Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How strong are correlations in strongly recurrent neuronal networks?

Cross-correlations in the activity in neural networks are commonly used to characterize their dynamical states and their anatomical and functional organizations. Yet, how these latter network features affect the spatiotemporal structure of the correlations in recurrent networks is not fully understood. Here, we develop a general theory for the emergence of correlated neuronal activity from the dynamics in strongly recurrent networks consisting of several populations of binary neurons. We apply this theory to the case in which the connectivity depends on the anatomical or functional distance between the neurons. We establish the architectural conditions under which the system settles into a dynamical state where correlations are strong, highly robust and spatially modulated. We show that such strong correlations arise if the network exhibits an effective feedforward structure. We establish how this feedforward structure determines the way correlations scale with the network size and the degree of the connectivity. In networks lacking an effective feedforward structure correlations are extremely small and only weakly depend on the number of connections per neuron. Our work shows how strong correlations can be consistent with highly irregular activity in recurrent networks, two key features of neuronal dynamics in the central nervous system.
Nutrition and Immune System in Livestock's: Mini Review

The relationship between nutrition and immunity are interlinked to each other that nutrient as a single or in a group affects immunity either direly or indirectly [1]. Directly nutrients affect the immune system by triggering the immune cell activation or altering immune cell interaction and indirectly by changing the substrates of DNA synthesis, changing, the physiological integrity of the cell, altering energy metabolism, or by altering the signals or hormones [2]. Specific nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. play a vital role in augmentation of immunity while deficiencies cause immune suppression [3]. The types of immunity, the role of different cells, their components, mechanism of action, measuring the immunity are described in brief to have a better understanding the importance of the relationship between nutrition and immunity.
Functional signature of conversion in Mild Cognitive Impairment patients

The entorhinal-hippocampal circuit is a strategic hub for memory but also the first site to be affected in the Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)-related pathology. We investigated MRI patterns of brain atrophy and functional connectivity in a study cohort obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database including healthy control (HC), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and AD subjects. MCI individuals were clinically evaluated 24 months after the MRI scan, and the group further divided into a subset of subjects who either did (c-MCI) or did not (nc-MCI) convert to AD. Compared to HC subjects, AD patients exhibited a collapse of long-range connectivity from the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, pronounced cortical/sub-cortical atrophy, and a dramatic decline in cognitive performances. c-MCI patients showed entorhinal and hippocampal hypo-connectivity, no signs of cortical thinning but evidence of right hippocampus atrophy. On the contrary, nc-MCI patients showed lack of brain atrophy, largely preserved cognitive functions, hippocampal and entorhinal hyper-connectivity with selected neocortical/sub-cortical regions mainly involved in memory processing and brain meta-stability. This hyper-connectivity can represent an early compensatory strategy to overcome the progression of cognitive impairment. This functional signature can also be employed for the diagnosis of c-MCI subjects.
Determinants of the capital structure of large companies: Evidence from Serbia

Abstract The subject of this study is the capital structure of the largest Serbian companies in the period after the global economic crisis in 2008. The research sample comprises the 141 largest non-financial (mostly private) companies in Serbia over the period 2009–2017. In order to identify the key determinants of the capital structure of the sampled companies, three models of financial leverage were tested (total, short-term, and long-term) using panel data fixed effects models. The main result of the analysis indicates that these companies, mostly financed by short-term debt, predominantly belong to the ‘pecking order’ theory. When the total leverage is split into its short-term and long-term components, the results show that short-term leverage behaviour aligns with the ‘pecking order’ theory, whereas long-term leverage is fully consistent with the expectations of the trade-off theory. Also, this study shows that the country-specific determinants, such as inflation and development of the banking sector, have a significant impact on the capital structure of the largest companies in Serbia.
Asymmetric trends of extreme temperature over the Loess Plateau during 1998–2018

A slowdown in the warming rate of the global mean surface temperature has been observed since late 1990s. However, it is still controversial whether the spatiotemporal variability of extreme temperature events will increase after global warming slowdown, and whether the regional diversity of change trends will increase. Here, we investigated the variations in extreme temperature indices over the Loess Plateau in China since 1961 and focused on the recent global warming slowdown (1998–2018). We found that, during 1961–2018, all the extreme temperature indices showed a significant warming trend and its intensity varied according to extreme temperature indices over different regions. A warming slowdown of annual mean temperature during 1998–2018 was primarily due to the slight increases of annual mean maximum temperatures (TXm) while the annual mean minimum temperature (TNm) still indicated prominently warming trends. During the recent warming slowdown period, the warm indices showed continued intensification of the warming trends, while the cold indices showed a slight cooling trend. Moreover, all extreme temperature indices showed the largest warming trend in summer and a slight cooling trend in winter. Overall, the extreme temperature events have become more diverse in spatial and temporal, indicating that regional climate are more unstable than previously reported for this region. Further analyses revealed that the extreme temperature events during the recent warming slowdown were primarily the result of the natural variability of the climate system, especially the large‐scale ocean–atmosphere interactions of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
MOTIVASI SOSIAL KONSUMSI ALKOHOL PADA REMAJA

Pada zaman modern ini terdapat pengaruh besar bagi remaja salah satunya penyalahgunaan minuman alkohol. Hal tersebut didasari berbagai dorongan social disekitar remaja. Penelitian ini bertujuan menggali motivasi sosial yang melatar belakangi konsumsi alcohol pada remaja, sehingga dapat dijadikan acuhan untuk pengambilan tindakan dan pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif, partisipan berjumlah 10 orang yang dipilih sesuai criteria inklusi menggunakan snowball sampling. Pengumpulan data menggunakan wawancara semi terstruktur. Tahap analisis data pada penelitian ini menggunaka nteknik colaizzi. Pada penelitian ini didapatkan 7 tema besar: (1) pergaulan, (2) ajakan teman, (3) solidaritas, (4) mendapat banyak teman, (5) diakui, (6) terlihat keren, (7) kebiasaan. Kesimpulan penelitian ini adanya peran andil lingkungan sosial mempengaruhi pilihan individu dalam konsumsi alkohol. Alasan sosial yang menjadi pencetus melibatkan dorongan sosial yang begitu kuat. Lingkungan sosial, proses sosial serta interaksinya didalamnya menjadikan pribadi remaja dalam memutuskan konsumsi alkohol dalam keadaan tertentu dan kondisi tertentu.
Determination of PSP Toxins in Moroccan Shellfish by MBA, HPLC and RBA Methods: Links to Causative Phytoplankton Alexandrium minutum

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins are secondary metabolites of the toxic species of phytoplankton. The consumption of shellfish accumulating these toxins can cause neurological symptoms and even death. Within the framework of the surveillance program of seafood safety Original Research Article Abouabdellah et al.; IJBCRR, 21(2): 1-12, 2018; Article no.IJBCRR. 40032 2 along the Moroccan littoral environment established by National Institute of Fisheries Research (INRH), a study of PST was conducted from 2004 to 2016 in south Moroccan’s shellfish, mussels from south Agadir region and Razor Shell from Dakhla bay. The surveillance was carried out bimonthly or weekly using the AOAC official method of analysis (AOAC 959.08) mouse bioassay (MBA). In parallel, monitoring of toxic phytoplankton in water was conducted. With the aim to determine the shellfish toxin profile, ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography with postcolumn derivatisation and fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) was performed. The Receptor Binding Assay (RBA) also was used for determination of total toxicity of PSP toxins in Agadir’s mussels. In both regions, the analysis of seawater revealed the presence of the toxic algae Alexandrium spp during toxics events. Along the coast of Agadir, PSP toxins in shellfish were associated with the presence of Alexandrium cf. minutum in seawater. These toxic events were widely distributed in time and space and mainly detected during the summer and fall seasons. In some samples concentrations exceeded the sanitary threshold (ST) of 800 μg eq STX /kg. HPLC analysis revealed that Saxitoxin and Gonyautoxins dominated the toxin profile. The comparison between different methods showed a strong uphill (positive) linear relationship, with a coefficient correlation of r=0.79 between MBA and HPLC and r = 0.809 between MBA and RBA.
Management Financial Incentives and Firm Performance in a Sustainable Development Framework: Empirical Evidence from European Companies

Management financial incentives are an effective way to attract, retain and stimulate managers with beneficial spillover effects on firm performance. This paper explores the relationship between board and executive management compensation and remunerations and the financial performance of European companies from various industries in a sustainable development framework. The sample covers 1594 firms with data extracted from Thomson Reuters Eikon (Refinitiv, New York, NY, USA) databases from 2019 and a selection of specific indicators. The complex methodological endeavor encompassed by our research embeds several robust and two-stage least squares (2SLS/IV) regression models, structural equation modelling, including latent class analysis and network analysis through Gaussian Graphical Models. Main results bring to the fore that management financial incentives/packages reverberate positively and significantly on the performance of European firms, leading to important upwards in enterprise value and company earnings. Moreover, the sustainability indicators (committee, policy, energy use, renewable energies) also have positive effects on the financial performance of analyzed companies, being discussed extensively within the paper.
A positive cell vertex Godunov scheme for a Beeler–Reuter based model of cardiac electrical activity

The monodomain model is a widely used model in electrocardiology to simulate the propagation of electrical potential in the myocardium. In this paper, we investigate a positive nonlinear control volume finite element scheme, based on Godunov's flux approximation of the diffusion term, for the monodomain model coupled to a physiological ionic model (the Beeler–Reuter model) and using an anisotropic diffusion tensor. In this scheme, degrees of freedom are assigned to vertices of a primal triangular mesh, as in conforming finite element methods. The diffusion term which involves an anisotropic tensor is discretized on a dual mesh using the diffusion fluxes provided by the conforming finite element reconstruction on the primal mesh and the other terms are discretized by means of an upwind finite volume method on the dual mesh. The scheme ensures the validity of the discrete maximum principle without any restriction on the transmissibility coefficients. By using a compactness argument, we obtain the convergence of the discrete solution and as a consequence, we get the existence of a weak solution of the original model. Finally, we illustrate by numerical simulations that the proposed scheme successfully removes nonphysical oscillations in the propagation of the wavefront and maintains conduction velocity close to physiological values.
Changes in Cardiovascular system among smokeless tobacco users attending tertiary care hospital in Andhra Pradesh, India

Changes in Cardiovascular system among smokeless tobacco users attending tertiary care hospital in Andhra Pradesh, India Annaji B1, Sreedevi P.2*, Sudheer K.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17511/ijmrr.2020. i04.07 1 Annaji B, Assistant Professor, Department of General Medicine, Great Eastern Medical School and Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2* Sreedevi P, Assistant Professor, Department of General Medicine, Great Eastern Medical School and Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India. 3 Sudheer K, Professor, Department of General Medicine, Great Eastern Medical School and Hospital, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Assessment of Resident Happiness under Uncertainty of Economic Policies: Empirical Evidences from China

The main aim of sustainable development is to increase the quality of life and resident happiness as the latter is one of the most important indicators for the assessment of quality of life. However, due to the uncertainty of economic policies, it will not only have a direct impact on resident well-being but may also indirectly affect resident well-being through specific channels. The economic policies are aimed at the achievement of sustainable development, therefore it is very important to investigate the influences of the uncertainty of economic policies on resident happiness. This allows to assess the sustainability of policies in terms of their inputs to the quality of life. The direct impact of economic policy uncertainty on resident well-being and the mediating effects of household asset allocation and the expectation on the above influencing relationship were analyzed based on the uncertainty index of China’s economic policies and households database of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) during the period 2010–2018, so as to clarify the complete path of economic policy uncertainty affecting resident happiness. Results show that the uncertainty of economic policy significantly reduces resident happiness. In the context of the uncertainty of economic policies, families can relieve such negative impacts as an increasing proportion of financial assets in their total assets. However, decreases in asset shares for household consumer goods and future expectation obviously lower resident happiness. The research conclusions provide important input in research on the influences of the uncertainty of economic policy on the quality of life and offer new evidences for the development of “happiness economics”.
Determinants of heterogeneity in investors' opinions on IPO valuation: evidence from the Pakistan stock market

PurposeThis study investigated the effect of pricing mechanism and oversubscription on the heterogeneity of investors' opinions on initial public offering (IPO) valuation.Design/methodology/approachBesides the ordinary least square method, this study incorporated robust least square, stepwise least square and quantile regression methods to investigate the aftermarket behaviour of investors using the price range on the first day of trading of 82 IPOs listed on the Pakistan stock exchange.FindingsThe aftermarket behaviour of investors was found to be significantly influenced by the pricing mechanism, oversubscription, financial leverage, political stability and the risk of IPO, whereas control of corruption showed an insignificant impact. Concurrently, the findings showed that pricing mechanism and oversubscription played a crucial role in determining the intensity of investors' heterogeneous opinions at high levels of significance.Originality/valuePricing mechanism and oversubscription not only signal the quality of IPOs but also provide an important means for reducing the information asymmetry associated with new listings. Based on the literature review, it was found that both the pricing mechanism and oversubscription have yet to be explored in investigating the aftermarket behaviour of investors using the price range in the Pakistan IPO market. This study suggests that book building pricing mechanism and oversubscription are associated with lower heterogeneity in investors’ opinions at a high level of significance.
Effects of exogenous Ca 2+ on photosynthetic characteristics and fruit quality of pepper under waterlogging stress

6 CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 77(2) APRIL-JUNE 2017 Pepper is one of the most important vegetable crops in China. Consumers in China are increasingly demanding high quality pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit. As in flood crops, natural disasters, such as flooding, might not only affect pepper yield, but also significantly impact fruit quality. Thus, it is necessary to study the change in fruit quality under waterlogging stress and seek an improved method. Pepper ̔5901 ̓ was the experimental material; we investigated the effects of spraying exogenous Ca on the photosynthetic characteristics and quality of pepper plants under waterlogging stress. We found that waterlogging significantly reduced the photosynthesis rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), fruit length, individual fruit diameter, individual fruit fresh weight, and soluble protein, soluble sugar, free amino acid, P, Fe, vitamin C (Vc), and vitamin E (Ve) contents. It significantly decreased the expression levels of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase 1 (ACO-1), catalase (CAT-2), and pyruvate kinase (PK) genes, and it significantly increased intracellular CO2 concentration, capsaicin content, and the expression level of the alcohol dehydrogenase-1 (ADH-1) gene. The parenchymatous cells in the root system and stem were loosely arranged, the degree of lignification was deepened, leaves became thinner, and palisade tissue thickness was reduced. Exogenous Ca significantly enhanced capsaicin content, alleviated the extent of the reduction in the abovementioned physiological parameters, and maintained epithelial cell shape in the mesophyll layer. It maintained the intactness of the cell wall in the root system, cell membrane, and pulp cavity; it also reduced cell injury and stimulated the expression levels of ACO-1, ADH-1, CAT-2, and PK genes. Compared to the normal control, expression levels of these genes increased by 52.03%, 99.48%, 40.78%, and 125.67%, respectively. The present study indicates that spraying exogenous Ca can effectively alleviate injury to pepper plants caused by waterlogging stress and improve the quality of pepper fruit.
Institutional Context of Perceived Discrimination, Acculturative Stress, and Depressive Symptoms among Latina College Students

ABSTRACT This study examined the influence of institutional environment (PWIs and HSIs) on perceived discrimination, acculturative stress, and depression. Data were obtained from Latina college students across 30 U.S. universities. Findings indicated language-related acculturative stress and the pressure to acculturate explained the relationship between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Students attending an HSI who reported pressure to acculturate were more likely to experience depression.
Growth rate and condition of walleye (Sander vitreus), sauger (Sander canadensis), and dwarf walleye in a large Canadian lake

The second largest inland walleye (Sander vitreus (Mitchill, 1818)) and sauger (Sander canadensis (Griffith and Smith, 1834)) fishery in Canada is found in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. To manage the fishery for a sustainable future, the growth and condition of these fish must be understood. Objectives were to (1) examine baseline growth and condition of walleye and sauger in Lake Winnipeg, (2) evaluate variation between the North and South basins, and (3) contribute observational findings on the distribution of dwarf walleye. Gill nets were set to catch walleye, sauger, and dwarf walleye throughout both basins at various locations and in all seasons during 2010 and 2011. North Basin walleye and sauger had higher growth rates and condition relative to the South Basin. This may be due to differential exploitation rates or diets such as the consumption of invasive rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax (Mitchell, 1814)) in the North Basin and not in the South Basin. Dwarf walleye were observed more frequently in the South Basin than in the North Basin. Overall, this study provides important baseline data on the growth and condition of walleye and sauger populations prior to invasion of the spiny waterflea (Bythotrephes longimanus Leydig, 1860) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771)).
Indirect Inference Estimation of Spatial Autoregressions

The ordinary least squares (OLS) estimator for spatial autoregressions may be consistent as pointed out by Lee (2002), provided that each spatial unit is influenced aggregately by a significant portion of the total units. This paper presents a unified asymptotic distribution result of the properly recentered OLS estimator and proposes a new estimator that is based on the indirect inference (II) procedure. The resulting estimator can always be used regardless of the degree of aggregate influence on each spatial unit from other units and is consistent and asymptotically normal. The new estimator does not rely on distributional assumptions and is robust to unknown heteroscedasticity. Its good finite-sample performance, in comparison with existing estimators that are also robust to heteroscedasticity, is demonstrated by a Monte Carlo study.
Code-to-code-to-experiment validation of LES-ALM wind farm simulators

The aim of this work is to present a detailed code-to-code comparison of two Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) solvers. Corresponding experimental measurements are used as a reference to validate the quality of the CFD simulations. The comparison highlights the effects of solver order on the solutions, and it tries to answer the question of whether a high order solver is necessary to capture the main characteristics of a wind farm. Both solvers were used on different grids to study their convergence behavior. While both solvers show a good match with experimental measurements, it appears that the low order solver is more accurate and substantially cheaper in terms of computational cost.
A Plea for Use of Honey Bees’ Natural Resilience in Beekeeping

This plea is about leaving room for nature in ordinary daily beekeeping, but also about leaving room for nature in the reproduction of the bee colonies, i.e. beekeeping without queen breeding and without cultivation of breeds. Our European honey bees (Apis mellifera) naturally possess numerous traits including behaviors that make them less vulnerable to diseases and other threats in their environment (Evans & Spivak, 2010; WilsonRich, Spivak, Fefferman, & Starks, 2009). It is very important for these properties to be retained in their full genetic width, in order to sustain the colonies’ capacities to continuously adapt to new conditions (Neumann & Blacquière, 2017). It is also important that we, as beekeepers, utilize as much as possible these adaptive abilities of the bees (Seeley, 2017a). This means that it may occasionally be better to follow the bees’ nature rather than to force the bees to meet our requirements (Brosi, Delaplane, Boots, & de Roode, 2017). Here we present several examples to underpin this statement.