Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Cross-Sectional Study of the Correlation Between the Atherogenic Index of Plasma and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract Purpose The main objective of this study was to examine the possible association between the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Chinese individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Patients and methods In this survey, data from 1074 patients with T2DM were retrospectively extracted. The correlations between each variable and NAFLD were determined by univariate analysis, and then, the statistically significant variables were evaluated for their association with AIP and NAFLD by multivariate regression analysis. Results AIP levels were significantly higher in all males and females with NAFLD than those without NAFLD (p<0.001). The prevalence of NAFLD increased progressively throughout the AIP quartiles (trend P < 0.001) and accounted for possible variables in Model 3 of the multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR: 2244.984). In terms of sensitivity and specificity, the AIP index was found to be 65.0% and 90.1% accurate, respectively, with a 95% CI of 0.804–0.893. According to a stratified analysis, females, patients over the age of 56 and current nonsmokers were found to have a higher chance of developing NAFLD. Conclusion T2DM individuals with NAFLD were found to have a higher AIP index than those without NAFLD. The prevalence and progression of NAFLD in T2DM patients may be influenced by the AIP index.
Rings with Ascending Condition on Annihilators

Quasi-frobenius (= QF) rings have many interesting characterizations. One such, due to Ikeda [17] is that these rings are right (left) artinian and right (left) self-injective. Thus, if R is QF, then R is right (left) noetherian, so each direct sum of injective right R-modules is injective: in particular, each free, hence, each projective, R-module is injective. One object of this paper is to report that this property characterizes QF-rings:
Unbiasedness of tests of homogeneity when alternatives are ordered

Let Xi, X2,. , Xk be independent random variables whose densities are from an exponential family with parameters 0i, 02? 0*) respectively. That is, the densities are f(xi | 9i) = c(6i)eXi9ig(xi). Assume that g is a Polya frequency function of order two (PF2). Consider testing the null hypothesis H : ? = 02 = . = 0* vs. the alternative ? : 0i > 02 > . > 0fc. Write ? = (a? i, x2,., Xk) and define a partial ordering >>* on 9? fe by ? >>* y if and only if S;? =1#,? > S^=12/,? for j = 1,2,. , k ? 1 and equality for j = fc. A function (x) is said to be ISO* if ? >>* y implies <p(y). We prove that if f(? ) is a similar test which is ISO* then f is unbiased. In fact if f(? ) is ISO* the power function of the test is conditionally monotone nondecreasing along rays orthogonal to the equiangular line. For cases where the distribution satisfies the semi-group property the power function is unconditionally monotone along these rays. Furthermore a way to generate unbiased tests with monotone power is given.
Effects of restoration of degraded lands on soils physicochemical properties and adaptability of planted woody species in southwestern Niger

This study examines the effects of restoration of degraded lands on soils physicochemical properties and adaptability of planted woody species over a period of 4–6 years. It is based on: (1) Physicochemical analyses of soils (granulometry, calcimetry, and organic matter); (2) measures carried out for the dimensioning of anti‐erosion structures; (3) dendrometric measurements on planted woody species on a density from 96 to 625 plants/ha, and the excavations of their root systems. The soils are characterized by low levels of organic matter (<1%), and no calcium carbonate. Soil tillage through deep sub‐soiling resulted in an improvement in soils quality marked by average proportions of clay (28.3%), silt (27.3%) on the anti‐erosion structures, whereas the control sites are dominated by sand particles (64%) on average. The degradation mechanism of anti‐erosion structures is mainly controlled by natural factors including topography, rainfall, and sand content of the soils with strong positive correlations ( r=0.84 ; r=0.79 ; r=0.63 respectively). Restoration activities have led to the reconstitution of vegetation cover on degraded soils. Eucalyptus camaldulensis groups showed better adaptation as evidenced by their high structural shape parametres including Lorey's mean height (5.16–8.03 m), and mean crown diameter (1.66–3.3 m) with a tracer‐type root system and high root density (74–88 roots) observed at 30 cm from the main stem. This study provides substantial information on the contribution of erosion control measures and their interactions with soil and vegetation resources. It constitutes a scientific tool that is well‐adapted to the Sahelian (Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Senegal) context indispensable for the implementation of sustainable development strategies. The results thus obtained can be used as a reference for the choice of woody species to be planted according to the toposequence and the nature of the anti‐erosion structures made, with a good control of their durability while taking into account the productivity of the soils.
Effectiveness of a Multifaced Antibiotic Stewardship Program: A Pre-Post Study in Seven Italian ICUs

Multidrug resistance has become a serious threat for health, particularly in hospital-acquired infections. To improve patients’ safety and outcomes while maintaining the efficacy of antimicrobials, complex interventions are needed involving infection control and appropriate pharmacological treatments in antibiotic stewardship programs. We conducted a multicenter pre-post study to assess the impact of a stewardship program in seven Italian intensive care units (ICUs). Each ICU was visited by a multidisciplinary team involving clinicians, microbiologists, pharmacologists, infectious disease specialists, and data scientists. Interventions were targeted according to the characteristics of each unit. The effect of the program was measured with a panel of indicators computed with data from the MargheritaTre electronic health record. The median duration of empirical therapy decreased from 5.6 to 4.6 days and the use of quinolones dropped from 15.3% to 6%, both p < 0.001. The proportion of multi-drug-resistant bacteria (MDR) in ICU-acquired infections fell from 57.7% to 48.8%. ICU mortality and length of stay remained unchanged, indicating that reducing antibiotic administration did not harm patients’ safety. This study shows that our stewardship program successfully improved the management of infections. This suggests that policy makers should tackle multidrug resistance with a multidisciplinary approach based on continuous monitoring and personalised interventions.
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for a Bivariate Mean of Three Parameters to Be the Schur $m$-Power Convex

In this paper, the authors ﬁnd necessary and suﬃcient conditions for a bivariate mean of three parameters to be the Schur m -power convex or the Schur m -power concave, by using techniques of the majorization theory. 2020 Mathematics Subject 26E60, 26A51.
Phase Transitions in Long-range Spin Models: The Power of Generalized Ensembles

This thesis uses generalized ensembles Monte Carlo methods to explore the critical behavior of spin chains with algebraically decaying interactions. The first part of this thesis investigates the phase diagram of a long-range Potts chain using a multicanonical algorithm. A new method based on spinodal points is proposed to detect the order of phase transitions. The boundary between first- and second-order transitions is located with unprecedented accuracy using this method, and a new, unusual finite-size effect is observed. The second part of this thesis formulates a new, versatile multicanonical method that includes cluster updates, considerably extending the range of attainable lattice sizes. The method is shown to be far more accurate than standard multicanonical methods. It is applied to the investigation of finite-size effects at first-order transitions, where strong evidence suggests that the mixed-phase configuration has a fractal dimension depending on the decay parameter of the interaction. Finally, a long-range Ising chain with bimodal random fields is studied. The existence of a tricritical point for slowly decaying interactions is demonstrated.
Needs of Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Immunotherapy and Acceptance of Digital and Sensor-Based Scenarios for Monitoring Symptoms at Home—A Qualitative-Explorative Study

Background: The development of immunotherapy in the treatment for lung cancer has changed the outlook for both patients and health care practitioners. However, reporting and management of side effects are crucial to ensure effectiveness and safety of treatment. The aim of this study was to learn about the subjective experiences of patients with lung cancer receiving immunotherapy and to explore their potential acceptance of digital and sensor-based systems for monitoring treatment-related symptoms at home. Methods: A qualitative-explorative interview study with patients with lung cancer (n = 21) applying qualitative content analysis. Results: Participants had trouble to classify and differentiate between symptoms they experienced and it seemed challenging to assess whether symptoms are serious enough to be reported and to figure out the right time to report symptoms to health care practitioners. We identified four basic needs: (1) the need to be informed, (2) the need for a trustful relationship, (3) the need to be taken seriously, and (4) the need for needs-oriented treatment concepts. The idea of digital and sensor-based monitoring initially provoked rejection, but participants expressed more differentiated attitudes during the interviews, which could be integrated into a preliminary model to explain the acceptance of digital and sensor-based monitoring scenarios. Conclusions: Supporting lung cancer patients and their health care providers in communicating about treatment-related symptoms is important. Technology-based monitoring systems are considered to be potentially beneficial. However, in view of the many unfulfilled information needs and the unsatisfactory reporting of symptoms, it must be critically questioned what these systems can and should compensate for, and where the limits of such monitoring lie.
Planning, implementation, and evaluation of educational intervention based on PRECEDE–PROCEED model for mothers about oral health promotion on children aged 3–6 years

BACKGROUND: Mothers play an important role in oral health of children. The present study was planned, implemented, and evaluated to determine the impact of mothers' educational program based on PRECEDE–PROCEED model on oral health promotion of Rafsanjan 3–6-year-old children, in 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 mothers with children aged 3–6 years divided into two groups. The research tool was developed and approved based on the model phases in the form of demographic information, predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors. At phase five, intervention planning was conducted and the program was implemented in four sessions (45 min each) in 30 days. Follow-up was done 2 months after the last training session. The data were analyzed by SPSS18, using Chi-square, paired t-test, and independent t-test at the significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: After implementing the program, a significant difference was observed between predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors, as well as oral health-related behaviors of the two groups (P < 0.05). Finally, 30.4% of the changes in oral health-related behavior resulted from the implementation of the designed educational program. CONCLUSION: Considering the importance of planning to promote children's oral health and hygiene, it is recommended that the PRECEDE–PROCEED model be used to design, implement, and evaluate health evidence-based interventions.
Quantile Regression under Misspecification

Quantile regression (QR) methods fit a linear model for conditional quantiles, just as ordinary least squares (OLS) regression estimates a linear model for conditional means. An attractive feature of the OLS estimator is that it gives a minimum mean square error approximation to the conditional expectation function even when the linear model is mis-specified. Empirical research on quantile regression with discrete covariates suggests that QR has a similar property, but the exact nature of the linear approximation has remained elusive. In this paper, we show that QR can be interpreted as minimizing a weighted mean-squared error loss function for the specification error. We derive the weighting function and show that it is approximately equal to the conditional density of QR residuals. The paper goes on to derive the limiting distribution of QR estimators under very general conditions allowing for mis-specification of the conditional quantile function. Finally, we develop methods for the use of QR as a modelling tool for the entire conditional distribution of a random variable. Testable hypotheses include location-scale models, proportional heteroscedasticity, and stochastic dominance. These ideas are illustrated with a human capital earnings function
Netrin-1 receptor deficiency protects against psychostimulant-induced behaviours in mice

Psychostimulant drugs, such as cocaine and amphetamine, increase extracellular dopamine in certain brain regions, including those that make up the mesolimbic dopamine system. Dysfunction of this system is implicated in drug addiction. The development of the mesolimbic dopamine system involves netrins, a group of secreted proteins that guide growing axons to their targets. Mice that develop with reduced expression of deleted in colorectal cancer, a netrin-1 receptor, exhibit abnormal dopamine release in response to psychostimulant drugs. Furthermore, these mice show reduced amphetamine-induced locomotor activation when compared to wild-type mice. In this study, our objective is to further examine the drug-induced behaviours of DCC deficient mice. We compared adult DCC deficient and wild-type mice using two behavioural tests. First, we examined the locomotor response of these mice to cocaine. Second, using conditioned place preference, we assessed the rewarding effects of amphetamine. DCC deficient mice showed reduced cocaine-induced locomotor activation and diminished amphetamine-induced reward when compared to wild-type mice. Taken together, this study suggests that DCC deficiency can protect against certain psychostimulant-induced behaviours.
Examining the Transition from a perennial to a seasonal sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean: A Lagrangian Approach

Background: Declining Arctic sea ice extent has been accompanied by a large loss in multiyear ice (MYI). The dynamic and thermodynamic processes which affect this transition include promotion of first year ice (FYI) to MYI, demotion (melting) of MYI to open water, and ice export through Fram Strait. In this study we quantify the relative importance of these three processes. Methods: We use the Lagrangian Ice Tracking System which employs satellite-derived sea ice drift vectors combined with sea ice concentrations to find annual areas of promotion, demotion, and export. Results: Over the satellite record (1989-2015), we quantify the total contributions to sea ice extent loss from promotion (+30 million km2), demotion (-19.7 million km2), and export of MYI (-18.6 million km2). The result is a total net loss of 8.3 million km2 of MYI. We find that all three processes are positively correlated with minimum sea ice extent and are increasing with rates of +0.165 million km2/decade, -0.146 million km2/ decade, and -0.096 million km2/decade for promotion, demotion, and export respectively. We also compute the negative ice growth feedback at 0.59 (with r2=0.27). This indicates that ice pack recovers, on average, 59% of the MYI area lost to demotion/export through promotion of FYI the following winter. Limitations: Uncertainties in the drift speed are compounded by the weekly temporal resolution of the model, which affects the resulting estimates of demotion and promotion area. Conclusion: Demotion and export combined are increasing faster than promotion and represent a larger area contribution. This imbalance accounts for the observed loss of MYI area.
Dynamic Response and Synchronizing Characteristic for the Dual-Motor Driving System in Non-Inertial System

As one of the typical propulsion systems of the new-energy vehicles (NEVs), the dual-motor driving system (DMDS) is installed and fixed on the bodywork and moves together with the bodywork in space, that is, the DMDS works in non-inertial systems. The previous researches on the DMDS are based on the assumption that the bodywork is stationary. In fact, since the DMDS moves with the bodywork, besides its own excitation forces, it is inevitably affected by the additional inertial terms (AITs) caused by the change in the operating state of the NEVs. In order to investigate the dynamic response and synchronizing characteristic of the DMDS under different motion forms of NEVs, the dynamic model of the DMDS in a non-inertial system is established, considering the permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), time-varying meshing stiffness and transmission error of gears. Subsequently, the expressions of the AITs are deduced under different non-inertial conditions. The translational motion and circular motion of the vehicle are selected to analyze the dynamic response and synchronizing characteristics of the DMDS in a non-inertial system. The results show that the acceleration has a significant influence on the displacement response of gears, torque and speed of PMSMs, but the torque synchronization and speed synchronization between PMSMs are minimally influenced by both the acceleration and the AITs. Meanwhile, the AITs that affect the displacement response are analyzed and quantified.
Data Refinement: Model-Oriented Proof Methods and their Comparison

The goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the important and highly applicable method of data refinement and the simulation methods used for proving its correctness. The authors concentrate in the first part on the general principles needed to prove data refinement correct. They begin with an explanation of the fundamental notions, showing that data refinement proofs reduce to proving simulation. The topics of Hoare Logic and the Refinement Calculus are introduced and a general theory of simulations is developed and related to them. Accessibility and comprehension are emphasized in order to guide newcomers to the area. The book's second part contains a detailed survey of important methods in this field, such as VDM, and the methods due to Abadi & Lamport, Hehner, Lynch and Reynolds, Back's refinement calculus and Z. All these methods are carefully analysed, and shown to be either imcomplete, with counterexamples to their application, or to be always applicable whenever data refinement holds. This is shown by proving, for the first time, that all these methods can be described and analyzed in terms of two simple notions: forward and backward simulation. The book is self-contained, going from advanced undergraduate level and taking the reader to the state of the art in methods for proving simulation.
Four-Line C2*/CH* Optical Sensor for Chemiluminescence Based Imaging of Flame Stoichiometry

In the present work, an optical sensor was developed and calibrated for the purpose of non-intrusive equivalence ratio measurements in combustion systems. The sensor incorporates a unique four-line, single-sensor chemiluminescence imaging-based approach, which relies on the ratio of C2* and CH* radical-species intensities to obtain measurements of equivalence ratios. The advantage of the four-line sensor is the use of additional filtering to mitigate broadband luminescence signals, and its improvements over conventional two-line chemiluminescence diagnostics are discussed. The sensor was calibrated using a premixed bluff-body jet burner with a propane–air flame operating over a wide range of equivalence ratios. The results showed that the four-line processing technique improved the signal-to-noise ratio of the chemiluminescence images for all test cases. Calibrations of C2*/CH* intensity ratio to equivalence ratio were developed for both the four-line and two-line techniques. The calibrations were then used to create maps of local equivalence ratios in the flame-holding region. The maps revealed a non-uniform field of equivalence ratios due to the nature of the radical-species intensity profiles within the flame. Therefore, special consideration is required for calibration in order to accurately quantify equivalence ratios and apply these to diffusion flames.
Self-regulated learning-based digital module development to improve students' critical thinking skills

Learning technology needs to support improving critical thinking skills in the 21st century. Self-regulated learning-based digital module can be used to support students’ independent learning. The aims of this study are (1) to describe a valid digital module based on self-regulated learning; (2) to evaluate and describe the practicality of the digital module based on self-regulated learning; (3) to determine the effectiveness of the digital module based on self-regulated learning on students' critical thinking skills. The method used is Research and Development with the ADDIE development model. The results of the study are (1) the developed digital module based on self-regulated learning is declared valid; (2) the digital module based on self-regulated learning is stated to be practical as indicated by the response and implementation in the good category; (3) students' critical thinking skills in the experimental class are better than the control class. Generally, the self-regulated learning-based digital modules are valid, practical, and effective.
State-Level Urban Agglomeration and Enterprise Innovation: A Quasi-Natural Experiment

Based on the data of listed enterprises in China from 2007 to 2019, this study uses the quasi-natural experiment method (staggered DID) to explore the actual impact of the establishment of state-level urban agglomeration on the innovation activities of enterprises and the heterogeneous impact caused by regional differences. It is found that state-level urban agglomerations play the role of “incubator” for enterprise innovation, and the establishment of urban agglomerations can not only effectively encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment, but also greatly increase the quantity of innovation output of enterprises. It is worthwhile to note that the establishment of state-level urban agglomerations has no significant impact on R&D investment and the innovation output of enterprises in the eastern region. As far as the western region is concerned, the incentive effect of the establishment of urban agglomeration on the innovation output of enterprises is significantly positive at 1% significance level, while the incentive effect on the R&D investment of enterprises is positive but not statistically significant.