Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex-related differences in perception and discrimination of different speakers: An analysis of the auditory dorsal stream via EEG

Growing evidence that speech perception tasks elicit sensorimotor activity, and that this activity varies due to context, sex, cognitive load, and cognitive ability. However, it is unknown as to whether the sex of the speaker and demands of the task differentially effect males and females during speech perception tasks. This study investigated whether speaker sex and task demands (i.e. passive listening or active discrimination) influence sensorimotor and auditory cortical activity in males and females differently. Raw EEG data were collected from 27 males and 29 females during passive listening to, and discrimination of /ba/ and /da/ syllable pairs spoken by a synthetic female or male speaker. Independent component analysis identified sensorimotor and auditory components characterized by alpha/beta and alpha peaks, respectively. Timefrequency decomposition revealed no significant differences between male and female groups in any testing conditions. Within the male group, stronger mu activity was found in active discrimination conditions compared to passive listening in only the left hemisphere, while females displayed stronger activity in both the left and right hemisphere. Auditory cluster activity revealed males utilizing stronger inhibition after stimulus offset in active discrimination conditions, while females showed stronger activation during stimulus presentation in the same conditions. Both males and females displayed stronger mu activation in response to male speakers compared to female speakers before, during, and after stimulus presentation. Given this, it appears that speaker sex does influence at least anterior dorsal stream activity in a similar fashion for both males and females, but task demands differentially alter anterior and posterior dorsal stream activity in each sex group. These findings may at least partially explain the high variability in findings across neuroimaging studies that feature males and females in the same population.
Comparison between an electronic version of the foot and ankle outcome score and the standard paper version

Abstract To prove the equivalence of the Korean version of the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) in the printed (PFAOS) vs the electronic (EFAOS) form in a multicenter randomized study. Overall, 227 patients with ages ranging from 20 to 79 years from 16 dedicated foot and ankle centers were included. Patients were randomized into either a ‘paper first’ group (P-F group, n = 113) or an ‘electronic device (tablet computer) first’ group (E-F group, n = 114). The first evaluation either by paper (P-F group) or tablet (E-F group) was followed by a second evaluation the following day. The difference between the PFAOS and EFAOS results in each group was calculated and analyzed. To evaluate the benefit of each methodology, the time consumed per evaluation was compared and patients were asked which methodology they preferred and which was the easiest to use. There were no significant differences in age or sex between the groups. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) value of 0.934 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.912–0.950, P < .001) was confirmed in PFAOS and EFAOS, showing a significant correlation between the 2 methodologies. EFAOS was completed in a shorter amount of time than PFAOS. The majority of patients agreed that EFAOS was easier to complete than PFAOS. The paper or electronic forms of the Korean adaptation of FAOS were considered equivalent. The shorter time of completion and the preference for the electronic version over paper by patients deems the electronic FAOS a promising option to consider in future.
Woody Plant Species Diversity of Gechi In-situ Forest Conservation Site, Sekela District, North Western Ethiopia

The study was conducted at Gechi in-situ forest conservation site to investigate woody plant species diversity. To collect the inventory data, a systematic and predetermined sampling system was followed. The main objectives of the study was to undergo inventory of the indigenous woody species, assessing the regeneration status, to determine the floristic composition and set the priority list of woody plant species for the vegetation of the area. Study was conducted during in January 2019. Gechi in-situ conservation site land feature was valley the transect line was laid along the valley ridge. All ten transects ware laid from west to east direction with forward bearing of 32°, between transects 150mt distance and also the quadrates were established with regular interval of 200 m from each other. In general, a total of three transects, 31 quadrates and 62 sub-quadrates were used to collect the inventory data from the Gechi in-situ site vegetation. From the inventoried a total of 47 woody plant specimens were collected; out of which 46 specimens were identified to the species level. Major threat of the Gechi forest recording during the study were 1.1% clearing for agriculture, 31.1% and 34.4% of the negative impacts were attributed by browsing and grazing respectively with moderate and intensive (heavy) levels and also 33.3% of forest was cutting of Bamboo for fence construction with the intensity of moderate to intensive disturbance level. To overcome forest disturbance proper conservation has to be taken to solve the problems and prevent the forest from forest disturbance factors.
Cost-effectiveness of air pollution control: Improving quantification methods and estimating QALY gains and health care resource impacts in England

This thesis is about the economic evaluation of interventions for air pollution control. It is structured around three major components. First, a critical analysis of current methods for health impact quantification in the environmental health literature. Second, the development of a Markov model of the health impacts of long-term exposure to air pollution, using the quality-adjusted life year as health metric, in order to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of reducing air pollution in England. Third, evidence synthesis and COPD incidence estimation by severity stage, in order to parameterise the model developed. I demonstrate that the current approach to quantifying the health benefits from air pollution reduction leads to substantially biased estimates. By ignoring interactions between morbidity and mortality impacts, including differential susceptibility to risk by health status, it overestimates the change in morbidity cases and underestimates life expectancy effects. I also show that current European guidelines for uncertainty analysis in assessments of air pollution control interventions underestimate decision uncertainty and may misguide air quality strategies. My Markov model fully captures, for the first time, the lifetime impact of air pollution exposure on individuals' quality and length of life, and identifies the joint health care budget impact of a reduction in chronic morbidity and premature death. Air quality improvement has important health implications. In London, investing up to £500 million to reduce fine particulate concentrations by 1 ug/m3 (i.e. by 7%) is highly likely to be cost-effective, whether the investment is funded by the NHS or through taxation. If this improvement were to cost more than that, however, funding through taxation is more likely to be cost-effective than funding via the NHS, since consumer willingness to pay for a QALY is higher than the estimated NHS expenditure required to deliver one QALY. The optimal level of pollution reduction, as well as the decision about whether and for how long to delay investments, is therefore expected to depend on the source of financing.
www.econstor.eu Independent Auditors as Fiscal Gatekeepers

This paper develops a framework for the analysis of gatekeeping in tax enforcement, whereby independent auditors are assigned the duty of certifying taxpayers' reports. The equilibrium of the market for gatekeepers' services is characterized, as well as taxpayers' and auditors' optimal behavior. The paper discusses the optimal structure of the gatekeeping regime and determines the conditions under which it is socially preferable to direct public enforcement. JEL Nos. K42 (Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law) and H26 (Tax Evasion).
ePubWU Institutional Repository

Companies working on safety-critical projects must adhere to strict rules imposed by the domain, especially when human safety is involved. These projects need to be compliant to standard norms and regulations. Thus, all the process steps must be clearly documented in order to be verifiable for compliance in a later stage by an auditor. Nevertheless, documentation often comes in the form of manually written textual documents in different formats. Moreover, the project members use diverse proprietary tools. This makes it difficult for auditors to understand how the actual project was conducted. My research addresses the project mining problem by exploiting logs from project-generated artifacts, which come from software repositories used by the project team.
Effect of different levels of Terbutaline and L-carnitine on the growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters and immune system of broiler chickens.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of Terbutaline and L-carnitine on the growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters and immune system of broiler chickens. A total of 240 one-day old commercial Ross 308 broiler chickens were used in a completely randomized design study with four treatments :(1) control diet (no supplement), (2) basal diet supplemented with 20 mg Terbutaline per kg diet, (3) basal diet supplemented with Lcarnitine 250 mg per kg diet and (4) basal diet supplemented with 10 mg Terbutaline per kg diet +L-carnitine 100 mg per kg diet, with six replicates per treatment. Addition of Terbutaline and L-carnitine was found to increase (p<0.05) body weight of chickens at 42 d of age in comparison to chickens in the control group. Significant differences (p<0.05) in feed intake was also observed between control and Terbutaline + L-carnitine treatments. Furthermore, the addition of Terbutaline and L-carnitine decreased (p<0.05) FCR in comparison to the control group. Broilers receiving Terbutaline and L-carnitine had higher liver, gizzard, spleen and bursa of Fabricius and lower abdominal fat relative to body weight compared to the control group. Birds which received Terbutaline and L-carnitine had the lowest total cholesterol, HDL and LDL concentrations in comparison to the control group. Birds receiving Terbutaline + L-carnitine had the highest anti body Influenza and Newcastle titres at 18 and 28 d compared to the other groups. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that Terbutaline and L-carnitine and its combination improved broiler performance, carcass characteristics by decreasing abdominal fat and enhanced immune system of broiler chickens at 42 d of age.
International Journal of Management Sciences and Business Research, Oct-2019 ISSN (2226-8235) Vol-8, Issue 10

The study’s objective is to assess the impact of employees’ satisfaction on firms’ performance in Burundi with a focus on the Agro-food SMEs. The study sampled 369 respondents for its data and used SPSS ordinary least square method to analyze its data. In conclusion, the study found a positive and statistically significant impact of employees’ satisfaction on firms’ performance and the satisfaction of employees stems from their level of education and number of years in employment. However, employers should prioritize the plights of their employees to ensure higher productivity. Perhaps, employees play crucial role in the success of every organization.
There’s No Such Thing As Free Land: The Homestead Act and Economic Development

The 1862 Homestead Act provided free land conditional on five years of residency and cultivation to settlers of the American West. In total, the Act granted 10% of the land in the United States to 1.6 million individuals. This study examines the impact of the Act on long-run development. Using spatial regression discontinuity and instrumental variable designs, we find that areas with greater historical exposure to homesteading are poorer and more rural today. The impact on development is not only driven through differences in the urban share of the population; cities in homesteading areas are less developed and non-agricultural sectors are less productive. Using newly geo-referenced historical census data, we document the path of divergence starting from the initial settlement. We find that homesteading regions were slower to transition out of agriculture. The historical and empirical evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the transitory distortions caused by the Act’s residency and cultivation requirements induced selection on settlers’ comparative advantage in agriculture. This, in turn, inhibited the development of non-agricultural sectors and the subsequent benefits of agglomeration. *Raz (Job Market Paper): Email: iraz@g.harvard. edu. I am grateful to my advisors Alberto Alesina, Melissa Dell, Claudia Goldin, and Nathan Nunn for their support and guidance. We also thank Omar Barbiero, Augustin Bergeron, Moya Chin, Edward Glaeser, Nir Hak, Alejandro Lagomarsino, Maor Milgrom, Jeffrey Miron, Dev Patel, Ljubica Ristovska, Jonathan Roth, Andrei Shleifer, Clemence Tricaud, Chenzi Xu, and David Yang for their valuable comments and suggestions. This project also benefited from comments by numerous participants at the EHA 79th annual meeting, the Harvard Economic History Workshop, the Stanford Economic History Seminar, the Harvard Empirical Legal Studies Series, and multiple student workshops at the Department of Economics and the Department of Government at Harvard University. This research was supported by a grant from the Lab for Economic Applications and Policy at Harvard University. Raz also acknowledges financial support from the Economic History Association, the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, and the Institute of Humane Studies. All remaining errors are our own.
Neutral Theory and Species Abundance Distribution in Sinharaja Tropical Forest

Species abundance distribution (SAD) is the second most important macroecological pattern in tropical forests. In general, rank SAD shows positive skewed distributions due to the many singleton species found in tropical forests. Fisher log series and Preston octave curves (log normal distribution) were used to explain the SAD. Although Fishers log series can explain the long tail of SAD, it needs biological explanation. In contrast, Preston assumes that long tail of the SAD is a sampling effect and for large samples long tail of SAD distribution is diminished. Hubbell’s neutral theory (Hubbell, 2001); a dispersal assembly theorem, considers species are functionally equivalent. This theory underlines that community is saturated and replacement is only possible when a tree dies. Species are functionally equivalent and all the off-springs have an equal chance possible of being replaced. According to Hubbell (2001), local community undergoes an ecological-drift over time. Extinction of rare species lead to mono-dominance in local community. However, this mono-dominance is delayed by the immigration (m) of new species to the local community from the meta-community (Rosindell et al., 2011). Species abundance of a meta-community stays at the equilibrium between extinction and speciation rate ( ). Hubbell (2001) states that fundamental biodiversity number (   M J 2  ) and
Plant facilitation under trees and shrubs along a degradation gradient

Traditionally the presence of large numbers of woody plants in rangelands is thought to reflect declining rangeland health and reduced pastoral productivity. However, an increasing body of evidence suggests that shrubs may provide an important ecological role by providing habitat for understorey plants, particularly in overgrazed and degraded rangeland. To test this we examined the role of trees and shrubs in facilitating understorey growth along a gradient representing three degradation states in semi-arid Australia. There was a significant difference in plant composition under tree and shrub canopies and in the open along the degradation gradient. We recorded significantly greater plant richness (Chao2–adjusted) under shrubs (17.1 species) than under trees (12.4) or in the open (8.2). Larger shrub canopies
Preparation and Performance of Salt Tolerance and Thermal Stability Cellulose Nanofibril Hydrogels and Their Application in Drilling Engineering

The poor salt tolerance, thermal stability, and environmental performance of petrochemicals can severely limit their applications in drilling engineering. In this study, cellulose nanofibril (CNF) hydrogels with improved salt tolerance and thermal stability were prepared, and their filtration performance was evaluated. The hydrogels were prepared through the simultaneous grafting of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and butyl acrylate (BA) onto the CNF surface through ceric ammoniumnitrate-induced radical polymerization. The modified and original CNF samples were characterized using Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and rheological measurements. The FT-IR analysis results showed that both AMPS and BA were grafted onto the CNF backbone, affirming the successful preparation of the grafted CNFs. The rheological analysis results showed that the modified CNF hydrogels exhibited significantly improved salt tolerance, thermal stability, and “salt-thickening” effect. Moreover, the results of the fluid loss test showed that the modified CNF hydrogels exhibited a much better fluid loss control than the original CNF hydrogels. In addition, after adding 2% modified CNF hydrogels as a filtrate reducer in the drilling fluids prepared with a 6% combined salt solution, the filtrate loss was significantly reduced even after aging for 72 h at 160°C.
The Generation of Operational Policy for Cyber-Physical Systems in Smart Homes

The term “Cyber-Physical Systems” (CPS) refers to those systems which seamlessly integrate sensing, computation, control, and networking into physical objects and infrastructure [1]. In these systems, computers and networks of physical entities interact with each other to bring new capabilities to traditional physical systems. Since its introduction, the field of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) has evolved with new and interesting advancements concerning its capability, adaptability, scalability, and usability [1]. One such advancement is the unification of the Internet of Things (IoT), a concept that enables real-world everyday objects to connect to the internet and interact with each other, with CPS [1]. This emerging technology (CPS/IoT), however, comes with its own set of challenges. One such challenge is the need for new technologies to enhance the usability of CPS/IoT systems in smart homes by making it easier for users to manage and develop the core operating logic these systems employ. This need arose as smart home CPS/IoT systems have become more ubiquitous, with broader environments and more complex architectures and yet, they still rely on handwritten rules or hard coding the operational logic into the system. In light of this challenge, we introduce the concept of “operational policy”, a plan for the operation of a CPS/IoT system and frame the task of building the operational policy as a combinatorial optimization problem that algorithms can solve. We then introduce “Associative-Behavioral” rules, which constrain human input in the rule building process to selecting the actions they want their devices to take in a given scenario. From here, we introduce two algorithms for the generation of operational policy: an adaptation of the Differential Evolution algorithm and the A-Posteriori algorithm. These algorithms are compared with a brute force method of policy generation in a simulated CPS containing 60 devices with a focus on usability. We found that in a situation where there is previous information on the CPS, A-Posteriori performs the best. Whereas for the mid to large scale scenarios in our simulation without previous information, Differential Evolution performs the best. And finally, in small scale scenarios without previous information brute force was best.
Metallothioneins as modulators of intestinal inflammation and potential therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel diseases

s from oral presentations Van Welden S, Laukens D, Devisscher L, Devlies H, Olievier K, Correale C, S. D Alessio S, Danese S, De Vos M, Hindryckx P. Silencing of prolyl hydroxylase 1 in intestinal microvascular endothelial cells prevents inflammation-induced endothelial dysfunction and dampens murine colitis. Digestive Disease Week Chicago 2014. Vandewynckel YP, Laukens D, Geerts A, Colle I, Bogaerts E, Paridaens A, Verhelst X, Devisscher L, Vansteenkiste C, Descamps B, Vanhove C, Libbrecht L, Lambrecht B, Janssens S, Van Vlierberghe H. Temporal dynamics and therapeutical potential of the unfolded protein response in HCC. Belgian week of Gastroenterlogy 2014. Devisscher L, Hindryckx P, Lynes M, Cuvelier C, De Vos F, Vanhove C, De Vos M, Laukens D. The role of metallothioneins as danger signals in mice models for inflammatory bowel
MUTATIONS IN SPTLC 2 GENE ASSOCIATED WITH SENSORY NEUROPATHY FIELD OF THE

(22) International Filing Date: (81) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every 19 September 201 1 (19.09.201 1) kind of national protection available): AE, AG, AL, AM, AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BR, BW, BY, BZ, (25) Filing Language: English CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DO, (26) Publication Language: English DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KM, KN, KP, (30) Priority Data: KR, KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LY, MA, MD, 1015581 . 0 17 September 2010 (17.09.2010) GB ME, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, 61/403,6 19 17 September 2010 (17.09.2010) US NO, NZ, OM, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, (71) Applicants (for all designated States except US): VIB RW, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ, VZW [BE/BE]; Rijvisschestraat 120, B-9052 Gent (BE). TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN [BE/BE]; Prinsstraat ZM, ZW. 12, B-2000 Antwerpen (BE). UNIVERSITY OF (84) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every ZURICH [CH/CH]; Prorektorat MNW, Ramistrasse 71, kind of regional protection available): ARIPO (BW, GH, CH-8006 Zurich (CH). MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, NA, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, GRAZ [AT/AT]; Auenbruggerplatz 2, A-8036 Graz ZM, ZW), Eurasian (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, (AT). TM), European (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LT, LU, (72) Inventors; and LV, MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, (75) Inventors/ Applicants (for US only): ROTTHIER, An¬ SM, TR), OAPI (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GQ, nettes [BE/BE]; Doffen 125, B-2250 Olen (BE). TIMGW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG). MERMAN, Vincent [BE/BE]; Van Den Nestlaan 69, B-2520 Broechem (BE). AUER-GRUMBACH, Published: Michaela [AT/AT]; Ragnitzstrasse 107, A-8047 Graz — with international search report (Art. 21(3))