Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bargaining Over a Divisible Good in the Market for Lemons

We study bargaining with divisibility and interdependent values. A buyer and a seller trade a divisible good. The seller is privately informed about its quality, which can be high or low. Gains from trade are positive and decreasing in quantity. The buyer makes offers over time. Divisibility introduces a new channel of competition between the buyer’s present and future selves. The buyer’s temptation to split the purchases of the high-quality good is detrimental to him. As bargaining frictions vanish and the good becomes arbitrarily divisible, the high-quality good is traded smoothly over time and the buyer’s payoff shrinks to zero. (JEL C78, D82, L15)
Biocidal Coatings from Complexes of Carboxylated Latex Particles and a Linear Cationic Polymer

A linear polycation, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), electrostatically interacts with anionic latex particles from a carboxylated butadiene–styrene copolymer in aqueous solution thus forming an interpolyelectrolyte complex. A mutual neutralization of oppositely charged latex and polycation groups occurs at W = latex/polycation = 50 w/w ratio. At W = 27, an ultimate polycation adsorption is reached, resulting in the formation of positive polycomplex particles, while at W ˂ 27, two-component systems are formed composed of positive polycomplex particles and free polycation. A film created from the W = 12 formulation shows a high toxicity to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeast. Repeated washing the film leads to partial removal of polycation and a 50% decrease in the activity of the film only towards Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results indicate the potential for use of the mixed polymer formulations for the fabrication of antimicrobial films and coatings.
Effects of Expanded Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy on Hand Function in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Hemiplegic cerebral palsy children can attend schools regularly, but due to impairment of upper limb function, participation is restricted in leisure and educational tasks and it affects their social and functional activities. Constraint-induced movement therapy is specifically used for the upper extremity and can enhance cerebral palsy children’s hand function. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of expanded constraint-induced movement therapy on hand function in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted at the department of Physical Therapy, Children’s Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan from December 2021 to April 2022 using non-probability convenient sampling. Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy aged between 5 and 12 years were randomly allocated into two groups (22 patients per group), the experimental group treated with expanded constraint-induced movement therapy and routine physical therapy and the conventional group treated with routine physical therapy only. The pediatric motor activity log scale and Wolf motor function test were the outcome measuring scales. The trial was approved by the ethical committee of the hospital and registered prospectively in the clinical trial registry of the US (ClinicalTrials.gov trial ID 57520). Results: As compared to the conventional group, the score of the pediatric motor activity log scale improved significantly (p-value ≤0.001) in the experimental group. Participants showed significant differences for both domains of the wolf motor function test in the experimental group as compared to other groups and they showed significant improvement in hand function (p≤0.001) within the groups. Conclusion: Expanded constraint-induced movement therapy along with routine physical therapy is found to be more effective in improving the function of the pelagic hand in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.
Insights into the role of RUNX1 gene in female-related cancers

The transcription factors of runt-related transcription factor (RUNX) are important regulators of various developmental pathways, with roles in proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and cell lineage. One of the core subclasses of the RUNX family that codes for a number of transcription-binding proteins is the RUNX1 gene, which is located on chromosome 21q22.12. There has been extensive research on RUNX1 mutations in hematological cancers, where the most conspicuous position of several chromosomal translocations has drawn interest as a tumor suppressor. In this paper, the malignancies triggered by RUNX1 mutations, which are strongly associated with cancers of the female reproductive system, along with their diagnoses and potential treatments, are reviewed. It has been found that RUNX1 mutation plays a pervasive function in female health, including sex determination, follicular development, steroidogenesis, and the interaction of the estrogen system. In contrast, chromosomal translocations in the gene linked to RUNX1 mutation may lead to severe malignancies in females. Breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers have shown the highest frequency of genetic abnormalities in the RUNX1 gene. The second most common cause of cancer-related mortality in women is breast cancer, which is also the most common cancer. There is an opposing relationship between uterine cancer and low-grade tumors that often remain confined to the uterus. Due to the regular occurrence of promoter hypermethylation and hypomethylation changes, ovarian cancer has become the most fatal of all gynecological tumors. Finally, despite being the cancer least likely to result from RUNX1 mutation, cervical cancer can directly impair natural killer cell activity. Both hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cancer cells can form and become tumors when the RUNX1 gene is mutated, with female malignancies being the primary target. Therefore, more research on RUNX1 gene’s pattern of expression, both in vitro and in silico, is needed to lower the incidence of female-related cancers.
The Polytropic Index of Solar Coronal Plasma in Sunspot Fan Loops and Its Temperature Dependence

Observations of slow magneto-acoustic waves have been demonstrated to possess a number of applications in coronal seismology. Determination of the polytropic index (γ) is one such important application. Analyzing the amplitudes of oscillations in temperature and density corresponding to a slow magneto-acoustic wave, the polytropic index in the solar corona has been calculated and, on the basis of the obtained value, it has been inferred that thermal conduction is highly suppressed in a very hot loop, in contrast to an earlier report of high thermal conduction in a relatively colder loop. In this study, using Solar Dynamics Observatory/AIA data, we analyzed slow magneto-acoustic waves propagating along sunspot fan loops from 30 different active regions and computed polytropic indices for several loops at multiple spatial positions. The obtained γ values vary from 1.04 ± 0.01 to 1.58 ± 0.12 and, most importantly, display a temperature dependence indicating higher γ at hotter temperatures. This behavior brings both the previous studies to agreement, and perhaps implies a gradual suppression of thermal conduction with increase in temperature of the loop. The observed phase shifts between temperature and density oscillations, however, are substantially larger than that expected from the classical Spitzer thermal conduction, and appear to be influenced by a line-of-sight integration effect on the emission measure.
The Impact of Natural Disasters on Banks' Impairment Flow: Evidence from Germany

Climate change causes natural disasters to occur at higher frequency and increased severity. Using a unique dataset on German banks, this paper explores how regionally less diversified banks in Germany adjusted their loan loss provisioning following the severe summer flood of 2013, which affected widespread regions mostly in Eastern Germany. The analysis uses a difference-in-differences estimation with banks being allocated to the treatment and control group based on the region of their primary operational activities. This paper yields various results: German savings and cooperative banks located in the affected regions experienced a significantly higher, but ephemeral, impairment flow in the years following the flood. Impairments were mostly driven by corporate loans concentrated in specific sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing, and to some extent by retail mortgage loans. While results suggest that the profitability of banks is impacted by additional factors, we do not find evidence that banks suffered from damages to their own property. The results are robust to various model specifications.
Constraints on the disc-magnetosphere interaction in accreting pulsar 4U 1626-67

Using the spin and flux evolution of the accreting pulsar 4U 1626$-$67 across the 2008 torque reversal, we determine the fastness parameter dependence of the dimensionless torque acting on the pulsar. We find that the dimensionless torque is qualitatively different from the existing models: it is concave-up across the torque equilibrium whereas the existing torque models predict a concave-down (convex) relation with the fastness parameter. We show that the dimensionless torque has a cubic dependence on the fastness parameter near the torque equilibrium. We also find that the torque can not attain large values away from the equilibrium, either in the positive or the negative side, but saturates at limited values. The spin-down torque can attain a 2.5 times larger magnitude at the saturation limit than the spin-up torque. From the evolution of the frequency of quasi-periodic oscillations of 4U 1626$-$67 across the torque reversal of 1990, we determine the critical fastness parameter corresponding to torque equilibrium to be $\omega_{\rm c} \simeq 0.75$ within the framework of the beat frequency model and boundary region model for reasonable values of the model parameters. We find that the disc magnetosphere interaction becomes unstable when the inner radius approaches the corotation radius as predicted by some models, though with a longer timescale. We also find that there is an unstable regime that is triggered when the fastness parameter is 0.8 times the critical fastness parameter ($\omega=0.6$ for $\omega_{\rm c} \simeq 0.75$) possibly associated with an instability observed in numerical simulations.
Late forming dark matter in theories of neutrino dark energy

We study the possibility of late forming dark matter, where a scalar field, previously trapped in a metastable state by thermal or finite density effects, goes through a phase transition near the era matter-radiation equality and begins to oscillate about its true minimum. Such a theory is motivated generally if the dark energy is of a similar form, but has not yet made the transition to dark matter, and, in particular, arises automatically in recently considered theories of neutrino dark energy. If such a field comprises the present dark matter, the matter power spectrum typically shows a sharp break at small, presently nonlinear scales, below which power is highly suppressed and previously contained acoustic oscillations. If, instead, such a field forms a subdominant component of the total dark matter, such acoustic oscillations may imprint themselves in the linear regime.
Transversality for Configuration Spaces and the "Square-Peg" Theorem

We prove a transversality ``lifting property'' for compactified configuration spaces as an application of the multijet transversality theorem: the submanifold of configurations of points on an arbitrary submanifold of Euclidean space may be made transverse to any submanifold of the configuration space of points in Euclidean space by an arbitrarily $C^1$-small variation of the initial submanifold, as long as the two submanifolds of compactified configuration space are boundary-disjoint. We use this setup to provide attractive proofs of the existence of a number of ``special inscribed configurations'' inside families of spheres embedded in $\mathbb{R}^n$ using differential topology. For instance, there is a $C^1$-dense family of smooth embedded circles in the plane where each simple closed curve has an odd number of inscribed squares, and there is a $C^1$-dense family of smooth embedded $(n-1)$-spheres in $\mathbb{R}^n$ where each sphere has a family of inscribed regular $n$-simplices with the homology of $O(n)$.
From Differential DNA Methylation in COPD to Mitochondria: Regulation of AHRR Expression Affects Airway Epithelial Response to Cigarette Smoke

Cigarette smoking causes hypomethylation of the gene Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Repressor (AHRR), which regulates detoxification and oxidative stress-responses. We investigated whether AHRR DNA methylation is related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and studied its function in airway epithelial cells (AECs). The association with COPD was assessed in blood from never and current smokers with/without COPD, and in AECs from ex-smoking non-COPD controls and GOLD stage II-IV COPD patients cultured with/without cigarette smoke extract (CSE). The effect of CRISPR/Cas9-induced AHRR knockout on proliferation, CSE-induced mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis/necrosis in human bronchial epithelial 16HBE cells was studied. In blood, DNA methylation of AHRR at cg05575921 and cg21161138 was lower in smoking COPD subjects than smoking controls. In vitro, AHRR DNA methylation at these CpG-sites was lower in COPD-derived than control-derived AECs only upon CSE exposure. Upon AHRR knockout, we found a lower proliferation rate at baseline, stronger CSE-induced decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, and higher CSE-induced late apoptosis/necroptosis. Together, our results show lower DNA methylation of AHRR upon smoking in COPD patients compared to non-COPD controls. Our data suggest that higher airway epithelial AHRR expression may lead to impaired cigarette smoke-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis/necroptosis, potentially promoting unprogrammed/immunogenic cell death.
Success Rate of Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Biometry of Eyes of Elementary School Students

Purpose To determine the success rate of swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) biometry (OA-2000) in elementary school students. Methods This was a prospective observational longitudinal study of 115 right eyes of elementary school students who were 8- to 9-years-old at the initial examination. Biometric measurements of the eyes were performed annually for three years, viz., during the third, fourth, and fifth grades. The success rates of obtaining data from optical biometric measurements of the axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT), pupillary diameter (PD), corneal diameter (CD), and corneal curvature (CC) were determined. Results The AL, CCT, and CC could be measured in all images at the three measurement times in all subjects. The success rate of the measurements of the ACD was 92.2% in the third grade and 100% in the fourth and fifth grade. The LT was successfully measured in 88.7% in the third grade, 99.1% in the fourth grade, and 100% in the fifth grade. The PD was successfully measured in 100% of the third grade, 96.0% of the fourth grade, and 100% in the fifth grade. The CD was successfully measured in 84.3% in the third grade, 66% in the fourth grade, and 100% in the fifth grade. Conclusion SS-OCT can obtain accurate measures of all ocular parameters in the primary school students with high success rates. However, care should be taken especially in analyzing the ACD, LT, PD, and CD because errors can occur in some cases.
Impact of a School Mental Health Program on Children’s and Adolescents’ Socio-Emotional Skills and Psychosocial Difficulties

The challenges of today’s society demand high levels of socio-emotional skills in children and adolescents; therefore, mental health is an important issue to be addressed and promoted in schools. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a school mental health program (Promoting Mental Health at Schools; PROMEHS) designed to promote socio-emotional learning and prevent psychosocial difficulties in children and adolescents. The study was conducted on a sample of 1392 students (evaluated by 104 teachers) from kindergarten (n = 446), primary school (n = 426), secondary school (n = 354), and high school (n = 166). A quasi-experimental study design with experimental and waitlist control groups was used to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Students were non-randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 895) and control group (n = 497). Students belonging to the experimental group received one-hour lessons once a week for 12 weeks. The teachers evaluated their students’ social-emotional skills, strengths, and difficulties before and after the intervention. The results indicated the effectiveness of the PROMEHS program in improving social-emotional skills for all school levels, reducing internalizing problems in primary and secondary school chil-dren, and reducing externalizing issues for kindergarten and primary school children. The PROMEHS program is a promising approach to enhancing childrens’ and adolescents’ social and emotional skills and to decreasing psychosocial difficulties, such as internalizing and externalizing problems.
Numerical Simulations of Turbulent Molecular Clouds Regulated by Radiation Feedback Forces. II. Radiation–Gas Interactions and Outflows

Momentum deposition by radiation pressure from young, massive stars may help to destroy molecular clouds and unbind stellar clusters by driving large-scale outflows. We extend our previous numerical radiation hydrodynamic study of turbulent star-forming clouds to analyze the detailed interaction between non-ionizing UV radiation and the cloud material. Our simulations trace the evolution of gas and star particles through self-gravitating collapse, star formation, and cloud destruction via radiation-driven outflows. These models are idealized in that we include only radiation feedback and adopt an isothermal equation of state. Turbulence creates a structure of dense filaments and large holes through which radiation escapes, such that only ∼50% of the radiation is (cumulatively) absorbed by the end of star formation. The surface density distribution of gas by mass as seen by the central cluster is roughly lognormal with , similar to the externally projected surface density distribution. This allows low surface density regions to be driven outwards to nearly 10 times their initial escape speed . Although the velocity distribution of outflows is broadened by the lognormal surface density distribution, the overall efficiency of momentum injection to the gas cloud is reduced because much of the radiation escapes. The mean outflow velocity is approximately twice the escape speed from the initial cloud radius. Our results are also informative for understanding galactic-scale wind driving by radiation, in particular, the relationship between velocity and surface density for individual outflow structures and the resulting velocity and mass distributions arising from turbulent sources.
Volumetric Variability of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Reflects the Propensity for Engaging in High-Stakes Gambling Behavior

The human ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been traditionally associated with decision-making under risk. Neuroimaging studies of such decision-making processes have largely focused on patients with vmPFC lesions or pathological gambling behavior, leading to a relative paucity of work focusing on the structural variability of the vmPFC in healthy individuals. To address this, we developed a decision-making task that allowed healthy players to choose to participate in either low stakes or high-stakes gambling on a trial-by-trial basis, and computed a metric that indexes the propensity for engaging in gambles with greater potential payoffs. We leveraged voxel-based morphometric analyses to examine the association between prefrontal gray matter volume and individual differences in the propensity for seeking high-risk/high-reward situations. Our analyses showed that vmPFC gray matter volume was inversely correlated with an increased tendency for engaging in high-stakes gambling. These results converge with findings from functional neuroimaging and brain lesion studies of vmPFC, and further extend them to show that normative variability in brain structure could also underpin risk-taking behavior.
Standard enthalpies of formation of 3-hydroxyphthalic anhydride

In this investigation thermochemical properties of 3-hydroxyphthalic anhydride were determined. Fusion enthalpy, fusion temperature and molar heat capacity in solid phase were obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. By the Knudsen effusion method, the molar enthalpy of sublimation at 298.15 K was obtained. By thermogravimetric data, it was possible to determine the molar enthalpy of sublimation and the molar enthalpy of vaporization. On the other hand, the molar enthalpy of formation in solid phase at 298.15 K was determined by combustion calorimetry. The molar enthalpy of formation in gas phase at 298.15 K was calculated from molar enthalpy of sublimation at 298.15 K and molar enthalpy of formation in solid phase at 298.15 K. This experimental value was compared both theoretical enthalpy of formation in gas phase by using Gaussian methods at the G3 and G4 levels and with an estimated value in relation to phthalic anhydride.
Revealing the Ionization Properties of the Magellanic Stream Using Optical Emission

The Magellanic Stream, a gaseous tail that trails behind the Magellanic Clouds, could replenish the Milky Way (MW) with a tremendous amount of gas if it reaches the Galactic disk before it evaporates into the halo. To determine how the Magellanic Stream’s properties change along its length, we have conducted an observational study of the Hα emission, along with other optical warm ionized gas tracers, toward 39 sight lines. Using the Wisconsin Hα Mapper telescope, we detect Hα emission brighter than 30–50 mR in 26 of our 39 sight lines. This Hα emission extends over away from the H i emission. By comparing and , we find that regions with are 16%–67% ionized. Most of the along the Magellanic Stream are much higher than expected if the primary ionization source is photoionization from Magellanic Clouds, the MW, and the extragalactic background. We find that the additional contribution from self ionization through a “shock cascade” that results as the Stream plows through the halo might be sufficient to reproduce the underlying level of Hα emission along the Stream. In the sparsely sampled region below the South Galactic Pole, there exists a subset of sight lines with uncharacteristically bright emission, which suggest that gas is being ionized further by an additional source that could be a linked to energetic processes associated with the Galactic center.
Electronic and mechanical properties of few-layer borophene

We report first-principles calculations of electronic and mechanical properties of few-layer borophene with the inclusion of interlayer van der Waals (vdW) interaction. The anisotropic metallic behaviors are preserved from monolayer to few-layer structures. The energy splitting of bilayer borophene at $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ point near the Fermi level is about 1.7 eV, much larger than the values (0.5--1 eV) of other layered semiconductors, indicating much stronger vdW interactions in metallic layered borophene. In particular, the critical strains are enhanced by increasing the number of layers, leading to much more flexibility than that of monolayer structure. On the one hand, because of the buckled atomic structures, the out-of-plane negative Poisson's ratios are preserved as the layer number increases. On the other hand, we find that the in-plane negative Poisson's ratios disappear in layered borophene, which is very different from puckered black phosphorus. The negative Poisson's ratio will recover if we enlarge the interlayer distance to 6.3 \AA{}. The physical origin behind the change of Poisson's ratios is the strong interlayer vdW interaction in layered borophene.