Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conceal Time Delay Signature of Chaos in Semiconductor Lasers With Dual-Path Injection

The time delay (TD) signatures of chaotic signals in semiconductor lasers (SLs) with dual-path injection (DPI) are investigated numerically and experimentally based on the autocorrelation function and the permutation entropy function, and are compared with those for chaotic signals in SLs with single-path injection (SPI). Both the intensity and phase chaos are considered. The regions of injection strength and frequency detuning contributing to TD concealment are identified. The optimal selection of injection delays for the DPI case is also suggested. It is found that, for both intensity and phase chaos, the TD signature for the DPI case can be better concealed in wider parameter regions than that for the SPI case, which is highly desirable for security-enhanced chaotic communication systems as well as high-speed random number generators based on chaotic SLs.
Sub‐types of serotonin receptors: biochemical changes and pharmacological consequences

&NA; Thirty‐three years ago, Gaddum and Picarelli classified the serotonin receptors in the guinea pig ileum into D and M types based on the activity of dibenzyline and morphine to block contractions of intestinal smooth muscle caused by serotonin. The subsequent location of specific ligand binding sites for serotonin in the brain has led to the identification of at least eight serotonin receptor sub‐types in rat brain. While there is some controversy over the functional importance of many of these receptor sub‐types, there is evidence that they fall into two major groups according to the nature of their coupling to secondary messengers or ion channels. Thus the 5‐HT1 and 5‐HT2 receptors appear to occupy the G protein receptor sub‐family which may be coupled either to adenylate cyclase (most 5‐HT1 sub‐types) or phosphatidyl inositol (5‐HT2 sub‐types). The central “M” receptors (now termed 5‐HT3) appear to occupy a ligand gated ion channel super‐family. The cloning of three of the serotonin receptor sub‐types in 1989 (5‐HT1A, 5‐HT1C and 5‐HT2) has been of importance in enabling the receptor sub‐types to be classified as specific protein molecules encoded by specific genes. The problem now arises with regard to the linking of the changes in the cellular activity of the various receptor sub‐types with the plethora of behavioural changes that arise as a consequence of the actions of serotonin in the brain. The present review summarizes the evidence implicating the role of specific serotonin receptor sub‐types in eating disorders, sleep, sexual activity, anxiety states, aggression, schizophrenia and depression. A summary of the relationship between these receptor sub‐types and their possible involvement in the aetiology of these diseases is shown in Table 2.
Changes in Transient-Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions in the First Month of Life

Objective: Current Joint Committee on Infant Hearing guidelines recommend the use of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) as a screening tool to identify hearing loss for newborns cared for in the well-baby nursery. Newborns who do not pass the TEOAE screen before leaving the hospital are typically rescreened as outpatients by 1 mo of age, at which time, approximately 50 to 70% pass screening criteria. To better understand why many infants are referred at initial screening but pass at the rescreening, more complete knowledge of developmental differences in the TEOAE levels, noise floor, or a combination of both for infants who pass and fail birth screening is needed. In addition, it has been shown that infants with occluding ear-canal debris are more likely to not pass TEOAE screening at the hospital than those without occluding ear-canal debris. This study explores whether changes in TEOAE levels in half-octave frequency bands are related to changes in ear-canal debris over the first month of life. Design: Seventy-nine neonates from a well-baby nursery had their hearing screened before leaving the hospital and again at approximately 1 mo of age. All participants passed the follow-up screening. Overall TEOAE levels and levels in half-octave frequency bands centered at 1.5, 2, 3, and 4 kHz were measured. Judgments of ear-canal debris were made by otoscopy and were rated using one of three categories at both visits. Results: TEOAE levels in infants significantly increased from birth to 1 mo of age across all frequencies tested, regardless of whether they passed or failed the screening at birth. The increase in TEOAE level was frequency dependent, with the greatest increases occurring in the highest frequency bands. No significant correlation between debris change and frequency-specific changes was found for either ear. Infants who failed the screening at birth but who subsequently passed at 1 mo of age had significantly lower TEOAE levels at the rescreening than did infants with passing TEOAE levels at birth. However, pass/fail status at birth was only a weak predictor of TEOAE levels at 1 mo of age. Conclusions: The increase in TEOAE levels during the first month of life is frequency dependent, with greater increases occurring at higher frequencies. Increased TEOAE levels were not associated with changes in ear-canal debris.
Matrix Metalloproteinase Expression in the Rat Myometrium During Pregnancy, Term Labor, and Postpartum

ABSTRACT Pregnancy, spontaneous term labor (TL), and postpartum (PP) involution are associated with changes in the cellular and extracellular matrix composition of the uterus. Both the uterine smooth muscle (myometrium) and the infiltrating peripheral blood leukocytes involved in the activation of labor secrete extracellular matrix-degrading enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases, MMPs) that can modulate cellular behavior and barrier function. MMP expression is induced by mechanical stretch in several tissues. We hypothesized that the expression and activity of myometrial MMPs and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) are modulated in preparation for TL and PP involution and are regulated by mechanical stretch of uterine walls imposed by the growing fetus. Myometrial tissues were collected from bilaterally and unilaterally pregnant rats across gestation, TL, and PP. Total RNA and proteins were subjected to real-time PCR and immunoblotting, respectively, and tissue localization and activity was examined by immunohistochemistry and in situ zymography. We found that Mmp7, Mmp11, and Mmp12 mRNA levels were upregulated during TL and PP, while Mmp2, Mmp3, Mmp8, Mmp9, Mmp10, and Mmp13 mRNAs were only upregulated during PP. Timp1–Timp4 were stably expressed throughout gestation with some fluctuations PP. Active MMP2 was induced in the empty uterine horn during gestation and in the gravid PP uterus, suggesting negative regulation by biological mechanical stretch. We conclude that specific subsets of uterine MMPs are differentially regulated in the rat myometrium in preparation for two major events: TL and PP uterine involution.
Gender implications of forest product value chains in the Congo basin

Activities and roles in value chains of forest products in the Congo Basin are highly gendered, varying with the product's characteristics, the segment of the chain and customary regulations and norms. High-value products are primarily male-harvested when customary rules govern tenure and access, enabling men to exert control. Whilst non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are important cash sources for both sexes, women tend to use more of their harvest for domestic consumption, while men sell a greater proportion. Interventions by research and development organisations, NGOs and projects have positively influenced women's incomes in some NTFP chains. Suggestions include supporting women's domesticating and cultivating NTFPs currently pressured by over-harvesting; recognising the informal, often invisible nature of value chains; addressing unfavourable customary norms restricting the possession of valuable species by women; revising bureaucratic trade regulations; improving value-adding opportunities and supporting collective action to access credit and increasing bargaining power.
Algorithm 634: CONSTR and EVAL: routines for fitting multinomials in a least-squares sense

The program is divided into a number of subroutines, of which the user need be concerned with only two: CONSTR and EVAL. The former is used to construct the orthogonal basis of multinomials, for given data, and determine the leastsquares fitting multinomial. The latter is used to evaluate that fitting multinomial for given values of the variables. The calling sequences of both subroutines are duplicated below for easy reference. Included, too, are a simple driver program to read data and call CONSTR and EVAL, and a data-generating program to provide some test cases.
Income Tax Accounting Policy Choice: Exposure Draft Responses and the Early Adoption Decision by Canadian Companies

We extend prior literature through a detailed examination of the relationship between lobbying behaviour and subsequent accounting standard adoption timing, using changes to a Canadian accounting standard with a prolonged transition period. We develop a model linking lobbying and adoption timing, and test hypotheses based upon recontracting costs, information production costs, efforts to manage investor perceptions and corporate governance practices. Our findings indicate that early adoption appears to be most prevalent for firms that benefit from improved financial statement performance. In contrast, late adopters tend to be firms that have lobbied standard setters regarding the out-of-pocket costs of the standard and those that rate highly on certain Corporate Governance measures.
Consumer price knowledge before and after the euro changeover

This article examines how the price knowledge of Finnish consumers has changed since the adoption of the euro. Our study measures price knowledge by comparing consumers’ price estimations with actual market prices at two points in time: before (October 2001) and after (March 2002) the changeover to the euro. Furthermore, we study potential differences between three different age groups. We approach the issue using four determinants, namely (1) response percentage (the percentage of respondents who were able to give a price estimate); (2) the difference between the median of the market prices and the median of the price evaluations; (3) the difference between the average of the market prices and the average of the price evaluations; and (4) the average of the absolute deviations between the average of product prices and consumer price evaluations. Our results indicate that, on average, consumers know the prices of grocery products quite well despite the prevailing dispersion of actual prices in the market. Price knowledge was found to be rather good both before and after the introduction of the euro. Nevertheless, the good price knowledge after the changeover was probably because consumers remembered the prices asked in the old currency and converted them to euros. The majority of respondents were able to give price estimates that were within the range of actual price dispersion in stores. The results also show some deterioration in price knowledge after the advent of the euro. There was variation between different age groups, and it seems that the introduction of the euro has affected various groups differently. Consumers aged 30–50 years knew prices best both before and after the euro, whereas the ability to estimate prices had declined most among consumers above 50 years after the euro changeover.
Imagination Improves Multimodal Translation

We decompose multimodal translation into two sub-tasks: learning to translate and learning visually grounded representations. In a multitask learning framework, translations are learned in an attention-based encoder-decoder, and grounded representations are learned through image representation prediction. Our approach improves translation performance compared to the state of the art on the Multi30K dataset. Furthermore, it is equally effective if we train the image prediction task on the external MS COCO dataset, and we find improvements if we train the translation model on the external News Commentary parallel text.
Liquidity ‐ profitability tradeoff: An empirical investigation in an emerging market

This study empirically examines the relation between profitability and liquidity, as measured by current ratio and cash gap (cash conversion cycle) on a sample of joint stock companies in Saudi Arabia. Using correlation and regression analysis the study found significant negative relation between the firm’s profitability and its liquidity level, as measured by current ratio. This relationship is more evident in firms with high current ratios and longer cash conversion cycles. At the industry level, however, the study found that the cash conversion cycle or the cash gap is of more importance as a measure of liquidity than current ratio that affects profitability. The size variable is also found to have significant effect on profitability at the industry level. Finally, the results are stable over the period under study.
Heart rate variability biofeedback: implications for cognitive and psychiatric effects in older adults

ABSTRACT Objectives: Two decades of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback research have focused on adolescent and adult populations with a variety of symptoms and conditions at the exclusion of older adults. This study explores HRV biofeedback as a novel treatment to decrease psychiatric symptoms and improve cognitive functioning in older adults. Methods: Participants enrolled in a three-week intervention that included six 30-min biofeedback sessions. Neuropsychological and psychiatric measures were administered before and after the intervention. Results: Decreases in depression (Cohen's d = 1.02, p < .001), state anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.82, p = .003), and trait anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.84, p = .002) were observed. An increase in attentional skills as measured by the Trail Making Test – Part A was seen (Cohen's d = 1.00, p = .001). Differences in executive skills as measured by the Trial Making Test – Part B and the Stroop Task did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: This study suggests that older adults may benefit from HRV biofeedback interventions much like the younger populations that have been studied for decades. Depression, anxiety, and attentional skills were positively affected. Several participants reported improved sleep quality and stress management. Future studies should corroborate these findings.
The Role of Insurance in Reducing Direct Risk - The Case of Flood Insurance

The provision of flood insurance is a patchwork, with countries showing varying degrees of penetration, coverage types, demand levels, and design structures. This article explores the current understanding of flood insurance with a specific focus on the ability of flood insurance to contribute to direct risk reduction. The starting point is a consideration of the existing provision of flood insurance, both in established insurance markets and in developing countries. A review of efforts to analyse and explain the use and design of flood insurance highlights how the understanding of supply and demand determinants is steadily growing, while clear gaps also emerge. Particularly the question of utilizing flood insurance in the context of climate change and as a lever for physical risk reduction would benefit from further empirical and theoretical analysis. The article concludes with a reflection on current efforts to reform and design flood insurance and offers some pointers for future research.
CEOs and development of the meaningful mission statement

Developing a mission statement has been considered a crucial factor in the formulation of business strategy in organisations. The mission statement promotes a sense of shared expectations in employees and, not surprisingly, it has recently been regarded as increasingly important in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the electronic industry. One major reasons for this is the growing complexity and dynamic competitive environments in which these enterprises have operated and managed to find themselves. Mission statements have become a management tool most commonly used by chief executive officers (CEOs) over the last decade. One exercise that both academics and practitioners have deemed strategically critical to the success of an enterprise is the development of a meaningful mission statement. This article explores the perceptions of CEOs of their mission statement in SMEs. It is based on the findings of recent research in 508 firms in the electrical and electronic industry in the UK. The study, amongst other things, investigated the existence and content of the mission statements and, accordingly, it determines the relationships (if any) between a SME’s development of a meaningful mission statement and selected performance outcomes of the firm.
Activity monitoring of employees working on large premises

In this paper we expose our present work on a real-time monitoring system of human activities, using only a single cell phone equipped with some particular sensors. This way the monitoring system is reduced to the minimum expression, no especial hardware is required as far as a conventional cell phone will monitor the user. In particular, we expose our progress on a monitoring system devoted to supervising employee’s work on large premises, detecting abnormal behaviours, hazardous situations and managing the corresponding alert procedures.
Estimating mixed software reliability models based on the EM algorithm

This paper considers the mixture models to unify software reliability models (SRMs). The modeling framework is based on the randomization of a software fault detection rate. Our models, called the mixed SRMs in this paper, can include some existing SRMs such as Littlewood NHPP model and the hyperexponential SRM. We develop an efficient parameter estimation algorithm for the mixed SRMs based on the EM (Expectation-Maximization) principle, and investigate both the effectiveness of the EM algorithm and the validity of the mixed SRMs through the numerical examples with real software failure data.
Low Cost Wearable Sensor for Human Emotion Recognition Using Skin Conductance Response

Malaysia is one of the countries with the highest car crash fatality rates in Asia. The high implementation cost of in-vehicle driver behavior warning system and autonomous driving remains a significant challenge. Motivated by the large number of simple yet effective inventions that benefitted many developing countries, this study presents the findings of emotion recognition based on skin conductance response using a lowcost wearable sensor. Emotions were evoked by presenting the proposed display stimulus and driving stimulator. Meaningful power spectral density was extracted from the filtered signal. Experimental protocols and frameworks were established to reduce the complexity of the emotion elicitation process. The proof of concept in this work demonstrated the high accuracy of two-class and multiclass emotion classification results. Significant differences of features were identified using statistical analysis. This work is one of the most easy-to-use protocols and frameworks, but has high potential to be used as biomarker in intelligent automobile, which helps prevent accidents and saves lives through its simplicity. key words: electrodermal activity, power spectral density, process stimuli, skin conductance response
Long range dependence in daily stock returns

The tests of Robinson (Journal of the American Statistical Association, 89, 1420–37, 1994a) are used to analyse the degree of dependence in the intertemporal structure of daily stock returns (defined as the first difference of the logarithm of stock prices, where the series being considered is the S&P500 index). These tests have several distinguishing features compared with other procedures for testing for unit (or fractional) roots. In particular, they have a standard null limit distribution and they are the most efficient ones when carried out against the appropriate alternatives. In addition, they allow the incorporation of the Bloomfield (Biometrika, 60, 217–226, 1973) exponential spectral model for the underlying I(0) disturbances. The full sample, which comprises 17 000 observations, is first divided in 10 subsamples of 1700 observations each. These are then grouped two by two, and five by five; finally, the whole sample is considered. The results indicate that the degree of dependence remains relatively constant over time, with the order of integration of stock returns fluctuating slightly above or below zero. On the whole, there is very little evidence of fractional integration, despite the length of the series. Therefore, it appears that the standard practice of taking first differences when modelling stock returns might be adequate.
A possible role of cyclooxygenase‐2 in the relationship between sleep and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy

To the Editors: We have read the recent article by Chuang et al. (2012) with great interest. They studied the effects of long-term antiepileptic drug (AED) monotherapy on vascular risk factors and atherosclerosis. They proved that treatment with carbamazepine (CBZ), phenytoin, or valproic acid (VPA) is significantly associated with acceleration of atherosclerosis in patients with epilepsy. Their findings were significantly associated with the duration of AED treatment. Authors concluded that this information offers a guide for the choice of drug in patients with epilepsy who require long-term AED therapy, particularly in aged and high-risk individuals. They have discussed different underlying mechanisms, including dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia, oxidative stress, and hyperhomocysteinemia. However, the authors failed to note the role of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)—an endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor—on the vascular system. ADMA has been suggested to be a risk factor for endothelial dysfunction in humans (Bçger et al., 1998), and a predictor of acute coronary events (Valkonen et al., 2001). ADMA has been also suggested to be a potentially useful new biomarker of subclinical vascular brain injury, which is an important correlate of vascular cognitive impairment and risk of stroke (Pikula et al., 2009). Elevated ADMA levels were first demonstrated in AED-treated patients with epilepsy in 2009 by Oz et al. (2009). In this study, the authors investigated the effect of VPA and CBZ monotherapy on plasma levels of ADMA and homocysteine and serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy. They demonstrated that ADMA levels were significantly increased after treatment in both VPA and CBZ groups. They concluded that elevated ADMA levels may be responsible for the increased cardiovascular risk in patients with epilepsy who are receiving AED therapy. In our opinion, the lack of discussion of the results of this study may leave readers with an incomplete understanding of the changes in the vascular system. We must consider elevated ADMA level as a potential underlying factor in vascular risk and atherosclerosis in patients with epilepsy who are receiving AED treatment.
Cluster-based lognormal distribution model for accident duration

This study develops a cluster-based lognormal distribution model for the purpose of predicting accident duration. With Maryland I-95 freeway traffic accident data collected in 2010 and 2011, this study first uses a decision tree approach to split the entire sample data into three clusters which are then treated as additional variables in modelling accident duration. The results show that seven explanatory variables and cluster variables significantly affect the mean accident duration. With the cluster-based lognormal distribution model, the mean and the probability of an accident duration being unacceptable can be predicted from the base accident information. Such predictions can be utilised as a basis for making rational diversion in the event of an accident, which will help mitigate traffic congestion and improve travel time reliability.