Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sleep spindles and slow waves are physiological markers for age-related changes in gray matter in brain regions supporting problem-solving skills

As we age, the added benefit of sleep for memory consolidation is lost. One of the hallmark age-related changes in sleep is the reduction of sleep spindles and slow waves. Gray matter neurodegeneration is related to both age-related changes in sleep and age-related changes in memory, including memory for problem-solving skills. Here, we investigated whether spindles and slow waves might serve as biological markers for neurodegeneration of gray matter and for the related memory consolidation deficits in older adults. Forty healthy young adults (20–35 yr) and 30 healthy older adults (60–85 yr) were assigned to either nap or wake conditions. Participants were trained on the Tower of Hanoi in the morning, followed by either a 90-min nap opportunity or period of wakefulness, and were retested afterward. We found that age-related changes in sleep spindles and slow waves were differentially related to gray matter intensity in young and older adults in brain regions that support sleep-dependent memory consolidation for problem-solving skills. Specifically, we found that spindles were related to gray matter in neocortical areas (e.g., somatosensory and parietal cortex), and slow waves were related to gray matter in the anterior cingulate, hippocampus, and caudate, all areas known to support problem-solving skills. These results suggest that both sleep spindles and slow waves may serve as biological markers of age-related neurodegeneration of gray matter and the associated reduced benefit of sleep for memory consolidation in older adults.
Invariances for Gaussian models

At the heart of a statistical analysis, we are interested in drawing conclusions about random variables and the laws they follow. For this we require a sample, therefore our approach is best described as learning from data. In many instances, we already have an intuition about the generating process, meaning the space of all possible models reduces to a specific class that is defined up to a set of unknown parameters. Consequently, learning becomes the task of inferring these parameters given observations. Within this scope, the thesis answers the following two questions: Why are invariances needed? Among all parameters of the model, we often distinguish between those of interest and the so-called nuisance. The latter does not carry any meaning for our purposes, but may still play a crucial role in how the model supports the parameters of interest. This is a fundamental problem in statistics which is solved by finding suitable transformations such that the model becomes invariant against unidentifiable properties. Often, the application at hand already decides upon the necessary requirements: a Euclidean distance matrix, for example, does not carry translational information of the underlying coordinate system. Why Gaussian models? The normal distribution constitutes an important class in statistics due to frequent occurrences in nature, hence it is highly relevant for many research disciplines including physics, astronomy, engineering, but also psychology and social sciences. Besides fundamental results like the central limit theorem, a significant part of its appeal is rooted in convenient mathematical properties which permit closed-form solutions to numerous problems. In this work, we develop and discuss generalizations of three established models: a Gaussian mixture model, a Gaussian graphical model and the Gaussian information bottleneck. On the one hand, all of these are analytically convenient, but on the other hand they suffer from strict normality requirements which seriously limit their range of application. To this end, our focus is to explore solutions and relax these restrictions. We successfully show that with the addition of invariances, the aforementioned models gain a substantial leap forward while retaining their core concepts of the Gaussian foundation.
The Relationship between Corporate Governance Mechanisms and Firm Performance: Evidence from Jordanian’s Listed Firms

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance (measured in the form of return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE) in the Jordanian context. Research is quantitative in nature, based on panel data of 58 firms listed in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) for 8 years from 2012 to 2019, with 464 observations, and the panel corrected standard error (PCSE) regression has been used to assess the relationship among variables. The study found that board size, board independence and presence of female in board had no effect of firm performance whether ROA and ROE. Likewise, the study found no relationship between foreign ownership and ROE. In contrary, CEO duality, concentration ownership, foreign ownership had a positive effect on ROA. As well as, CEO duality and concentration ownership had a positive effect on ROE. However, the current study found that institutional ownership had a negative effect on firm performance whether ROA and ROE. The finding adds to the body of knowledge by demonstrating new and original evidence that some current corporate governance mechanisms are ineffective in reducing the agency problem in a developing country.
Prognostic Factors for the Efficiency of Radiation Therapy in Dogs with Oral Melanoma: A Pilot Study of Hypoxia in Intraosseous Lesions

Simple Summary Prognostic factors other than the clinical stage for canine oral melanoma treated with radiation therapy remain unclear. In our cohort, debulking surgery prior to radiation therapy was significantly associated with good response to radiation therapy. Furthermore, the presence of bone lysis was associated with worse response to radiation therapy, which might be due to hypoxia in the osseous tissue. Abstract Unresectable oral melanoma is often treated with radiation therapy (RT) and may show a temporary response to therapy. The clinical stage is one of the well-known prognostic factors for canine oral melanoma. However, the factors that directly affect the response to RT have remained unclear. This study aimed to validate the risk factors for recurrence after RT. Sixty-eight dogs with oral melanomas were included in this study. All dogs were treated with palliative RT using a linear accelerator without adjuvant therapies. After RT, the time to local recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the log-rank test. As a result, clinical stage and response to therapy were the significant independent prognostic factors in the multivariate analysis. The presence of local bone lysis and non-combination with cytoreductive surgery were associated with a worse response to RT. Immunohistochemical analysis for hypoxia-inducible factor-1α indicated that tumor cells invading the bone are under hypoxic conditions, which may explain a poorer efficiency of RT in dogs with bone lysis. In conclusion, clinical stage and combination with debulking surgery were needed to improve the efficiency of RT.
Screening of ADHD symptoms in primary school students and investigation of parental awareness of ADHD and its influencing factors: A cross-sectional study

Objective The present study aimed to compare the differences in positive screening rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms between parents and teachers in the same sample of primary school students. Concurrently, parental awareness and information sources of ADHD were investigated, and possible relevant factors affecting parental awareness and their influence on positive screening rate of ADHD were analyzed. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Changchun, China, between September 2020 and January 2021. Parents of 1,118 primary school students and 24 head teachers were recruited in the survey. Data were collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. It consisted of socio-demographic characteristics, ADHD symptom screening questionnaire, parental awareness, and information sources of ADHD. Results Among the 1,118 primary school students, 30 (2.7%) and 60 (5.4%) students were positive for Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Rating Scale (SNAP-IV) screening in the parent version and teacher version, respectively. Parents had lower positive screening rates for ADHD symptoms than teachers. Relationship with children (mother, OR = 1.552, 95% CI = 1.104–2.180), bachelor degree or above of parents (OR = 1.526, 95% CI = 1.054–2.210), children’s sex (girl, OR = 1.442, 95% CI = 1.093–1.904), and age (OR = 1.344, 95% CI = 1.030–1.754), children’s grade (grade 2, OR = 0.522, 95% CI = 0.310–0.878; grade 3, OR = 0.388, 95% CI = 0.185–0.782), information sources of ADHD (medical staff, OR = 1.494, 95% CI = 1.108–2.015; family/relative/friend, OR = 1.547, 95% CI = 1.148–2.083; TV/Internet, OR = 3.200, 95% CI = 2.270–4.510) were the factors related to the parental awareness of ADHD. Conclusion Parents and teachers of primary school students recognize ADHD symptoms differently. The positive screening rate of ADHD among teachers was significantly higher than that of parents. Relationship with children, educational level of parents, children’s sex, age, and grade, and information sources of ADHD are the relevant factors affecting parental awareness of ADHD. More efforts should be made to disseminate ADHD knowledge through mass media, and medical staff. Fathers, parents with low educational level, and parents of grade 2 and 3 pupils should be encouraged to acquire more knowledge on ADHD to improve the early recognition rate of ADHD symptoms. Clinical trial registration [http://www.chictr. org.cn/showproj.aspx? proj=54 072], identifier [ChiCTR2000033388].
Monty Hall Uses a Mixed Strategy

Introduction Marilyn vos Savant posed a problem [12] simulating a popular TV game show hosted by Monty Hall. Her correct solution brought thousands of letters telling her that she was wrong. We quote her statement of the problem: "Suppose you're on a game show, and you are given a choice of three doors. Behind one is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door-say, No. 1-and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door-say, No. 3-which has a goat. He then says to you, 'Do you want to pick door No. 2? ' Is it to your advantage to switch your choice? " Marilyns phrase "say, No. 3" is a little ambiguous. To clarify this, we note that if Doors 2 and 3 hide a goat and a car, then the host opens the door hiding the goat. On the other hand, if Doors 2 and 3 both hide goats then the host flips a coin to choose between these two doors. A number of interesting articles (e.g., [3], [7], and [8]) analyze games in which the host does not make a random choice in the latter case. In 1959, Martin Gardner [6] posed a problem equivalent to Marilyn's game involving three prisoners with one to be paroled. Gardner describes the game as a "wonderfully confusing little problem. " Another equivalent problem, involving three boxes, was posed by S. Selvin [10] in 1975. Ed Barbeau [1] has written a good review of the literature on Marilyn's game and related problems. A recent paper by Fernandez and Piron [4] considers Marilyn's game when the host influences the contestant to switch in certain situations so that the game is less predictable, and thus generates more audience interest. Two appealing solutions to Marilyn's game are: S1: After the host shows a goat, the contestant is looking at two closed doors with a car behind one of them. Thus there is a 50-50 chance with either door and there is no advantage in switching, S2: The probability of picking the car with her first choice was 1/3 and this does not change when the host shows a goat. Since the car is behind one of the two closed doors, the probability is 2/3 that the car is behind the other closed door and she should switch. In this note, we generalize the game by considering a set of N doors, with a car behind one of the doors and goats behind the rest. The sponsors of the show ask Monty to give away as few cars as possible. We consider three different generalizations, and in the third one, both the host and contestant use mixed strategies. In general, mixed strategy games can only be solved for given numerical values of the parameters involved, however in our game there is an explicit solution.
Additive Nonlinear ARX Time Series and Projection Estimates

We propose projections as means of identifying and estimating the components (endogenous and exogenous) of an additive nonlinear ARX model. The estimates are nonparametric in nature and involve averaging of kernel-type estimates. Such estimates have recently been treated informally in a univariate time series situation. Here we extend the scope to nonlinear ARX models and present a rigorous theory, including the derivation of asymptotic normality for the projection estimates under a precise set of regularity conditions.
Atomic data for opacity calculations. VIII. Line-profile parameters for 42 transitions in Li-like and Be-like ions

Widths and shifts are calculated in the electron impact approximation, using close-coupling theory, for the transitions 2s-2p, 2s-3p, 2p-3s, 2p-3d, 3s-3p and 3p-3d in Be II, B III, C IV, O VI and Ne VIII, and the transitions 2s2 1S-2s2p 1Po, 2s2p 3Po-2p2 3P, 2s2p 1Po-2p2 1D and 1S in C III, O V and Ne VII. Results are compared with those from previous calculations and from experiments. Approximate formulae must be used to estimate linewidths for some 106 transitions which are of importance for the calculation of stellar envelope opacities. Results for the quantum mechanical calculations for 42 transitions are used to obtain provisional best estimates for the parameters in these formulae.
A Mathematical Modeling of Stuxnet-Style Autonomous Vehicle Malware

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to provide new paradigms to enhance the safety, mobility, and environmental sustainability of surface transportation. However, as vehicles become more computerized and internally interconnected by electronic control systems, their vulnerability to cyber-attacks is a fast-growing concern and a national priority. Evidence from the Internet virus suggests that AVs will have critical challenges posed by epidemic-style malware like Stuxnet. This self-propagating malware is a fast and powerful way of disrupting the AV system and transportation infrastructure. This study presents a mathematical model for Stuxnet-style malware’s temporal and spatial spread. Taking cues from the field of epidemiology and ecology, the malware will be described as an infectious epidemic to capture the dynamics of temporal and spatial propagation behavior. This study is the first attempt to analyze the spread of Stuxnet-style malware on AVs. The future uses of such a model for the temporal-geographic spread of AVs-based infectious malware are discussed.
Evaluation Of The Implementation Of Government Internal Control Systems On Collection Of Rural And Urban Land And Building Taxes In Southeast Minahasa District

The Rural and Urban Land and Building Tax is a tax on land and/or buildings that are owned, controlled, and/or utilized by individuals or entities, except for areas used for plantation, forestry and mining business activities. The government internal control system is an integral process for actions and activities carried out continuously by the leadership and all employees to provide adequate confidence in the achievement of organizational goals through effective and efficient activities, reliability of financial reporting, safeguarding state assets, and compliance with laws and regulations. The purpose of this study is to find out how the internal control system is applied to the collection of Rural and Urban Land and Building Taxes in Southeast Minahasa Regency. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. The results of the study show that the work or activities carried out are in accordance with the elements of the existing internal control system, except for the elements of control activities in the segregation of functions sub-elements which have not been carried out properly. The conclusion of this study is that for the elements of the control environment, risk assessment, information and communication and monitoring, control has been carried out in accordance with Government Regulation Number 60 of 2008 and has been implemented properly, while the elements of control activities have not been in accordance with Government Regulation Number 60 of 2008 and have not been implemented optimally.
Characterizes the Antioxidant Activity of Recombinant Inbred Rice Lines Derived from Traditional Kavuni and CO 50

The present study aimed at investigating the antioxidant activity of traditional black Kavuni, CO 50, and their Recombined Inbred Lines. The total antioxidant assay was carried out in twenty-five rice samples. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, Superoxide radical scavenging activity, Nitric oxide radical scavenging activity, and total antioxidant activity were assessed by traditional black Kavuni, CO 50 and 145-3 Recombined Inbred Line by using standard procedure. The highest percentage of inhibition was observed in black color rice samples, which ranged from 51 to 83 percent. The 145-3 Recombined Inbred Line and kavuni had the highest antioxidant activity. In Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, Superoxide radical scavenging activity, Nitric oxide radical scavenging activity, and total antioxidant activity, the highest inhibition was observed in methanolic extract of Kavuni parent and selected 145-3 Recombined Inbred Line.
Distributed Adaptive Predefined-Time Bipartite Containment Algorithm for Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems With Actuator Faults

Distributed adaptive predefined-time bipartite containment for a class of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems is studied with actuator faults. Communication topology of multi-agent systems is fixed and directed. In order to ensure that followers can reach convex hull spanned by leaders under the conditions of actuator faults, sliding mode method is introduced. Control protocol for multi-agent systems demonstrates its effectiveness. Finally, simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness of proposed algorithm.
Integrative Multiomics and Regulatory Network Analyses Uncovers the Role of OAS3, TRAFD1, miR-222-3p, and miR-125b-5p in Hepatitis E Virus Infection

The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a long-ignored virus that has spread globally with time. It ranked 6th among the top risk-ranking viruses with high zoonotic spillover potential; thus, considering its viral threats is a pressing priority. The molecular pathophysiology of HEV infection or the underlying cause is limited. Therefore, we incorporated an unbiased, systematic methodology to get insights into the biological heterogeneity associated with the HEV. Our study fetched 93 and 2016 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from chronic HEV (CHEV) infection in kidney-transplant patients, followed by hub module selection from a weighted gene co-expression network (WGCN). Most of the hub genes identified in this study were associated with interferon (IFN) signaling pathways. Amongst the genes induced by IFNs, the 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthase 3 (OAS3) protein was upregulated. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) modular, functional enrichment, and feed-forward loop (FFL) analyses led to the identification of two key miRNAs, i.e., miR-222-3p and miR-125b-5p, which showed a strong association with the OAS3 gene and TRAF-type zinc finger domain containing 1 (TRAFD1) transcription factor (TF) based on essential centrality measures. Further experimental studies are required to substantiate the significance of these FFL-associated genes and miRNAs with their respective functions in CHEV. To our knowledge, it is the first time that miR-222-3p has been described as a reference miRNA for use in CHEV sample analyses. In conclusion, our study has enlightened a few budding targets of HEV, which might help us understand the cellular and molecular pathways dysregulated in HEV through various factors. Thus, providing a novel insight into its pathophysiology and progression dynamics.
The Impact of Health Insurance Policy on the Fertility Intention of Rural Floating Population in China: Empirical Evidence from Cross-Sectional Data

Declining total fertility rates pose a severe challenge to the economy, society, culture, and politics of any region. Low fertility rates among China’s rural floating population with strong fertility are aggravating these challenges. Previous research has confirmed the relationships between health insurance and fertility intention. However, it is still unclear whether the existing association is favorable or not. Moreover, the majority of existing studies in China employ data from either urban or rural populations, whereas evidence from rural floating populations remains scarce. Based on the “China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS)” in 2016, the current study used the logistic regression model to explore the impact of health insurance policy on the fertility intention of the rural floating population in China. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to address potential selection bias. Three important findings were observed: Firstly, participating in the Basic Medical Insurance System (BMISUR) significantly improved rural floating populations’ fertility intentions in China. Secondly, the association between age and the fertility intention of the floating population was “inverted u-shaped” with the highest fertility intention among those aged 25 to 34. There was also a positive correlation between personal income and fertility intention, and it was found between local housing purchase, formal employment, the co-residents scale, and the fertility intention in the rural floating population in China. Interprovincial mobility was positively associated with the fertility intention among rural migrants. Thirdly, the impact of health insurance policies on the fertility intention of the rural migrant population varies by gender, age, and inflow areas. The aforementioned findings can guide the Chinese government in its efforts to improve the fertility intention of the rural floating population, reform the social security system with a focus on “targets”, and implement differentiated welfare policies aimed at promoting the equalization of basic public services, thereby contributing to China’s population structure and long-term development.
Macrophytes as passive bioindicators of trace element pollution in the aquatic environment

Pollution with trace elements is considered a global problem due to their persistence, nondegradability, and toxicity to living organisms. Aquatic ecosystems are often the final sinks for trace elements, but these pollutants are quickly diluted and difficult to detect and, therefore, comprehensive monitoring of pollution is needed to implement appropriate control measures and prevent irreversible damage to these habitats. Bioindication is one of the recommended methods as it provides information not only on the pollution level but also on the bioavailability of elements and their biological impact. The paper is a synthetic review of the knowledge about the use of macrophytes as passive bioindicators (accumulator taxa) of trace element pollution in aquatic ecosystems. Various aspects of bioindication using accumulator aquatic plants are discussed: the criteria defined for the organisms used in biogeochemical bioindication, advantages of plants as accumulative bioindicators, general trends in the uptake, and accumulation of pollutants by macrophytes (including differences between life forms, organs, and seasons). The use of various groups of macrophytes in accumulative bioindication is described in detail with an emphasis on the relationship between element levels in plant tissues and their habitat as well as performance in the detection of pollution gradients. Knowledge gaps and limitations in the field of bioindication using accumulative macrophytes are indicated and the future perspective is outlined.