Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Circulating calcium levels and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Abnormal Ca homeostasis has been associated with impaired glucose metabolism. However, the epidemiological evidence is controversial. We aimed to assess the association between circulating Ca levels and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or abnormal glucose homeostasis through conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eligible studies were identified by searching electronic database (PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar) and related references with de novo results from primary studies up to December 2018. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate the weighted relative risks (RR) and 95 % CI for the associations. The search yielded twenty eligible publications with eight cohort studies identified for the meta-analysis, which included a total of 89 165 participants. Comparing the highest with the lowest category of albumin-adjusted serum Ca, the pooled RR was 1·14 (95 % CI 1·05, 1·24) for T2DM (n 51 489). Similarly, serum total Ca was associated with incident T2DM (RR 1·25; 95 % CI 1·10, 1·42) (n 64 502). Additionally, the adjusted RR for 1 mg/dl increments in albumin-adjusted serum Ca or serum total Ca levels was 1·16 (95 % CI 1·07, 1·27) and 1·19 (95 % CI 1·11, 1·28), respectively. The observed associations remained with the inclusion of a cohort study with ionised Ca as the exposure. However, data pooled from neither case–control (n 4) nor cross-sectional (n 8) studies manifested a significant correlation between circulating Ca and glucose homeostasis. In conclusion, accumulated data from the cohort studies suggest that higher circulating Ca levels are associated with an augmented risk of T2DM.
The angular clustering of infrared-selected obscured and unobscured quasars

Recent studies of luminous infrared-selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) suggest that the reddest, most obscured objects display a higher angular clustering amplitude, and thus reside in higher-mass dark matter halos. This is a direct contradiction to the prediction of the simplest unification-by-orientation models of AGN and quasars. However, clustering measurements depend strongly on the "mask" that removes low-quality data and describes the sky and selection function. We find that applying a robust, conservative mask to WISE-selected quasars yields a weaker but still significant difference in the bias between obscured and unobscured quasars. These findings are consistent with results from previous Spitzer surveys, and removes any scale dependence of the bias. For obscured quasars with $\langle z \rangle = 0.99$ we measure a bias of $b_q = 2.67 \pm 0.16$, corresponding to a halo mass of $\log (M_h / M_{\odot} h^{-1}) = 13.3 \pm 0.1$, while for unobscured sources with $\langle z \rangle = 1.04$ we find $b_q = 2.04 \pm 0.17$ with a halo mass $\log (M_h / M_{\odot} h^{-1} )= 12.8 \pm 0.1$. This improved measurement indicates that WISE-selected obscured quasars reside in halos only a few times more massive than the halos of their unobscured counterparts, a reduction in the factor of $\sim$10 larger halo mass as has been previously reported using WISE-selected samples. Additionally, an abundance matching analysis yields lifetimes for both obscured and unobscured quasar phases on the order of a few 100 Myr ($\sim$ 1\% of the Hubble time) --- however, the obscured phase lasts roughly twice as long, in tension with many model predictions.
DEoptim: An R Package for Global Optimization by Differential Evolution

This article describes the R package DEoptim which implements the differential evolution algorithm for the global optimization of a real-valued function of a real-valued parameter vector. The implementation of differential evolution in DEoptim interfaces with C code for efficiency. The utility of the package is illustrated via case studies in fitting a Parratt model for X-ray reflectometry data and a Markov-Switching Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (MSGARCH) model for the returns of the Swiss Market Index.
An algorithm to estimate multipath delays of broadband sources with only two sensors

DOA estimation and relative delay estimation are precursors for various signal processing algorithms. In this paper a new algorithm is proposed to estimate the relative delays and the Direction Of Arrival(DOA) at the sensor for multiple sources using only two sensors. The properties of the sources namely, broadband width and spectral overlap are used to achieve this. Numerical simulations are presented to study the performance of the methods.
Head-Probe Stabilisation in Ultrasound Tongue Imaging Using a Headset to Permit Natural Head Movement

Translation and rotation movements of an ultrasound probe relative to the speaker’s head induce error. We examine one means of reducing such errors, the headset stabilising system made by Articulate Instruments Ltd., using a Vicon 612 3D motion analysis system during and between episodes of speech. Probe movements relative to the head of the speaker were derived. The headset restricted unwanted movement to the midsagittal plane even though a speaker was free to move the head naturally during utterances. Stressed low vowels moved the probe dynamically within this plane by as much as 10mm in extreme cases before it returned to near its original position. Long-term slippage ranged from 1.4mm to 2.9mm and is within acceptable limits.
The complex effects of public policy on child labour

This paper reviews how public policy and programs affect child labour. The paper discusses the evidence generated by rigorous, although not necessarily randomized, impact evaluations of (i) social protection programs, (ii) education interventions, (iii) labour market oriented interventions, (iv) human settlement programs, (v) microfinance programs, and (vi) health and demographic interventions. Although interventions in all six policy clusters can reduce child labour, reductions in child labour are not guaranteed. In fact, some interventions (such as those that affect intra-household specialization in productive activities) can increase child labour. We build on the evidence to provide directions for a systematic research agenda. The complex effects of public policy on child labour
Egg surface structure and larval cement glands in nandid and badid fishes, with remarks on phylogeny and biogeography. American Museum novitates ; no. 3195

Egg surface structure and larval morphology of the Nandidae and Badidae were studied with SEM, and cement organs of larval Nandus and Badis were histochemically stained using the PAS technique. The study is supplemented with data on reproductive behavior. The Asian Nandidae differ from the African-South American Nandidae in important features of reproductive behavior as well as egg and larval structure. No synapomorphy for the family Nandidae could be identified. The genera Polycentropsis, Polycentrus, and Monocirrhus, however, form a monophyletic group on the basis of the following synapomorphies: eggs with a unique surface pattern of narrow ridges running radially from the micropyle; larvae with a multicellular cement gland on top of the head; and adults with a unique spawning procedure. The genus Afronandus is tentatively assigned to this monophyletic group because it shares with the other three African-South American Nandidae the character of adhesive filaments at the vegetal egg pole. Comparison of egg and larval structure between the Nandidae and Badidae revealed no characters indicating a close relationship of the two families. Lundberg's (1993) hypothesis, which explains the distribution of the African-South American Nandidae by dispersal through seawater, is rejected on the basis of the ecological preferences of these Nandidae. The age of origin of AfricanSouth American Nandidae is hypothesized to date back at least to the late Cretaceous, that is, before the separation of Africa and South America. * This paper is dedicated to the memory of the influential zoologist Hans M. Peters who died December 13, 1996, at the age of 89. ' Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Herpetology and Ichthyology, American Museum of Natural History. Present address: Lehrstuhl fur Spezielle Zoologie, Universitat Tubingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076 Tubingen, Germany. Copyright X American Museum of Natural History 1997 ISSN 0003-0082 / Price $2.40 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES
Preparation and Characterization of a Cylinder-Type Adsorbent for the Recovery of Lithium from Seawater

In this work, a spinel lithium manganese oxide (LMO) used as a lithium adsorbent was prepared with a conventional solid state reaction using lithium carbonate and manganese carbonate as the reactants. A cylinder-type LMO was prepared using water glass (sodium silicate solution) as a binder together with the reactants and examined for its lithium adsorption capacity. The effect of the preparation condition on the adsorption capacity of the LMO powder was investigated. The optimum heating condition for the LMO powder, determined to be 500°C for 4 h, was applied to prepare the cylinder-type LMO. The cylinder-type LMO showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 15.06mg/g when immersed in lithium-enriched seawater, whereas LMO powder showed a maximum adsorption capacity of 27.62mg/g under identical conditions. The cylinder-type LMO generally maintained its structure after the acid treatment and the Li adsorption process. Thus, the cylinder-type LMO developed in this study can overcome the limits associated with powder-type adsorbents and may be appropriate for multiple adsorption runs in seawater. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2013028]
Racism, Ideology, and Social Movements

Racism, sexism, and other forms of injustice are more than just bad attitudes; after all, such injustice involves unfair distributions of goods and resources. But attitudes play a role. How central is that role? Tommie Shelby, among others, argues that racism is an ideology and takes a cognitivist approach suggesting that ideologies consist in false beliefs that arise out of and serve pernicious social conditions. In this paper I argue that racism is better understood as a set of practices, attitudes, social meanings, and material conditions, that systematically reinforce one another. Attitudes play a role, but even the cognitive/affective component of ideologies should include culturally shared habits of mind and action. These habits of mind distort, obscure, and occlude important facts about subordinated groups and result in a failure to recognize their interests. How do we disrupt such practices to achieve greater justice? I argue that this is sometimes, but not always, best achieved by argument or challenging false beliefs, so social movements legitimately seek other means.
Effect of three species of host tree on the cold hardiness of overwintering larvae of Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

The Asian long-horned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, is a serious destructive pest of forests throughout China as it attacks a wide range of host plants. The effect of host trees on the cold hardiness of A. glabripennis larvae could be the basis for predicting the performance of this forest pest on different common hosts.To evaluate the effect of different species of host plant on the cold hardiness of overwintering larvae of A. glabripennis, we measured the supercooling point (SCP), fresh mass, protein content and concentrations of low molecular weight substances in overwintering larvae collected from three different host species (i.e., Populus opera, Populus tomentosa and Salix matsudana). Mean SCPs and protein contents of larvae from these three hosts differed significantly. The SCPs and protein contents of the larvae collected from P. opera and P. tomentosa were significantly higher than those collected from S. matsudana. The concentrations of glycerol, glucose and trehalose in overwintering larvae collected from these host species also differed significantly, but there were no significant differences in the concentrations of sorbitol and inositol. The larvae that were collected from S. matsudana had the highest concentrations of glycerol and trehalose and those from P. opera the lowest contents of glycerol, whereas those from P. tomentosa had the lowest concentrations of trehalose but the highest concentrations of glucose. Because of the significant differences in the quantities of these biochemical substances in their bodies, the cold hardiness of overwintering larvae of A. glabripennis was significantly dependent on the tree they fed on. These effects on the cold hardiness of the overwintering larvae might affect the selection of a host tree and therefore the spread of this beetle.
Optimal use of existing freeway management surveillance infrastructure on pedestrian bridges with computer vision techniques

South Africa as a developing country has to make the most out of the infrastructure that are available. Given the high level of crash involving pedestrians, it is critical that all means available are utilised to characterise pedestrian movements on the highway and pedestrian bridges. This paper will focus on using the existing camera infrastructure, but will extend its use to automatically detect and count pedestrians that use the pedestrian bridges. The pedestrian movement data can be used to aid with the evaluation of pedestrian safety campaigns, or to recognise trends in pedestrian movement. The paper presents the impact of various parameter changes to the state of the art technique used, as well as orientation suggestions for future installations. This is done to make optimal use of existing infrastructure, and provides an alternative to existing high-end systems. The methodology includes training a computer vision-based algorithm to recognise and count pedestrians for specific scenes, for example pedestrian bridges. The paper evaluates different suppression techniques to reduce false positives. The results show that 72% of pedestrians can be detected (a hit rate of 72%), with the camera facing a pedestrian bridge squarely from the side, so that silhouettes are clearly visible. High end products not using existing infrastructure typically have a hit rate of 70%-90%. The solution in this paper competes with high-end products, and can be expanded for infrastructure security applications, e.g. monitoring copper cables or monitoring of high risk areas.
Correlated optical and X-ray variability in CTTS - Indications of absorption-modulated emission

Aims. Optical and X-ray emission from classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) has long been known to be highly variable. Our long, uninterrupted optical observation of the NGC 2264 region with CoRoT [The CoRoT space mission was developed and is operated by the French space agency CNES, with participation of ESA's RSSD and Science Programs, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, and Spain. ] allows the optical variability in CTTS to be studied with unprecedented accuracy and time coverage. Two short Chandra observations obtained during the CoRoT pointing with a separation of 16 days allow us to study whether there is a correlation between optical and X-ray variability on this timescale, thus probing the physical mechanisms driving the variability in both bands. Methods. We have computed the optical and X-ray fractional variability between the two 30 ks duration windows covered by both the Chandra and CoRoT observations, for a sample of classical and weak line T Tauri stars (WTTSs) in NGC 2264. A scatter plot clearly shows that the variability of CTTSs in the optical and soft X-ray (0.5–1.5 keV) bands is correlated, while no correlation is apparent in the hard (1.5–8.0 keV) band. Also, no correlation in either band is present for WTTSs. Results. We show that the correlation between soft X-ray and optical variability of CTTSs can be naturally explained in terms of time-variable shading (absorption) from circumstellar material orbiting the star, in a scenario rather similar to the one invoked to explain the observed phenomenology in the CTTS AA Tau. The slope of the observed correlation implies (in the hypothesis of homogeneous shading) a significant dust depletion in the circumstellar material (with a gas-to-dust ratio approximately 5 times lower than the standard value for interstellar material).
Nutrition status in hospitalized patients with COPD on non-invasive ventilation

Nutrition status in hospitalized patients with COPD on non-invasive ventilation Sara Kvien Jensen, RD, LMNT CNSC Advisor: Corrine Hanson, PhD, RD, LMNT Background: Nutrition is an important aspect of critically ill hospitalized patient care but the lack of consistent nutritional guidelines for sub-critically ill patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) requiring non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) may be putting vulnerable patients at risk. Hand grip strength measurements are an emerging metric for
Two approaches in the analytical investigation of the spring pendulum

Dynamics of the nonlinear spring pendulum is analysed using two asymptotic approaches. The multiple scale method is commonly applied with using two time scales. The purpose of the research is to justify the introduction of an additional third scale. Results of the analysis clearly show that introducing the third scale improve correctness of the approximate analytical solution. The obtained results allow for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the behavior of the studied system with a high accuracy. Calculations are made both in the neighbourhood of the resonance and also far from it.
Multi-objective improved algorithm for flow allocations in hazardous chemicals logistics preference paths

The flow allocation of paths was a key stage of the transportation network’s efficiency, particularly in the hazardous chemicals logistics network where many weights were stochastic. Over the years, a variety of methods (or heuristics) have been proposed to solve this complex optimization problem, with good results in some cases just with limitations in the special fields. In this work, we develop an algorithm for model multi-objective that combines ideas from stochastic weight. Our method performs well even when the order of magnitude and/or the range of the parameters were unknown. The method refines iteratively a sequence of parameter distributions through preference combined with partial exampling from a historical prior defined over the support of all previous iterations. We exemplify our method with multi-objective improved models using both simulated and real experimental data and estimate the weight efficiently even in the absence of a priori knowledge about the weight.
Incorporation of nitrogen and carbon from spawning coho salmon into the trophic system of small streams: evidence from stable isotopes

On observe un enrichissement notable en 15 N et 13 C de la matiere organique epilithique, de tous les macroinvertebres aquatiques sauf les broyeurs, et des poissons, dans des cours d'eau (ouest de l'etat de Washington, Etats-Unis) ou sont presents des geniteurs de saumon coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch). La vegetation riveraine des cours d'eau salmonicoles et les macroinvertebres broyeurs etaient enrichis en 15 N mais pas en 13 C. Les niveaux les plus hauts d'enrichissement du biote des cours d'eau en isotopes lourds ont ete notes au debut du printemps, peu de temps apres la decomposition des carcasses. Apres la ponte, les saumons d'âge 0+ ont connu un doublement du taux de croissance. Les truites fardees d'âge 0+ dans un cours d'eau proche exempt de saumons n'ont presente aucun changement du taux de croissance pendant l'hiver. L'incorporation de la matiere organique provenant des saumons dans le biote du cours d'eau se faisait par consommation directe des oeufs, des carcasses et des alevins, et par sorption dans le substrat du fond du cours d'eau de la matiere organique dissoute liberee par les carcasses en decomposition. L'assimilation autotrophe n'est pas un moyen important d'integration. La proportion d'azote apportee par les saumons geniteurs variait selon les categories trophiques, d'environ 17% chez les cueilleurs-capteurs a plus de 30% chez les cohos juveniles. Le carbone apporte par les saumons allait de 0% dans le feuillage des plantes ripicoles et chez les broyeurs a 34% chez les cohos juveniles.
Structural Change and Income Distribution: Accounting for Regional Inequality in the People's Republic of China and its Changes During 1952–2012

This study explores the relationship between inequality and structural transformation by constructing a theoretical model, developing analytical frameworks, and implementing a case study. The general equilibrium model we develop demonstrates that inequality exhibits an inverted U shape as structural change proceeds from onset to completion. Our analytical frameworks enable decomposition of total inequality into sector contributions and a change in total inequality into a component attributable to structural transformation and the other component to concentration or spatial agglomeration. Applying the decomposition frameworks to data from the People’s Republic of China yield various interesting findings and more importantly confirms the inverted U shape as predicted by our theoretical model.
Fit by adaptation or fit by founding? A comparative study of existing and new entrepreneurial cohorts in China

Extant research provides ambiguous views on the network adaptability of existing ventures and new ventures during environmental change. Applying an institutional perspective, this research aims to provide a clearer picture by comparing the adaptation and network configurations of existing vs. new entrepreneurial cohorts during China's institutional change after 1992. The qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the existing cohort of entrepreneurs displays network inertia, in that they largely maintain strong tie-based political and market networks; the new cohort instead demonstrates better adaptation by establishing fewer political networks but more weak and diverse market networks. This comparative research unpacks the institutional mechanisms underlying such differences, and serves as a ground for future investigations dealing with the strategic actions of different entrepreneurial cohorts that are largely neglected in previous studies
Objects Classification for Mobile Robots Using Hierarchic Selective Search Method

Aiming at determining the category of an image captured from mobile robots for intelligent application, classification with the bag-of-words model is proved effectively in near-duplicate/planar images. When it comes to images from mobile robots with complex background, does it still work well? In this paper, based on the merging criterion improvement, a method named hierarchical selective search is proposed hierarchically extracting complementary features to form a combined and environment-adaptable similarity measurement for segmentation resulting a small and high-quality regions set. Simultaneously those regions rather than a whole image are used for classification. As a result, it well improved the classification accuracy and make the bog-of-word model still work well on classification for mobile robots. The experiments on hierarchical selective search show its better performance than selective search on two task datasets for mobile robots. The experiments on classification shows the samples from regions are better than those original whole images. The advantage of less quantity and higher quality object regions from hierarchical selective search is more prominent when it comes to those special tasks for mobile robots with scarce data.