shift toward smaller carbonate sediments, and an increase in the abundance of sediment microbes under the business-as-usual emission scenario. Experimental coral reefs demonstrated highest net calcification rates and lowest rates of coral mortality under preindustrial conditions, suggesting that reef processes may not have been able to keep pace with the relatively minor environmental changes that have occurred during the last century. Taken together, our results have serious implications for the future of coral reefs under business-as-usual environmental changes projected for the coming decades and century.
Convergence and finite-time behavior of simulated annealing

Simulated Annealing is a randomized algorithm which has been proposed for finding globally optimum least-cost configurations in large NP-complete problems with cost functions which may have many local minima. A theoretical analysis of Simulated Annealing based on its precise model, a time-inhomogeneous Markov chain, is presented. An annealing schedule is given for which the Markov chain is strongly ergodic and the algorithm converges to a global optimum. The finite-time behavior of Simulated Annealing is also analyzed and a bound obtained on the departure of the probability distribution of the state at finite time from the optimum. This bound gives an estimate of the rate of convergence and insights into the conditions on the annealing schedule which gives optimum performance.
When Tort Resolutions Are “Wrong”: Predictors of Discordant Outcomes in Medical Malpractice Litigation

Tort litigation is frequently criticized for producing outcomes that do not match merit. We examined 1,452 closed malpractice claims from five insurers to obtain objective clinical judgments of their underlying merit. We then analyzed predictors of discordant outcomes—payment of apparently nonmeritorious claims and nonpayment of apparently meritorious claims. In multivariate analyses, the odds of both forms of discordant outcome were significantly higher when reviewers judged it a close call as to whether a medical error had occurred. The odds of nonmeritorious claims receiving compensation were significantly higher among cases involving infants and health care facility codefendants and significantly lower when claims were decided by trial verdict. The strongest predictor of rejection of meritorious claims was resolution by trial verdict, which suggests that patients who have been harmed by error fare poorly when their claims are decided by juries.
The Temporal Price Relationship between S&P 500 Futures and the S&P 500 Index

This paper empirically examines the intraday price relationship between S&P 500 futures and the S&P 500 index using minute-to-minute data. Three-stage least-squares regression is used to estimate lead and lag relationships with estimates for expiration days of the S&P 500 futures compared with estimates for days prior to expiration. The results suggest that futures price movements consistently lead index movements by twenty to forty-five minutes while movements in the index rarely affect futures beyond one minute.
[Delayed menarche following early onset of athletic sports training].

To investigate the effect of athletic sports training on the onset of menarche, we submitted questionnaires to college students at University of Tsukuba. 311 students (174 college athletes and 137 non-athlete control students (group C) completed the questionnaires. The college athletes were divided into hard physical activity (group A) and moderate physical activity (group B) groups. The average age was similar in each group. The physical profile showed that group A and B were significantly (p less than 0.001) taller and heavier than those of group C. There was no significant difference among the average menarcheal age of group A (12.9 +/- 1.1 years, Mean +/- S.D.), group B (12.8 +/- 1.1 years) and group C (12.6 +/- 1.0 years). However, some of athletes in group A who had begun sports training before menarche had a later menarcheal age (13.1 +/- 1.1 years, p less than 0.001), and others who had begun training after menarche had a significantly earlier menarcheal age (12.1 +/- 0.9 years, p less than 0.001) whereas in group B the average menarcheal ages of premenarche-trained (12.9 +/- 1.1 years) and postmenarcheal-trained (12.3 +/- 1.1 years) students were similar to that of group C. These data indicate that early beginning of hard athletic training delays the onset of menarche.
Voluntary Control of Penile Tumescence

&NA; This study investigated the voluntary control of penile tumescence in the absence of external erotic stimulation. Twelve experimental subjects were given analogue visual feedback and monetary rewards for increase in penile diameter as measured by a strain gauge. Twelve control subjects were given no analogue feedback and noncontingent rewards but the same instructions to maximize erections. While both groups were capable of voluntary penile tumescence, significantly improved performance was observed in the experimental group. Two distinct psychophysiological patterns of voluntary penile tumescence were observed. A “tension” pattern was associated with marked heart rate acceleration, irregular respiration, and variable penile response. A “relaxation” pattern was associated with stable heart rate, regular respiration, and smooth tumescence curves. In using these procedures for the treatment of sexual dysfunctions, it is suggested that feedback and reward be given for a combined pattern of sexual and autonomic responses.
Effect of transcutaneous electrical muscle stimulation and passive cycling movements on blood pressure and removal of urea and phosphate during hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND Intradialytic exercise has been described to improve blood pressure stability and dialysis efficacy. However, comorbid conditions in the dialysis population often preclude the widespread use of active intradialytic exercise. Therefore, we investigated the effect of intradialytic transcutaneous muscle stimulation (TEMS) and passive cycling movements (PCMs) on blood pressure and dialysis efficacy in patients. STUDY DESIGN Prospective, controlled, randomized, crossover investigation. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Ten patients were randomly allocated to TEMS, PCMs, or no intervention (NI) for 9 consecutive dialysis sessions. INTERVENTION Participants were studied with NI, PCMs using a motor-driven ergometer, and bilateral TEMS of the leg musculature. Individual dialysis prescriptions were unchanged during the investigation. OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS The effect of TEMS and PCMs on blood pressure and dialysis efficacy in patients was assessed. RESULTS Mean blood pressure increased from 121/64 +/- 21/15 mm Hg with NI to 132/69 +/- 21/15 mm Hg (P < 0.001) during sessions with PCMs and 125/66 +/- 22/16 mm Hg (P < 0.05) during sessions with TEMS. Urea and phosphate removal during dialysis were significantly (P < 0.001) greater with TEMS (19.4 +/- 3.7 g/dialysis and 1,197 +/- 265 mg/dialysis) or PCMs (20.1 +/- 3.4 g/dialysis and 1,172 +/- 315 mg/dialysis) than with NI (15.1 +/- 3.9 g/dialysis and 895 +/- 202 mg/dialysis). Body weight, ultrafiltration, Kt/V, and increases in hemoglobin and albumin levels during dialysis did not differ among the NI, PCMs, and TEMS groups. LIMITATIONS The study design does not allow extension of the findings to prolonged treatment. CONCLUSION Future studies during longer observation periods will have to prove the persistence of these acute findings. Both TEMS and PCMs deserve future investigations in dialysis patients because they increase intradialytic blood pressure and facilitate urea and phosphate removal when applied short term.
Consumer inferences of food safety and quality

Economists frequently use choice experiments (CEs) to evaluate demand for new attributes in food products. Using a split-sample experimental design focused on demand for pork chop attributes, we find consumer inferences regarding food safety and quality to impact estimates of marginal willingness to pay, market participation, policy appropriateness and consumer welfare effects. Our results suggest that interpretation of findings should be noted as conditional on attributes included in original analyses. A split-sample experimental approach involving multiple CE designs is described and suggested to practitioners to better consider consumer inference effects in future studies. , Oxford University Press.
Optimization of synthesis conditions for CoSb3 compounds prepared by Sb self-flux method

CoSb3 bulk materials were successfully prepared by Sb self-flux technique, and the synthesis conditions were widely investigated to obtain the high purity compounds utilizing a quantitative powder XRD study with the Rietveld analysis applying a multi-phase-fitting condition. The reaction temperature range for the Sb self-flux technique was extended up to 1123 K to promote the reaction in the Co-Sb system. The relation between the reaction temperature and the chemical composition is discussed to optimize the preparation conditions in the Sb self-flux technique
The impact of social and relational contexts on innovation transfer in foreign subsidiaries

It is widely acknowledged that innovation is one of the pillars of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and that technological knowledge from different host locations is a key factor to the MNEs' competitive advantages development. Concerning these assumptions, in this paper we aim to understand how the social and the relational contexts affect the conventional and reverse transfer of innovation from MNEs' subsidiaries hosted in emerging markets. We analysed the social context through the institutional profile (CIP) level and the relational context through trust and integration levels utilising a survey sent to 172 foreign subsidiaries located in Brazil, as well as secondary data. Through an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis we found that the relational context affects the conventional and reverse innovation transfer in subsidiaries hosted in emerging markets. We however did not find support for the social context effect.
The effect of life cycle stage of a firm on the relationship between board size and financial performance

Theoretical and empirical evidence regarding the impact of board size on financial performance has been proposed for a positive impact, negative impact or no impact at all. In our view, this reinforces the need for careful studies of the available empirical data in order to distinguish between the differing arguments. Contrary to previous works, it is argued in this paper that firm life cycle moderates the relationship between board size and financial performance. Econometric analysis, using a sample of 84 Egyptian listed firms over the period from 2005 to 2010, provided strong evidence for the applicability of this theme and demonstrated that while board size affects financial performance negatively in the inception stage, it has exerted a positive and significant coefficient on financial performance for those firms that are in the expansion stage, the maturity stage or the revival stage.
Fatty acids composition in seeds of the South American glasswort Sarcocornia ambigua.

Sarcocornia ambigua (Michx.) M.A. Alonso & M.B. Crespo is the most widely distributed species of the perennial genus of glasswort in South America, and it shows great biotechnological potential as a salt-water irrigated crop. Qualitative and quantitative compositions of fatty acids were determined in the seeds of S. ambigua that were cultivated in southern Brazil. Hexane extraction of the seed oil from S. ambigua yielded 13% of total lipids. The GC-FID (Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector) analysis of the hexane extracts showed five prominent peaks for the seed oil: 42.9 wt. % linoleic-ω6 acid (18:2), 20.4 wt. % palmitic acid (16:0), 18.5 wt. % oleic acid (18:1), 4.5 wt. % stearic acid (18:0) and 4.0 wt. % linolenic-ω3 acid (18:3). The sum of the saturated palmitic and stearic acids (24.8%) in S. ambigua seed oil exceeded values cited for commercial oils use, as well as the seed oil from the cultivated annual glasswort Salicornia bigelovii. No undesirable fatty acid components were found in S. ambigua seed oil, and it could be recommended for animal consumption or biofuel production.
Innovation, New Market and Governance Choices of Entry: The Internet Brokerage Market Case

This paper investigates the case of market entry strategies following the introduction of a disruptive innovation. Recognizing that market entry strategies have been envisioned in the literature as a discrete phenomenon, we develop an empirical framework that portrays these strategies as a capability building process. Three organizational modes are integrated into our model: acquisition, alliance and market transaction. We compare the first two with the third and test the model in the setting of the online brokerage industry by using a sample of 897 moves made by 98 firms between 1994 and 2000. We suggest that firms' entry modes can be differentiated along factors specific to market timing as well as the degree of specificity of targeted capabilities. Our findings show that acquisitions are used to access specific capabilities. This means that external sources can be used when firms face a make‐or‐buy decision in the aftermath of technological change. Alliances appear to play a limited role while market transactions are widely used. By suggesting that entry into a new industry is not a discrete phenomenon, our research should open the avenue to additional inquiries on this topic.
Legal Regime and Financial Reporting Quality

This article uses the Canadian environment, where French civil law in the province of Quebec coexists with common law in the rest of Canada (denoted as bijural), to test the thesis of the neutrality of the legal system with regard to financial reporting quality. This single-country design allows for a better control over other factors that influence financial reporting quality. The French civil law environment appears to encourage firms to publish accounting data of better quality due to the greater liability risk faced by auditors and corporate directors under that regime. These findings, based on ten years of data and seven attributes of financial reporting quality, are robust to different matching procedures and model specifications. This research contributes to the current debates in Canada as to whether financial market regulation under French civil law and common law jurisdictions should be unified under a single common law national securities regulator. At the broader level, the results support claims that a more in-depth understanding of the implementation of civil law and common law is needed rather than gross generalization about the two systems. These results especially call into question that common law regimes are unambiguously superior to civil law regimes in encouraging high quality financial reports.