Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Statistical Foundations of the EI Method

A recently proposed statistical model of ecological inference (the inference of individual behavior from observations consisting of aggregated individual-level data), known by its adherents as “EI”, has recently gained a great deal of attention both inside and outside the statistical profession. This article shows that EI is in fact an application of the standard statistical theory of prediction, though with many statistical errors, not the least of which is the failure of the author of EI to recognize the relationship between EI and prediction. Although application of the theory of prediction may improve the inference of individual behavior for any observation of the aggregated dataset, it is unlikely to improve the estimate of individual behavior derived from the use of all of the observations, which is the usual goal of ecological inference.
Cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein 1 as a biomarker to assist early diagnosis and prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in endoscopic biopsy fragments

Objective Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has high mortality worldwide, but its early diagnosis and prognosis are very difficult. Cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein 1 (PABPC1) plays an important role in regulating most cellular processes, resulting in a close relationship to tumor genesis and malignant development. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the clinical value of PABPC1 as a biomarker for the early diagnosis and prognosis of ESCC in endoscopic patients. Methods A total of 185 patients with lesions found by endoscopy were involved in this study, including 116 finally diagnosed with ESCCs and 69 with nonmalignant lesions. Biopsy fragments and surgical specimens were collected to assess PABPC1 expression by immunohistochemistry, and the association between the expression and survival was analyzed and compared in both samples. Results The average ratio of positive tumor cells to total tumor cells in the biopsy fragments was lower than that in surgical specimens, leading to a cutoff value of only 10% for the former in ROC analysis (AOC = 0.808, P < 0.001). However, PABPC1 high expression (PABPC1-HE) in both biopsy fragments and surgical specimens was associated with poor survival. When PABPC1 expression was used as a biomarker to diagnose ESCC in biopsy fragments, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value reached 44.8, 100.0, 100.0, and 51.9%, respectively. Among the 116 ESCC patients, 32 received postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Postoperative treatment increased the overall survival (OS) but not disease-free survival in lymph node-positive patients (P = 0.007 and 0.957, respectively). Nevertheless, PABPC1-HE predicted shorter OS regardless of the postoperative treatment in both endoscopic biopsy samples and surgical specimens. Conclusion PABPC1 expression can be used as a biomarker to detect ESCC from endoscopic lesions. At the same time, PABPC1-HE is a predictor of poor survival regardless of postoperative chemoradiotherapy in endoscopic biopsy samples of ESCC.
Analysis of the frequency of detection of hypercholesterolemia, carotid atherosclerosis and lipid-lowering therapy prescription in young adults under 45 years old according to the Duplex registry database

Aim of the study to analyze the detection of hypercholesterolemia (HCHL) and carotid atherosclerosis (CAS), verified by duplex scanning of the carotid arteries (DSCA) in young adults (YA), and to evaluate the lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) prescription among them according to the local registry database. Material and Methods: The Duplex registry database was used for this study (n=2548). YA up to 45 years old were selected for the final analysis (n=351). Results: HCHL (> 5 mmol/L) was detected in 68.9% of patients (n=241), and only 9.5% of them received LLT (n=23). CAS was detected in 12.8% (n=45), only 17.8% of them had received LLT (n=8). Men and women differed 1.5 times by the incidence of CAS in this age range: 15.7% (30 out of 191) vs 9.4% (15 out of 160), p=0.05. Men also generally have a higher prevalence of other risk factors/diseases: HCHL (78.0% (n=149) vs 58.1% (n=93) in women, p=0.00004), hypertension (AH) (15.7% (n=30) vs 9.4% (n=15) in women, p=0,05), history of myocardial infarction (MI) (1,6% (n=3) vs 0% (n=0) in women, ns). Signs that had a significant impact on LLT intake were the following: CAS (OR 2.8 [1.09;6.6] p=0.036); AH (OR 3.1 [1.32; 7.16] p=0.009); HCHL (> 5 mmol/L) (OR 4.2 [1.12; 26.83] p=0.06); HCHL (ICD-10 code E78) (OR 5.4 [2.04; 13.7] p=0.0003); MI history (OR 22.3 [1.65;675.5] p=0.009). Conclusion: The insufficient LLT prescription in young adults with HCHL and CAS was ascertained in the present study. The use of imaging methods to clarify the degree of cardiovascular risk is advisable for low and intermediate risk patients, which include young adults. DSСA is the main method for subclinical atherosclerosis verification. LLT should be prescribed to all YA patients with CAS (in the absence of contraindications). Graphical Abstract
Pharmacotherapy of small cell lung cancer: Current state-of-the-art

Introduction: Lung carcinoma is the leading cause of death in men and is closely related to smoking. The article focuses on the current statistics of this pathology in the world. Materials and methods: The literature review was carried out using PubMed database and included articles published from 2006 to 2021. The current schemes of chemotherapy and diagnostic options of small cell lung cancer were analyzed. The mechanisms of drug action on tumor cells were considered. An analysis of the publication activity in PubMed database related to pharmacotherapy of small cell lung cancer allows reporting a twofold increase in the number of publications over the period from 2007 to 2017. Results and discussion: A systematic review presenting staging of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and its radiation diagnostics has been conducted. As demonstrated, there are no current methods with proven effectiveness to early detect this pathology. However, it has been found that annual low-dose CT screenings helped detect a significant number of lung cancer cases at the early stage, although, the proportion of small cell carcinoma is still very high. Analyses of clinical outcomes of small cell lung cancer have showed that cisplatin/etoposide (EP) or carboplatin/etoposide (EC) appear to be the key combinations with high treatment efficacy. The article also discusses chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer, namely and the principle of its effect on tumor cells. However, this chemotherapy remains very toxic and causes a number of life-threatening side effects. It is necessary to assess the effectiveness of chemotherapy immediately after the start of treatment in order to balance benefits and risks. Conclusion: The search is currently under way for less toxic but effective compounds, this fact being a crucial issue of healthcare in providing high-quality medical and pharmaceutical care for cancer patients. Chemotherapy of the pathology under study requires high costs; therefore, a pharmacoeconomical assessment of the prescription of chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer is necessary to compare the costs of treatment and its effectiveness Graphical Abstract
Transport and Deposition of Spherical Particles and Fibers in an Improved Virtual Impactor

ABSTRACT Flow velocity in an improved virtual impactor was calculated for a Reynolds number of 4000 using a finite-element method. The governing equations of motion for spherical particles and fibers were used along with flow field information to calculate transport and losses in the impactor. The calculated separation efficiency and loss fraction for spherical particles agreed with experimental results reported in the literature. For fibers, separation efficiency curves were obtained in terms of fiber Stokes number and aspect ratio. The calculated collection efficiency curve moved to higher Stokes numbers with increasing fiber aspect ratio. All fiber sizes showed significant losses at the tip of the collecting probe of the impactor. As a result, the separation efficiency never reached 100%. The computational approach illustrated here can be used for predicting separation characteristics, which will lead to improved and cost-effective design of the impactor.
New Concepts in Modeling Damping in Structures

Most current methods for modeling damping in structures assume global linear viscous damping, even when nonlinear behavior is present in the structural system. While this approach is easy to implement, the results do not accurately model the displacement-history dependent damping behavior that is inherent in damaged members, nonstructural components and connections. This work presents a new method for modeling damping that can account for the nonlinearity of damping behavior across the system. In this method damping is added to each individual element or connection through the use of ghost elements, wherein a variety of damping springs are used to account for energy dissipation. In the work presented in this paper, the springs dissipate energy through rotation, and phenomenological rules are used to determine the damping moments in the in the springs. Two sets of rules are described; evolutionary and microscale. The evolutionary model is based on the concept of nonlinear viscous damping, and the microscale model uses experimentally determined energy dissipation relationships to model the damping. Although these methods increase computational demands for the nonlinear analysis of structures, the versatility of the approach allows for modeling a wide range of behavior that is not possible with the traditional global linear viscous damping models.
Evidence of fivefold-coordinated Ge atoms in amorphous GeO 2 under pressure using inelastic x-ray scattering

Elucidating pressure-induced structural transitions in glasses at a microscopic level is a formidable challenge. Here, the local environment of amorphous germania (a-GeO2) is investigated, from room pressure up to 18 GPa, using in situ inelastic x-ray-scattering measurements at the oxygen K-edge. The appearance of GeO5 units at intermediate pressures, a debated yet unsolved issue in the literature, is probed experimentally and their amount quantified. It is found that these units are minority species at all the pressures investigated, discarding the previously proposed fully pentacoordinated glassy state. The presence of GeO5 units, which occur as transient species as the glass undergoes a transition from the tetrahedral to octahedral Ge-coordination states, provides a microscopic basis for the understanding of glass behavior at intermediate pressures.
Intradialytic Hypotension During Heamodyalysis

OBJECTIVES Haemodialysis (HD) is a form of renal replacement therapy commonly prescribed for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. However, it is not without deleterious haemodynamic responses which may occur either during or immediately after the termination of the procedure. These may include hypotension or hypertension. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of intradialytic blood pressure changes in chronic kidney disease patients on maintenance hemodialysis.METHODOLOGY Patients with chronic kidney disease on maintenance hemodialysis were enrolled. Predialysis and immediate post dialysis blood pressure was recorded. Increase in postdialysis blood pressure by >20mmHg was called intradialytic hypertension and decrease by >20mmHg was called intradialytic hypotension.RESULTSA total of 203 patients on maintenance hemodialysis were enrolled. Age of the patients ranged from 18 to 50 years. Mean age of the patients was 39.80 ± 5.245 years. Male to female ratio was 1.8:1. Intradialytic hypotension was observed in 36 patients (17.7%) while intradialytic hypertension was observed in 22 patients (10.8%). CONCLUSIONIntradialysis blood pressure fluctuations such as hypotension and hypertension are common complications during hemodialysis. Intradialytic hypotension is more frequent.
EXPERIMENTAL INSPIRATION FOR KINEMATIC HARDENING SOIL MODELS

Traditional techniques for identifying yielding of soils in the context of classical elastic-plastic soil models are criticized. However, the extended use of such procedures starts to reveal the kinematic nature of the plastic behavior of soils. It is suggested that the experimental determination of stress response envelopes can provide an objective route toward the collection of stress-strain behavior for soils. Stress response envelopes are presented for true triaxial tests on clay and sand: these clearly reveal the kinematic nature of the soil behavior. Response envelopes are presented for different magnitudes of strain probes. As the magnitude of a strain probe increases, the kinematic element of the response decays and the memory for the increasingly distant history is swept out.
The Sociocultural and Institutional factors influencing Tax Avoidance in sub-Sahara Africa

Abstract Businesses find ways to reduce their tax while the government also establishes laws and policies to prevent tax avoidance. These conflicting objectives and strategies have heightened the interest in establishing the factors that influence firms’ level of tax avoidance. The study examined a country’s institutional and sociocultural elements that influence tax avoidance practices by firms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study involved one hundred seventy-three (173) listed companies from eight sub-Saharan African countries. The study used a multiple regression analysis technique to estimate the results. The results showed that a country’s institutional settings and particular sociocultural practices impact its firms’ tax avoidance practices. The findings demonstrated that the degree of tax avoidance activities of firms in SSA is influenced by management quality, regulatory quality, auditing quality, culture, and ethics of a country. This result has several policy implications. First, the management of firms can use their resources to lower the tax paid to the government. Governments can also use institutional frameworks to stop businesses from using aggressive tax avoidance strategies. As a result, the study adds to the body of research on the factors influencing tax evasion in emerging markets. The findings align with the institutional theory’s assertions that institutions, laws, and regulations can impact how businesses behave through coercive and normative isomorphism, which can affect how they avoid paying taxes.
Rigid block dynamics confined between side-walls

A rigid block lies on a horizontal surface between two symmetrically placed- walls. Under sinusoidal horizontal excitation, the block can impact both the floor and both side-walls. Periodic orbits are obtained analytically by linking piecewise linear solutions which have as an unknown the time impact difference between the floor and the wall. One nonlinear equation is then obtained in this unknown and solved numerically. The stability of these solutions is also examined. Symmetry-breaking and period-doubling bifurcations are observed. These latter responses can occur with larger than expected impact velocities. This problem has application in the nuclear industry where fuel rods can impact the sides of their containers. The design implication of these results is considered.
How monetary policy affects industrial activity in Malawi: Evidence from ARDL and VAR models

Abstract In this paper, the impact of monetary policy on industrial production is investigated for Malawi. Using the ARDL bounds testing approach, and VAR models, it is shown that tight monetary conditions negatively affect industrial production both in the short run and in the long run. This is the case whether the central bank’s policy rate or reserve money is used as the policy tool. The study further establishes the interest rate channel, and money supply channel as the main mechanisms through which this effect of monetary policy is transmitted to industrial production. Given these results, a recommendation is made that the Reserve Bank of Malawi should refrain from prolonged use of tight monetary policy in their quest to achieve stability of prices as this stifles growth of the industrial sector. Rather monetary policy should be used as a temporary stabilization tool when faced with temporary shocks to the bank’s policy objectives.
Estimation and analysis of survival distributions for radio-tagged animals

We present results on the estimation of survival distributions for an important problem in animal ecology. The problem involves estimation of survival distributions using radio-tagged animals. It requires allowance for censored observations due to radio failure, emigration from the study area, and animals surviving past the end of the study period. We show that survival analysis techniques already used in medical and engineering studies may be applied to this problem. Emphasis is placed on the model assumptions and the need for further research. An example to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of this approach is presented.
The Effects of Puppet Ethnomathematics Applications as Mathematics Teaching Materials for Character Education-Based

Character and cultural education has in important role in growing and developing the noble values of a nation. Character education in school can be means of civilizing and humanizing so that the goals of character education can be achieved. One of the link between culture and character education is ethnomathematics. However, there is still a lack of relevant teaching materials and it makes not optimal. Therefore, the implementation of cultural and educational linkages can be developed in a teaching material. The purpose of this research was to determine students’ responses to the ethnomathematics of puppet teaching materials as part of the stages of character education-based development. The type of the research is descriptive quantitative. The population of the research is junior high school students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The number of samples used were 260 students in which the criteria for 130 students are low learning achievements (Group 1) and the other 130 students are good learning achievements (Group 2). The instruments used in this research were application of ethnomathematical and student response through questionnaires. The results showed that in G1 with the low performance, the material in the application was very easy to learn and very useful. In addition, they are also satisfied with the use of the application. Meanwhile, G2 with good learning achievement feel that the application is very useful, very easy to learn and they are very satisfied with the application. Then based on the results of statistical tests, it was obtained that G1 and G2 showed that differences in learning achievement did not affect student responses to the learning process through Puppet ethnomathematics android application based on character education. All the Puppet characters have religious, disciplined, hard work, passion, and love for the homeland.
Numerical simulations of the 12–13 August 2002 flooding event in eastern Germany

In this paper, high‐resolution numerical simulations of the 12–13 August 2002 flooding event in eastern Germany are presented. The simulations are performed with the Penn State/National Center for Atmospheric Research mesoscale model MM5 in a four‐domain configuration with a finest horizontal resolution of 1 km. Sensitivity experiments are performed with coarser resolutions (3 and 9 km), with different cloud microphysical parametrizations and with a different date of initialization. Moreover, tests with 1 km resolution but the smoothed topography of the 9 km runs are conducted in order to isolate the contribution of the model topography to the differences between the 1 km runs and the 9 km runs.
RATES OF CONVERGENCE FOR EMPIRICAL PROCESSES OF STATIONARY MIXING SEQUENCES

Classical empirical process theory for Vapnik-Cervonenkis classes deals mainly with sequences of independent variables. This paper extends the theory to stationary sequences of dependent variables. It establishes rates of convergence for ,-mixing and +-mixing empirical processes indexed by classes of functions. The method of proof depends on a coupling of the dependent sequence with sequences of independent blocks, to which the classical theory can be applied. A uniform O(ns/(1 +s)) rate of convergence over V-C classes is established for sequences whose mixing coefficients decay slightly faster than O(n -s).
Effects of Combined Use of Salbutamol/Budesonide in Thoracic Surgery on Postoperative Myocardial Injury (MINS) – A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether the administration of salbutamol/budesonide reduced the incidence of myocardial injury in thoracic surgery. Methods The randomized controlled trial included 298 patients over 45 and at high-risk for cardiovascular complications after lobectomy. Patients in the experimental group were treated with salbutamol/budesonide after anesthesia induction with fiberoptic bronchoscope. The primary outcome was the incidence rates of myocardial injury, assessed before and three days after the operation. The secondary outcome was respiratory function at each time point during the operation, including lung compliance and arterial partial pressure of oxygen, postoperative pulmonary and cardiovascular complications, hospital stay, pain score, and analgesic dosage. Results In the control group, the incidence of myocardial injury was 57/150 (38%), while that in the experimental group was 33/148 (22%); compared between the two groups, the difference in the incidence of myocardial injury was statistically significant. The dynamic compliance and static compliance at half an hour after the start of surgery in the experimental group were significantly improved. Before leaving the operating room, the difference in arterial oxygen partial pressure between the two groups was statistically significant. Conclusion Intraoperative administration of salbutamol/budesonide reduced the incidence of myocardial injury after thoracic surgery, improved lung function, and reduced the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications.
Periodic Solutions of Almost Linear Volterra Integro-dynamic Equations on Periodic Time Scales

Abstract Using Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem, we deduce the existence of periodic solutions of nonlinear system of integro-dynamic equations on periodic time scales. These equations are studied under a set of assumptions on the functions involved in the equations. The equations will be called almost linear when these assumptions hold. The results of this paper are new for the continuous and discrete time scales.