Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling time-varying volatility using GARCH models: evidence from the Indian stock market [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

Background: In this study, we examined the volatility of the Indian stock market from 2008 to 2021. Owing to the financial crisis, volatility forecasting of the Indian stock market has become crucial for economic and financial analysts. An empirical study of the returns of the NSE indices revealed an autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic trend in the Indian stock market. Methods: Using GARCH 1, 1 (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity) and FIGARCH (fractionally integrated GARCH), we examine investor behaviour and the persistence of long-term volatility. Results: The empirical findings of the estimated models suggest that shocks persist for a long time in NSE returns. Furthermore, bad news has a greater impact on stock volatility than good news. The return on assets is stable but highly volatile, even though the Indian economy has experienced the global crash to some extent. Conclusions: Models of volatility derived from the GARCH equation provide accurate forecasts and are useful for portfolio allocation, performance measurement, and option valuation. that the crisis has spilled over into some sectors. Recently, global regulatory lockdowns caused by COVID-19 have severely impacted both the real and financial sectors. In India, shock transmission has substantially increased, resulting in increased volatility. Fractionally integrated generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (FIGARCH) has been applied to predict the persistence of the volatility of the Indian indices (NSE). A major goal of this study is to understand how one volatility index ’ s shocks can affect another ’ s volatility index.
A Multi-Phase Mathematical Model for Gravity Currents

A improved multi-phase numerical model by direct numerical simulation (DNS) is developed to simulate gravity current that is frequency encountered in both natural and artificial environments. Several two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulations are conducted. Typical characteristics of gravity currents can be captured by our numerical method. The time-dependent front location of gravity currents is compared with data from numerical and laboratory experiments. The satisfying consistence demonstrates the present 2D numerical simulation can well reproduce the development of gravity currents. The influence of suspended particles to turbidity currents is also investigated. After an initial stage, gravity current gradually advances faster than turbidity current as the suspended particles are constantly lost. The simulation results can provide a detailed research into gravity and turbidity currents.
Barchan swarm dynamics from a Two-Flank Agent-Based Model

We perform simulations of barchan swarms using the Two-Flank Agent-Based model investigating the effects of changing the angular separation between primary and secondary modes of wind, the density at which new dunes are injected, and the parameter q shift which controls the rate at which sediment is reorganised to restore symmetry in an asymmetric dune. Unlike previous agent-based models, we are able to produce longitudinally homogeneous size distributions and, for sparse swarms, steady longitudinal number density. We are able to constrain q shift by comparing the range of values for 5 which longitudinally stability is observed with the range of values for which the width of asymmetry distributions is consistent with real-world swarms. Furthermore, we demonstrate dune size, asymmetry, dune density, spatial alignment, and collision dynamics are all strongly influenced by the angular separation of bimodal winds.
BIODIVERSITY OF PLANT COMMUNITIES IN THE JAL AZ-ZOR NATIONAL PARK, KUWAIT

In Jal Az-Zor National Park (330 km 2 ), northwest of Kuwait Bay, 139 of vascular species were identified (45 perennials and 94 annuals that belong to 32 families) with higher proportion of Saharo-Arabian elements and conglomerates of the Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean and Sudanian elements. Five vegetation clusters were described and recognized after application of TWINSPAN and DCA programs: Stipa capensis-Haloxylon salicornicum, Plantago boissieriCyperus conglomeratus, Zygophyllum qatarense, Nitraria retusa-Zygophyllum qatarense and Bienertia cycloptera-Halocnemum strobilaceum communities. Their ordination indicates soil moisture, salinity and physiographic gradients starting with the xerophytic communities (dry with low salinity and fertility) that inhabit the inland desert plain, non saline depressions, and ridges and ending with the hygrophilous halophytic species (with high salinity and fertility stands) that inhabit the salt marshes near the Arabian Gulf. Floristic composition, diversity indices and soil variables were used to determine the distribution of these plant communities in the habitats within the Park. The habitats of inland desert plain, non saline depressions and rocky ridge; and their plant communities had higher species richness, higher diversity and low dominance than the habitat of salt marshes and its plant communities.
Efficacy of Moringa oleifera Lam. extracts and Pediococcus p entosaceus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum probiotic during starter period on growth performance of male broiler chicken [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]

Background : Probiotics and medicinal plants have been used to support human and livestock health. This research aimed to evaluate the potential of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf extract on the growth of Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. plantarum probiotic in vitro and to prove its potential as a feed additive, as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP
Jefferson Digital

HOX genes encode an evolutionarily conserved set of transcription factors that control how the phenotype of an organism becomes organized during development based on its genetic makeup. For example, in bilaterian-type animals, HOX genes are organized in gene clusters that encode anatomic segment identity, that is, whether the embryo will form with bilateral symmetry with a head (anterior), tail (posterior), back (dorsal), and belly (ventral). Although HOX genes are known to regulate stem cell (SC) di ﬀ erentiation and HOX genes are dysregulated in cancer, the mechanisms by which dysregulation of HOX genes in SCs causes cancer development is not fully understood. Therefore, the purpose of this manuscript was (i) to review the role of HOX genes in SC di ﬀ erentiation, particularly in embryonic, adult tissue-speci ﬁ c, and induced pluripotent SC, and (ii) to investigate how dysregulated HOX genes in SCs are responsible for the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We analyzed HOX gene expression in CRC and AML using information from The Cancer Genome Atlas study. Finally, we reviewed the literature on HOX genes and related therapeutics that might help us understand ways to develop SC-speci ﬁ c therapies that target aberrant HOX gene expression that contributes to cancer development
Vitiligo: Unmet Need, Management and Treatment Guidelines

Vitiligo is a chronic depigmenting disorder characterized by characteristic, non-scaly, chalky-white skin macules and patches, due to the loss of skin pigment. Its exact pathogenesis is still not fully understood but it seems to be an autoimmune disease where the combination of genetic, environmental, and immune factors contributes to the destruction of melanocytes in the epidermis. Vitiligo is classified into different types based on its clinical characteristics and distribution patterns. The two main forms of vitiligo are non-segmental vitiligo (NSV) and segmental vitiligo (SV). NSV is the predominant form, characterized by symmetrical skin patches, that tend to evolve over time. In contrast, SV has unilateral or band-shaped lesions that progress rapidly but often stabilize early. Herein, current unmet needs in terms of psychosocial consequences and relative lack of valid therapeutic approaches are critically analyzed and put in perspective in the Italian prescribing scenario. Finally, available management guidelines are illustrated and briefly compared, to provide context for upcoming treatment options.
CNS Drug Delivery in Stroke: Improving Therapeutic Translation From the Bench to the Bedside

Drug development for ischemic stroke is challenging as evidenced by the paucity of therapeutics that have advanced beyond a phase III trial. There are many reasons for this lack of clinical translation including factors related to the experimental design of preclinical studies. Often overlooked in therapeutic development for ischemic stroke is the requirement of effective drug delivery to the brain, which is critical for neuroprotective efficacy of several small and large molecule drugs. Advancing central nervous system drug delivery technologies implies a need for detailed comprehension of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and neurovascular unit. Such knowledge will permit the innate biology of the BBB/neurovascular unit to be leveraged for improved bench-to-bedside translation of novel stroke therapeutics. In this review, we will highlight key aspects of BBB/neurovascular unit pathophysiology and describe state-of-the-art approaches for optimization of central nervous system drug delivery (ie, passive diffusion, mechanical opening of the BBB, liposomes/nanoparticles, transcytosis, intranasal drug administration). Additionally, we will discuss how endogenous BBB transporters represent the next frontier of drug delivery strategies for stroke. Overall, this review will provide cutting edge perspective on how central nervous system drug delivery must be considered for the advancement of new stroke drugs toward human trials.
Translating In Vitro Models of Exercise in Human Muscle Cells: A Mitocentric View

In vitro exercise models on HSkMCs are useful for probing muscle-specific mitochondrial adaptations; however, findings should be carefully interpreted given limited translatability to training in vivo. Human skeletal muscle cell (HSkMC) models provide the opportunity to examine in vivo training-induced muscle-specific mitochondrial adaptations, additionally allowing for deeper interrogation into the effect of in vitro exercise models on myocellular mitochondrial quality and quantity. As such, this review will compare and contrast the effects of in vivo and in vitro models of exercise on mitochondrial adaptations in HSkMCs.
Translating Physical Activity Intentions into Behavior: Reflective, Regulatory, and Reflexive Processes

A review of the physical activity intention–behavior relationship, including the different processes that contribute to translating intentions into action. The purpose of this article was to review predictors of the physical activity (PA) intention–behavior relationship. The review provides evidence for the hypothesis that reflective (consciously deliberated expectations of PA), regulatory (tactics used to enact intentions), and reflexive (stimulus-based associative motivation) processes represent independent determinants of translating PA intentions into action, yet differ in relative contribution across time and circumstance.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound in a Tertiary Medical Intensive Care Unit

Objective: Critical care echocardiography (CCE) is a useful tool for managing critically ill patients in intensive care. However, concerns exist regarding the accuracy of CCE examinations because of operator dependence. We sought to evaluate the accuracy of CCE examinations compared with cardiology-performed transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). Design, Setting, and Subjects: We retrospectively reviewed charts of patients in a medical ICU in a large academic medical center in the United States. We compared CCE examinations performed by a fellow and reviewed by a staff physician between May 5, 2020, and December 31, 2021, to TTE obtained within 24 hours of the CCE examination. Intervention, Measurements, and Main Results: We developed a standardized process for documentation of all CCE examinations performed in the medical ICU. We assessed agreement (kappa statistic), sensitivity and specificity of CCE examination compared with TTE. Features included left ventricle (LV) systolic function, right ventricle (RV) size, RV systolic function, pericardial effusion, mitral insufficiency, tricuspid insufficiency, and aortic insufficiency. The study analyzed 504 pairs of CCE and TTE examinations. Kappa statistics for detecting LV and RV systolic dysfunction, pericardial effusion, and RV size ranged from 0.60 to 0.74. CCE showed high sensitivity and specificity for detecting LV and RV systolic dysfunction and pericardial effusion, with values ranging from 0.85 to 0.99. The kappa statistic for detecting RV dilation was 0.59, with a sensitivity of 0.71 and a specificity of 0.85. In contrast, CCE examinations were nondiagnostic for mitral, tricuspid, or aortic insufficiency in 60–70% of cases, whereas TTE examinations were nondiagnostic in 20–30% of cases. Kappa statistics for mitral, tricuspid, and aortic insufficiency ranged from 0.32 to 0.42. Conclusions: CCE is a reliable tool for assessing LV and RV systolic function, pericardial effusion, and RV size. However, CCE may be limited in its ability to detect mitral, tricuspid, or aortic insufficiency.
Preventive Effects of Prenatal Folic Acid on Postpartum Depression

This study was conducted to assess the association of prenatal folic acid (PF) supplements on the onset of postpartum depression (PPD) in Chinese women. Of the 629 subjects, 540 were cases who took PF supplements and 89 were controls who did not take PF. Univariate analysis showed that maternal age and body mass index were the most significant risk factors for developing PPD. Threshold effect analysis showed that maternal age of more than 26 years was an independent determinant of PPD. Current findings with PF supplements are insufficient to attenuate the onset of PPD.
Visual Quality Assessment and Comparison of Monofocal and Multifocal Scleral Lens Designs: A Pilot Study

Purpose: To compare visual quality, contrast sensitivity, stereopsis, subjective vision, and comfort between monofocal and multifocal scleral lens (SL) designs. Methods: An experimental, cross over and short-term pilot study has been performed. Nineteen presbyopic patients (51.9±3.8 years) with regular corneas participated voluntarily in the study and Onefit MED monofocal and multifocal SL designs were fitted bilaterally. Subjective vision and comfort, contrast sensitivity function, stereopsis, high- and low-contrast visual acuity (VA) at 4 m and 40 cm under photopic and mesopic conditions, and defocus curves were measured. Data analysis was performed with nonparametric tests. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Mean addition power of the prescribed lenses was 1.72±0.38 diopters. Multifocal design showed a statistically significant improvement for intermediate and near vision in the defocus curve under photopic and mesopic conditions (P<0.05), however, worsening in stereopsis (P<0.05) and contrast sensitivity for high spatial frequencies (P<0.05). Distance visual acuity (VA) showed significantly lower values under mesopic conditions for high- and low-contrast tests (P<0.05), and on low-contrast test under photopic conditions (P<0.001) with the multifocal design. Conclusion: Multifocal SLs showed better visual performance at intermediate and near distances without compromising distance vision under photopic conditions for a high-contrast test when compared with monofocal design.
Structure–Function Characteristics and Signaling Properties of Lipidated Peptidomimetic FPR2 Agonists: Peptoid Stereochemistry and Residues in the Vicinity of the Headgroup Affect Function

Formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) plays important roles in inflammation. In the present study, 20 analogues of the FPR2-selective lipidated α-peptide/β-peptoid agonist Lau-[(S)-Aoc]-[Lys-βNPhe]6-NH2.
Evaluating the Constraints and Opportunities for Sustainable Rice Production in Cameroon

In C ameroon, economic f actors have driven more and more peo ple i nto the agri cultural sector. Today food production c onstitutes an important component i n the livelihood strategies o f many f armers. Given the increasing rice consumption trend in the country, rice self sufficiency is seen as a means to achieve food s ecurity. The per capita c onsumption i n the country i n 2006 was about 23 kg r ice equivalents, compared to 2 kg in 1960. T he country has h ighly f avorable resources fo r in creasing its production; ho wever, it will not ha ppen automatically. For C ameroonian rice farmers to be able to fully realize sustainable production a number of obstacles need to be tackled and supportive agricultural policies adopted. This paper underl ines major constraints to increase rice p roduction i n C ameroon. Proposals are also m ade f or t he sus tainable d evelopment of the sect or.
The extratropical tropopause inversion layer and its correlation with relative humidity

This study investigates the influence of relative humidity with respect to ice on the extratropical tropopause inversion layer (TIL). Initially, measurements from radiosondes at a location in Germany were compared with the ERA5 reanalysis data from the ECMWF at the same geographic location. A high level of agreement was observed, with the expected limitation that ERA5 cannot resolve sharp changes in variables like humidity and stability at the tropopause as finely. When examining the TIL with respect to mean relative humidity over ice in the upper troposphere, a clear relationship 5 with stability becomes evident. Moister profiles, on average, exhibit significantly higher maximum values of the Brunt-Väisälä frequency N 2 , indicating a more stable stratification of the tropopause in these cases. This result holds true in both radiosonde measurements and ERA5 data. Considering the thickness of the TIL layer, an inverse pattern emerges. In this case, moister and more stable TILs exhibit a lower thickness. The strong agreement between radiosondes and ERA5 allows for geographical and seasonal analyses using ERA5 data alone. 10 These analyses reveal consistent relationships in various extratropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere under different meteorological conditions. Differences in the strength of the dependence of TIL properties on relative humidity over ice are evident.
QPLayer: efficient differentiation of convex quadratic optimization

Optimization layers within neural network architectures have become increasingly popular for their ability to solve a wide range of machine learning tasks and to model domain-specific knowledge. However, designing optimization layers requires careful consideration as the underlying optimization problems might be infeasible during training. Motivated by applications in learning, control, and robotics, this work focuses on convex quadratic programming (QP) layers. The specific structure of this type of optimization layer can be efficiently exploited for faster computations while still allowing rich modeling capabilities. We leverage primal-dual augmented Lagrangian techniques for computing derivatives of both feasible and infeasible QPs. Not requiring feasibility allows, as a byproduct, for more flexibility in the QP to be learned. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated in a few standard learning experiments, obtaining three to ten times faster computations than alternative state-of-the-art methods while being more accurate and numerically robust. Along with these contributions, we provide an open-source C++ software package called QPLayer for efficiently differentiating convex QPs and which can be interfaced with modern learning frameworks.
Effects of clinically relevant concentrations of glucosamine on equine chondrocytes and synoviocytes in vitro

Objective —To evaluate the effects of glucosamine on equine articular chondrocytes and syn-oviocytes at concentrations clinically relevant to serum and synovial fluid concentrations. Sample Population —Articular cartilage and synovium with normal gross appearance from metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints of 8 horses (1 to 10 years of age). Procedures —In vitro chondrocyte and synoviocyte cell cultures from 8 horses were treated with glucosamine (0.1 to 20 µ g/mL) with or without interleukin-1 (IL-1; 10 ng/mL) for 48 hours. Negative control cultures received no glucosamine or IL-1,
Information and Software Technology

Context: Evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) aims to improve research utilization in practice. It relies on systematic methods to identify, appraise, and synthesize existing research findings to answer questions of interest for practice. However, the lack of practitioners’ involvement in these studies’ design, execution, and reporting indicates a lack of appreciation for the need for knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners. The resultant systematic literature studies often lack relevance for practice. Objective: This paper explores the use of Rapid Reviews (RRs), in fostering knowledge exchange between academia and industry. Through the lens of two case studies, we delve into the practical application and experience of conducting RRs. Methods: We analyzed the conduct of two rapid reviews by two different groups of researchers and practitioners. We collected data through interviews, and the documents produced during the review (like review protocols, search results, and presentations). The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: We report how the two groups of researchers and practitioners performed the rapid reviews. We observed some benefits, like promoting dialogue and paving the way for future collaborations. We also found that practitioners entrusted the researchers to develop and follow a rigorous approach and were more interested in the applicability of the findings in their context. The problems investigated in these two cases were relevant but not the most immediate ones. Therefore, rapidness was not a priority for the practitioners. Conclusion: The study illustrates that rapid reviews can support researcher-practitioner communication and industry-academia collaboration. Furthermore, the recommendations based on the experiences from the two cases complement the detailed guidelines researchers and practitioners may follow to increase interaction and knowledge exchange.
Optimization and sensitivity analysis of fast ethanol assay in maize seeds

Abstract: The evaluation of seed deterioration is very important to control the quality of the seeds stored. This study aimed to investigate the potential of fast ethanol assay for seed quality assessment of maize stored under different conditions. The first experiment was to determine the incubating temperature, incubating time, and amount of seed used in the assay. The results showed that the best protocol for the detection of headspace ethanol was incubation of 3 g of maize seed with 20% moisture content (wet basis) in a 20 mL gas chromatography vial at 70 °C for 1.5 h. The assay induced approximately 200-700 µg. L-1 of headspace ethanol, which was sufficient to identify seeds with different vigour levels. In the second experiment, the optimal conditions were used for quality assessment in aged maize seed stored for 12 months under different storage conditions. The increase in the ethanol production of stored maize seed under the controlled conditions (15 °C and 20% RH in the hermetic seal) was lower than under ambient conditions. The ethanol production levels of maize seed samples at the start of storage was significantly lesser than at six months storage (p < 0.05). The test limitations in deteriorated seed with different cultivars and ages will be discussed.