Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of a Normal Rate versus a Slow Intervalled Rate of Oral Nutrient Intake and Intravenous Low Rate Macronutrient Application on Psychophysical Function – Two Pilot Studies

Stomach distension and energy per time are factors influencing satiety. Moreover, different rates of nutrient intake induce different stomach distension. The goal of our studies was to elucidate the influence of different oral rates of nutrient intake (normal rate versus slow intervalled rate; study I) and intravenous low rate macronutrient application (protein, carbohydrate, fat) or placebo (study II) on psychophysical function. The pilot studies investigated the effects of 1) study I: a mixed nutrient solution (1/3 protein, 1/3 fat, 1/3 carbohydrates) 2) study II: intravenous macronutrient infusions (protein, carbohydrate, fat) or placebo on psychophysical function (mood, hunger, food craving, alertness, smell intensity ratings and hedonic ratings) in human subjects. In study I 10 male subjects (age range: 21–30 years) completed the study protocol participating in both test conditions and in study II 20 male subjects (age range: 19–41 years) completed the study protocol participating in all test conditions. Additionally, metabolic function was analyzed and cognitive and olfactory tests were conducted twice starting 100 min before the beginning of the intervention and 240 min after. Psychophysical (mood, hunger, fat-, protein-, carbohydrate-, sweets- and vegetable-craving), alertness and metabolic function tests were performed seven times on each examination day. Greater effects on hunger and food cravings were observed for normal rate of intake compared to slow intervalled rate of intake and intravenous low rate macronutrient application. Our findings potentially confirm that volume of the food ingested and a higher rate of energy per time contribute to satiety during normal rate of food intake, while slow intervalled rate of food intake and intravenous low rate macronutrient application showed no effects on satiation. Our results motivate the view that a certain amount of volume of the food ingested and a certain energy per time ratio are necessary to reduce hunger and food craving.
Truthful Auction Mechanism Design for Short-Interval Secondary Spectrum Access Market

Exploitation of short-interval spectrum availability offers an opportunity to better utilize spectrum for wireless communications. One significant class of short-interval secondary spectrum (SiSS) markets involves a primary license holder (PLH) renting out homogeneous spectrum units to a few competing Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). This paper presents a design of SiSS market framework with brokerage services that mitigate information asymmetry and host auctions. The novel SiSS auction design is single-round and Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) auction-based and integrates two innovations. The first is a highly expressive bidding format that allows maximum bidding options to MVNOs in single submission. The second is a virtual bidder by the broker, whose bids are based on PLH's specification of per-unit reserve price, to avoid MVNOs' consideration of undesirable bidding strategies and guarantee that per-unit payment be no less than the reserve price. Such a design exploits the truthfulness of VCG and further achieves individual rationality and budget balance. Numerical experimentation shows that SiSS auction generates in average 31.3% higher per-unit revenue than VCG. For a SiSS market of 200 MVNOs and 500 spectrum units, computation time of clearing auction is within 15 seconds. These designs suit for SiSS applications in time efficiency and economic considerations.
Dopaminergic abnormalities following traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury can reduce striatal dopamine levels. The cause of this is uncertain, but is likely to be related to damage to the nigrostriatal system. We investigated the pattern of striatal dopamine abnormalities using 123I-Ioflupane single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans and their relationship to nigrostriatal damage and clinical features. We studied 42 moderate-severe traumatic brain injury patients with cognitive impairments but no motor parkinsonism signs and 20 healthy controls. 123I-Ioflupane scanning was used to assess dopamine transporter levels. Clinical scan reports were compared to quantitative dopamine transporter results. Advanced MRI methods were used to assess the nigrostriatal system, including the area through which the nigrostriatal projections pass as defined from high-resolution Human Connectome data. Detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessments were performed. Around 20% of our moderate-severe patients had clear evidence of reduced specific binding ratios for the dopamine transporter in the striatum measured using 123I-Ioflupane SPECT. The caudate was affected more consistently than other striatal regions. Dopamine transporter abnormalities were associated with reduced substantia nigra volume. In addition, diffusion MRI provided evidence of damage to the regions through which the nigrostriatal tract passes, particularly the area traversed by dopaminergic projections to the caudate. Only a small percentage of patients had evidence of macroscopic lesions in the striatum and there was no relationship between presence of lesions and dopamine transporter specific binding ratio abnormalities. There was also no relationship between reduced volume in the striatal subregions and reduced dopamine transporter specific binding ratios. Patients with low caudate dopamine transporter specific binding ratios show impaired processing speed and executive dysfunction compared to patients with normal levels. Taken together, our results suggest that the dopaminergic system is affected by a moderate-severe traumatic brain injury in a significant proportion of patients, even in the absence of clinical motor parkinsonism. Reduced dopamine transporter levels are most commonly seen in the caudate and this is likely to reflect the pattern of nigrostriatal tract damage produced by axonal injury and associated midbrain damage.
Strategic posture, financial performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical test of legitimacy theory

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to test Ullmann's hypothesis that strategy posture, modified by financial performance, must be considered in light of stakeholder power in order to understand a company's social responsibility disclosure policy. Design/methodology/approach – This study in this paper uses regression analysis to examine annual report disclosure of environmental information after a major accident in the mining industry. A multiple-item disclosure score is tailored to the Canadian accounting environment, and used as a dependent variable. Findings – This paper finds that companies that maintain themselves in the public eye through press release activity disclose more information than other companies. However there is no evidence to suggest that disclosure content is moderated by financial performance. Companies that obtained external financing one year after the accident made more disclosure than other companies. The significance of the external financing variable is evident when disclosure is restricted to discretionary or non-financial items, but disappears if the dependent variable represents mandatory financial items. Research limitations/implications – The paper shoes that while Ullmann addressed the matter of actual social responsibility performance, in addition to disclosure, this paper does not examine performance. Furthermore, press release activity is only one type of strategic posture. Future work that employs some other measure may yield additional insight into the decision-making process. Originality/value – Prior study of Ullmann's work has not considered the interactive impact of profit and strategic posture. Furthermore, the actual nature of the disclosure, voluntary versus mandatory, has not been specifically examined. This paper addresses both of these issues.
Anatomical image-guided fluorescence molecular tomography reconstruction using kernel method

Abstract. Fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is an important in vivo imaging modality to visualize physiological and pathological processes in small animals. However, FMT reconstruction is ill-posed and ill-conditioned due to strong optical scattering in deep tissues, which results in poor spatial resolution. It is well known that FMT image quality can be improved substantially by applying the structural guidance in the FMT reconstruction. An approach to introducing anatomical information into the FMT reconstruction is presented using the kernel method. In contrast to conventional methods that incorporate anatomical information with a Laplacian-type regularization matrix, the proposed method introduces the anatomical guidance into the projection model of FMT. The primary advantage of the proposed method is that it does not require segmentation of targets in the anatomical images. Numerical simulations and phantom experiments have been performed to demonstrate the proposed approach’s feasibility. Numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed kernel method can separate two FMT targets with an edge-to-edge distance of 1 mm and is robust to false-positive guidance and inhomogeneity in the anatomical image. For the phantom experiments with two FMT targets, the kernel method has reconstructed both targets successfully, which further validates the proposed kernel method.
Output-Feedback Adaptive Control of Networked Teleoperation System With Time-Varying Delay and Bounded Inputs

The output-feedback based controller design problem is investigated for the networked teleoperation system in this paper. A new control scheme is proposed to guarantee the global asymptotic stability of the bilateral teleoperation system with time-varying delays and bounded inputs. First, a new fast terminal sliding-mode velocity observer is proposed to estimate the unknown velocity signals for the teleoperation system. Then, by considering the unknown gravity term, an adaptive SP+Sd-type (saturated proportion plus saturated damping) controller is designed based on the estimated velocity. In the new controllers, the specific sigmoidal function is not used, and any one on a set of saturation functions can be applied. Furthermore, by choosing Lypunov-Krasovskii functional, we show that the master-slave teleoperation system is stable under specific linear matrix inequality conditions. With the given controller design parameters and the upper bound of the input, the allowable maximal transmission delay can be computed by using the proposed stability criteria. Finally, both simulations and experiments are performed to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Strategic Transitions: Game Theory and Democratization

A transition agreement is a rational game, with political actors choosing moves that will avoid widespread violence and civil war. As Josep M. Colomer argues, game theory is particularly appropriate to offer a theoretical framework for the study of democratic transitions, since it assumes that collective outcomes result from strategies chosen by self-interested actors. In particular, the cooperative, efficient equilibria of two "mugging" games and the famous "prisoner's dilemma" game point out that opportunities for mutual benefit exist within different models of transition. Strategic Transitions applies game theory to an analysis of Central Europe after the fall of Communism and, in particular, to the transitions in the former Soviet Union and in Poland. The strategic approach adopted by Colomer helps to explain the development of political reforms and democratization, even in the absence of the "structural preconditions" often postulated in other studies. With its application of game theory to democratic transitions, Strategic Transitions provides fresh insight into how political actors make the choices that move nations from authoritarian to more democratic regimes. "Colomer has succeeded in writing a supremely readable volume, which should attract the interest of everyone interested in democratic transitions. "--Mads Qvortrup, Political Studies "At the theoretical level, Strategic Transitions shows deductively that transitions can be the outcome of a rational interaction between key actors under the authoritarian regime. The book provides a very convincing interpretation of the events leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union and democratization in Eastern Europe. "--Leonard Wantchekon, Yale University "Josep M. Colomer has exemplary knowledge of the political dynamics of democratization in the contemporary world and an equally subtle sense of how best to specify those processes in game theoretic models. His Strategic Transitions reveals the impressive promise of empirically grounded game theory"--David D. Laitin, Stanford University
Multi-objective Optimal Energy Consumption Scheduling in Smart Grids

Due to the increasing discrepancy of the load demand during peak hours and off peak hours, the inefficiency in the power grids is getting more prominent. In order to meet the load demand during peak hours while maintaining a reasonable security margin above the peak hours demand, additional generation capacity may be needed, which involves vast investments and deterioration of the utilization of the generation capacity. With the introduction of the Smart Grids, a two-way communication between the grid operator and the users is realized by Smart Meters (SMs). Demand Response (DR) has also been proposed to avoid installation of new power plants in the Smart Grids. DR enables real-time pricing strategy, which allows modification of users' demand profiles according to the unit cost of energy consumption. This strategy aims to effectively shift the peak hours load demand to the off peak hours, therefore to improve the current utilization of the generation capacity. In this paper, a utility company is supplying energy to a group of residential users from a community and a third-party is considered, which can be the utility manager of the community and is responsible for scheduling the consumption profiles of all users. The load scheduling problem is formulated as a constrained multi-objective optimization problem (CMOP), with two conflicting and non-commensurable objectives being first minimizing the total energy cost and second maximizing the overall utility, which is the comfort of living in the community. The two evolutionary algorithms (EAs) adopted to address the CMOP are modified version of Multi-objective Optimization Evolutionary Algorithm based on Decomposition using Differential Evolution operator (MOEA/D-DE) based on the original framework and constrained Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA II). By comparing the results obtained by these two algorithms, it is observed that the proposed MOEA/D-DE outperforms constrained NSGA II in terms of convergence and diversity preservation.
Locomotor, Heart-Rate, and Metabolic Power Characteristics of Youth Women's Field Hockey: Female Athletes in Motion (FAiM) Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the locomotor, heart-rate, and metabolic power characteristics of high-level youth female field hockey matches. Method: Players from the U21 and U17 Canadian women's national teams were monitored during a 4-match test series using Global Positioning System technology. Position (forward, midfielder, defender) and age-group (U21, U17) comparisons were made using 2-way analyses of variance. Results: Forwards played 12 min to 22 min fewer than midfielders and defenders and consequently had lower amounts of total, low-intensity, and moderate-intensity distances. Yet, forwards covered similar amounts of high-intensity running and sprinting distances despite the deficit in playing time. Only 10% to 15% of total distance was characterized by high-intensity running and sprinting, yet the majority of time was spent above 90% maximum heart rate. The distances in high, elevated, and maximal metabolic power categories were greater for U21 than U17 players. Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test performance was related to high-intensity running and maximal metabolic power distance. Conclusions: The current findings highlight positional specificity as well as developmental gaps between age groups for youth female field hockey matches. These match characteristics should be used to assist in establishing appropriate training strategies through the developmental pathway and to assist player achievement to higher standards.
Don't break the habit: structural stability tests of consumption models in the UK

Using quarterly data over 35 years for the UK on asset returns and consumption expenditure, the traditional power utility consumption based capital asset pricing model (C-CAPM), the recursive preferences model proposed by Epstein and Zin (1991) and a habit formation specification model are estimated using GMM. We analyze the models at both the economy level and individual sector groupings. We find evidence supportive of the both habit formation specification and the traditional CCAPM at the economy level. However, structural stability tests for both known and unknown change points, clearly reject parameter stability in the traditional C-CAPM. Parameter stability is not rejected for the habit formation specification.
Policy Governance in Multi-level Systems: Economic Development and Policy Implementation in Canada

Figures and Tables vii Foreword by Barbara Wake Carroll ix Acknowledgments xiii Acronyms xv 1 Introduction 3 2 Policy Implementation in Multi-level Systems 18 3 Old and New Theories of Economic Development 37 4 Historical Overview of Regional Economic Development Policy in Canada 59 5 Regional Development Policy Governance in New Brunswick 70 6 Canada-Manitoba Cooperation on Regional Economic Development 103 7 The Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario 138 8 The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario: Prospects and Challenges 162 9 Conclusion: Theoretical Implications and Practical Lessons 184 APPENDICES 1 ACOA Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture for 2011-12, a Competitive Atlantic Canadian Economy 201 2 Western Economic Diversification Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture for 2011-12 202 3 FedNor Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture for 2011-12 (Nested within Industry Canada Report on Plans and Priorities) 203 4 FedDev's Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture for 2011-12 204 Notes 205 Bibliography 213 Index 243
Applying spectral fingerprinting to the analysis of FRET images

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) allows one to study interactions between two fluorescently labeled molecules (donors and acceptors) at distances on the order of 5 nm. Many studies have described methods of how to measure the efficiency of FRET. However, few have addressed the question of how fluorescence from unpaired donors and acceptors can be determined in addition to that from FRET‐pairs and how the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) of such estimates depends on the presence of the partner species. Such knowledge, however, is essential for many biological applications, in which—after initial characterization of the spectral properties of a well‐defined donor‐acceptor complex—the in vivo affinity and stoichiometry of the complex is of interest. Here, we provide a theoretical analysis on how spectral fingerprinting can be applied to separate fluorescence of FRET pairs from that originating from unpaired donors and acceptors and how to select imaging parameters to optimize the SNR of the estimates. Thereby, we uncover a fundamental problem in this application and discuss ways to evade its adverse consequences. We compare the expected resolution of traditional FRET measures with that of optimized spectral fingerprinting and analyze the resolution of a method for FRET measurements that combines spectral with fluorescence lifetime information. Microsc. Res. Tech. 64:185–195, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Does Clinical Judgment of Baseline Severity and Changes in Psychopathology Depend on the Patient Population?: Results of a CGI and PANSS Linking Analysis in a Naturalistic Study

Background: Linking of the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) Scale and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was performed within a naturalistic sample. Furthermore, these linking results were compared with those derived from randomized controlled trials to examine if the baseline severity might influence the linking results. Methods: Biweekly PANSS and CGI ratings were performed from admission to discharge in 398 schizophrenia patients treated within a naturalistic study. Equipercentile linking was performed using the statistical program, R 2.8. 1. To evaluate how the naturalistic study design would influence linkage results, a so-called study sample was computed with patients of the naturalistic study fulfilling common inclusion criteria of randomized controlled trials (n = 199). Patients not fulfilling these criteria (less ill sample) and those fulfilling the criteria (study sample) were compared using confidence intervals. Results: We found a considerable difference between the linking of the CGI severity score and the PANSS total score comparing the less ill sample and the study sample. Being considered "mildly ill" at admission in the less ill sample corresponded to a PANSS total score of 47 points and to a PANSS total score of 67 points in the study sample. Considering the linking of the CGI improvement score and PANSS changes, similar results were found for CGI improvement ratings ranging from "very much improved" to "minimally improved. " Conclusions: Despite considerable differences, a 50% PANSS reduction was found to correspond to a clinical rating of much improved, which seems to be a suitable definition for response in clinical drug trials.
Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge: Does the Distinction between Normal and Revolutionary Science Hold Water?

Professor T. S. Kuhn's contribution to this Symposium can be looked at from two angles: either as a critique of Sir Karl Popper's approach towards the philosophy of science, in the light of its contrasts with Professor Kuhn's own views, or alternatively, as a further instalment in the development of Kuhn's analysis of the process of scientific change. My concern here is with the second of these two aspects. I shall draw attention to certain significant changes in the position Kuhn now appears to be occupying from those which he adopted, first in his original paper on ‘The Function of Dogma in Scientific Research’ read at Worcester College, Oxford, in 1961, and subsequently in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions published in 1962. And in the light of changes, I shall suggest how we might see our way beyond Kuhn's theory of ‘scientific revolution’ to a more adequate theory of scientific change. The great merit of Professor Kuhn's insistence on the ‘revolutionary’ character of some changes in scientific theory is that it has compelled many people to face for the first time the full profundity of the conceptual transformations which have, at times, marked the historical development of scientific ideas. Yet from the beginning it was clear to many onlookers that Kuhn's original statement of his position was, in at least two respects, only provisional. Some of us have been waiting with interest to see in what direction his own intellectual development took him next.