Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuron dynamics variability and anomalous phase synchronization of neural networks.

Anomalous phase synchronization describes a synchronization phenomenon occurring even for the weakly coupled network and characterized by a non-monotonous dependence of the synchronization strength on the coupling strength. Its existence may support a theoretical framework to some neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's and some episodes of seizure behavior generated by epilepsy. Despite the success of controlling or suppressing the anomalous phase synchronization in neural networks applying external perturbations or inducing ambient changes, the origin of the anomalous phase synchronization as well as the mechanisms behind the suppression is not completely known. Here, we consider networks composed of N = 2000 coupled neurons in a small-world topology for two well known neuron models, namely, the Hodgkin-Huxley-like and the Hindmarsh-Rose models, both displaying the anomalous phase synchronization regime. We show that the anomalous phase synchronization may be related to the individual behavior of the coupled neurons; particularly, we identify a strong correlation between the behavior of the inter-bursting-intervals of the neurons, what we call neuron variability, to the ability of the network to depict anomalous phase synchronization. We corroborate the ideas showing that external perturbations or ambient parameter changes that eliminate anomalous phase synchronization and at the same time promote small changes in the individual dynamics of the neurons, such that an increasing individual variability of neurons implies a decrease of anomalous phase synchronization. Finally, we demonstrate that this effect can be quantified using a well known recurrence quantifier, the "determinism. " Moreover, the results obtained by the determinism are based on only the mean field potential of the network, turning these measures more suitable to be used in experimental situations.
Exploratory Work in the Quaternary System of Ca–Eu–Cd–Sb: Synthesis, Crystal, and Electronic Structures of New Zintl Solid Solutions

Investigation of the quaternary system, Ca–Eu–Cd–Sb, led to a discovery of the new solid solutions, Ca1−xEuxCd2Sb2, with the CaAl2Si2 structure type (x ≈ 0.3–0.9, hP5, P3¯m1, a = 4.6632(5)–4.6934(3) Å, c = 7.630(1)–7.7062(7) Å), Ca2−xEuxCdSb2 with the Yb2CdSb2 type (x ≈ 0.6, oS20, Cmc21, a = 4.646(2) Å, b = 17.733(7) Å, c = 7.283(3) Å), and Eu11−xCaxCd6Sb12 with the Sr11Cd6Sb12 type (x ≈ 1, mS58, C2/m, a = 32.407(4) Å, b = 4.7248(5) Å, c = 12.377(1) Å, β = 109.96(1)°). Systematic crystallographic studies of the Ca1−xEuxCd2Sb2 series indicated expansion of the unit cell upon an increase in the Eu content, in accordance with a larger ionic radius of Eu2+ vs. Ca2+. The Ca2−xEuxCdSb2 composition with x ≈ 0.6 adopts the non-centrosymmetric space group, Cmc21, although the parent ternary phase, Ca2CdSb2, crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group, Pnma. Two non-equivalent Ca sites in the layered crystal structure of Ca2−xEuxCdSb2 get unevenly occupied by Eu, with a preference for the interlayer position, which offers a larger available volume. Similar size-driven preferred occupation is observed in the Eu11−xCaxCd6Sb12 solid solution with x ≈ 1.
La descentralización del impuesto sobre la renta: distintos efectos económicos

El objetivo de la tesis es analizar los efectos de la descentralizacion del impuesto sobre la renta sobre distintas cuestiones economicas, fundamentalmente desde un punto de vista teorico: - El capitulo I se destina a analizar los efectos de modelos alternativos de descentralizacion fiscal sobre dos tipos de resultados: los niveles de provision de bienes publicos y los formulas de imposicion optima sobre la renta. - El capitulo II examina, desde un punto de vista teorico y empirico, si la descentralizacion fiscal de ingresos podria influir sobre el crecimiento economico regional, y cual es la composicion optima de ingresos que maximiza el crecimiento economico. - El capitulo III estudia las implicaciones economicas de compartir la funcion de medio tribuccion en un pais descentralizado, frente a los sistemas alternativos de asignacion de esta funcion a un unico nivel de gobierno (central o subcentrales)
Mobile Learning Based Gamification in a History Learning Context.

Engagement and motivation are ones of the main factors that impact the student performance during a learning process. The reason why, introducing Gamification in learning aims to improve the learning process, by making use of the motivating effects of digital game elements and techniques. However, summarizing Gamification into a set of technical concepts (points, badges and leaderboards) is a very common misunderstanding of Gamification hence greatly reducing the purposed effect on the target (students). In this paper, after exploring the key elements that can lead to a good Gamification in "History" as a learning context, driven by target (students) motivation, we will try to propose a solution based on mobile technologies, mainly Augmented Reality (AR), and design a way of evaluation and verification.
La ciencia del texto

El presente texto permite ver desde la Antig? edad Cl? sica se conocen la po? tica y la ret? rica, que se ocupaban de las estructuras especiales y de las Funciones est? ticas o persuasivas de los textos literarios o los discursos, como hoy en d? a lo hacen la estil? stica y los estudios literarios. Tambi? n la teolog? a y la jurisprudencia emplean tipos de textos especiales, que en ambos casos requieren una ? ex? gesis? , pero que posteriormente sirven de normas para acciones concretas. La ling? sticas e interesa especialmente por la estructura gramatical de las oraciones y los textos
Time budget variation in relation to flock size in carrion crows, Corvus corone corone


Abstract Abstract. Time budgets of carrion crows feeding in flocks of variable size were recorded in a field experiment. Variation in surveillance, successful and unsuccessful pecking, walking and aggression was analysed in relation to flock size while controlling for the effects of confounding variables (time of day, food quality and density, temperature, observer). Time devoted to surveillance and surveillance rate decreased non-linearly with increasing flock size, while time elapsing between two successive surveillance episodes increased linearly with flock size. Surveillance behaviour did not vary with food density. Surveillance was significantly higher when a predator was flying over the flock or had just disappeared than for apparently undisturbed crows. Feeding rates reached a maximum in flocks of 10 crows, decreased in larger flocks and increased monotonically with food density. The number of aggressive encounters/min was positively correlated with flock size but was independent of food density. In the range of flock sizes considered (1-17 birds), crows benefited from being in a flock in terms of both increased feeding efficiency and, presumably, increased surveillance in the flock. It is also suggested that the increase in bird density with flock size, rather than the increase in flock size per se, was responsible for higher levels of aggression in large flocks.
L'impact de la dynamique de l'intégration régionale sur les pays de la SADC: une analyse théorique et empirique

Cette etude fait un examen theorique et empirique approfondi des effets de l'integration economique regionale dans un espace en developpement. En prenant le cas de la SADC (Southern African Developpment Community - Communaute des Etats de l'Afrique australe), l'objet est de verifier si cette cooperation Sud-Sud verifie un ensemble des effets attendus de la regionalisation, a savoir, la creation et la deviation de commerce, l'attractivite des investissements directs etrangers, la croissance endogene regionalisee et la synchronisation de l'evolution des economies integrees. Apres avoir presente la trajectoire du regionalisme austral et les difficultes ainsi que les asymetries des gains lies a ce regroupement base sur l'heterogeneite des pays, nous montrons ensuite que l'integration economique de la SADC genere des effets de creation de commerce qui ne decoulent pas forcement des effets de detournement, pour cause de raison structurelle. En effet, la SADC est un bloc commercial dont la structure productive ne permet pas de detourner ses echanges avec l'Exterieur, meme si certains de nos resultats estiment un leger effet de detournement de commerce de la zone. Dans un autre contexte, nous justifions econometriquement que la SADC est un argument credible en matiere d'attractivite des investissements directs etrangers. La region a fait des efforts pour rendre ses economies attractives. Nos resultats montrent que l'integration pourrait expliquer les 1/3 des IDE entrants au sein de la region depuis la refondation de l'organisation australe. Le reste des flux entrants serait du aux effets specifiques nationaux. On retient egalement de cette etude que la constitution d'un capital spatial austral semble valider l'hypothese d'une croissance endogene regionalisee. Autrement dit, la SADC en tant qu'organisation regionale et spatiale serait un facteur de croissance economique pour les pays membres. Les principaux effets induits par la creation du bloc austral (creations commerciales et flux des IDE, etc.) ont un impact favorable sur le PIB/tete des pays. Ceci nous amene alors a verifier si les differents effets issus de la regionalisation australe permettent de surcroit la synchronisation des economies membres dans l'esprit de la theorie de l'endogeneite des criteres de la ZMO. D'apres nos estimations et nos resultats, il ressort que la teneur de ces effets est insuffisante pour permettre une meme trajectoire convergente des economies de la SADC. Cependant, certains signes empiriques montrent que la SADC est une zone disposee a endogeneiser les criteres d'optimalite en termes de convergence economique. Autrement dit, elle semble repondre a l'argument de Frankel et Rose (1998), puisque l'effet commercial a un signe negatif malgre le fait qu'il ne soit pas significatif. Enfin, contrairement a ce que l'on peut croire, la creation d'une union monetaire au sein de la SADC n'est pas forcement favorable a la synchronisation de l'evolution des economies membres si l'on tient compte de l'evolution actuelle des choses.
Online Inductance and Capacitance Identification Based on Variable Forgetting Factor Recursive Least-Squares Algorithm for Boost Converter

The control performance of boost converter suffers from the variations of important component parameters, such as inductance and capacitance. In this paper, an online inductance and capacitance identification based on variable forgetting factor recursive least-squares (VFF-RLS) algorithm for boost converter is proposed. First, accurate inductance and capacitance identification models and the RLS algorithm are introduced. In order to balance the steady-state identification accuracy and parameter tracking ability, a forgetting factor control technique is investigated. By recovering system noise in the error signal of the algorithm, the value of forgetting factor is dynamically calculated. In addition, since the sampling rate is much lower than the existing identification methods, the proposed algorithm is practical for low-cost applications. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is verified by experiment. The experiment results show that the algorithm has good performance in tracking inductance and capacitance variations.
The Time-Varying Diversifiability of Corporate Foreign Exchange Exposure

Abstract Estimating comovement measures for a large set of bilateral foreign exchange (FX) rates, I explore the relation between firm-level FX exposure and its time-varying diversifiability. For a sample of U.S. firms, the magnitude of FX exposure appears to increase during periods of low currency risk diversifiability. Additional results suggest that the introduction of the euro exacerbated the effect of diversifiability on developed market currency exposure. Moreover, the low diversifiability of emerging market currencies seems to have a stronger effect on FX exposure than the low diversifiability of developed market currencies.
Teacher candidates’ attitudes towards education of gifted students

Ustun yetenekli ogrenciler, egitim surecinde yeterli destegi bulduklari zaman, toplumlarin gelisiminde etkin olma potansiyeline sahiplerdir. Bu nedenle ustun yeteneklilerin egitimi icin uygun kosullarin olusturulmasinda ogretmen yonlendirmesi gerekmektedir. Ustun yetenekli ogrencilerin potansiyellerinin ortaya cikarilmasinda, ogretmenlerin ustun yeteneklilerin egitimine yonelik olumlu duyussal ozellikler tasimasi onemli faktorlerden biridir. Bu arastirmada, ogretmen adaylarinin ustun yeteneklilerin egitimine iliskin tutumlarinin incelenmesi amaclanmistir. Tarama modelindeki arastirmanin katilimcilari, Marmara Bolgesi’nde bulunan uc devlet universitesinin egitim fakultelerinde cesitli bolumlerde son sinifa devam eden ogrencilerdir (N=449). Veri toplama araci olarak Ustun Yetenekliler Egitimine Iliskin Tutum Olcegi kullanilmistir. Veriler, SPSS ile analiz edilmis, normallik testinin ardindan calismada ele alinan bagimsiz degiskenler dogrultusunda Mann-Whitney U testi uygulanmistir. Arastirmada, ogretmen adaylarinin ustun yeteneklilerin egitimine iliskin tutumlarinin orta duzeyde olumlu ve olumlu araligi arasinda oldugu belirlenmistir. Kiz ogretmen adaylarinin erkek ogretmen adaylarindan daha olumlu tutuma sahip oldugu, ustun yeteneklilerin egitimiyle ilgili kitap okuyan, ustun yetenekli olarak tanilanmis birini tanidigini ifade eden katilimcilarin tutumlarinin daha olumlu oldugu diger bulgulardir
OASIS-3: Longitudinal Neuroimaging, Clinical, and Cognitive Dataset for Normal Aging and Alzheimer Disease

OASIS-3 is a compilation of MRI and PET imaging and related clinical data for 1098 participants who were collected across several ongoing studies in the Washington University Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center over the course of 15 years. Participants include 605 cognitively normal adults and 493 individuals at various stages of cognitive decline ranging in age from 42 to 95 years. The OASIS-3 dataset contains over 2000 MR sessions, including multiple structural and functional sequences. PET metabolic and amyloid imaging includes over 1500 raw imaging scans and the accompanying post-processed files from the PET Unified Pipeline (PUP) are also available in OASIS-3. OASIS-3 also contains post-processed imaging data such as volumetric segmentations and PET analyses. Imaging data is accompanied by dementia and APOE status and longitudinal clinical and cognitive outcomes. OASIS-3 is available as an open access data set to the scientific community to answer questions related to healthy aging and dementia.
New Directions in Metal Phosphonate and Phosphinate Chemistry

In September 2018, the First European Workshop on Metal Phosphonates Chemistry brought together some prominent researchers in the field of metal phosphonates and phosphinates with the aim of discussing past and current research efforts and identifying future directions. The scope of this perspective article is to provide a critical overview of the topics discussed during the workshop, which are divided into two main areas: synthesis and characterisation, and applications. In terms of synthetic methods, there has been a push towards cleaner and more efficient approaches. This has led to the introduction of high-throughput synthesis and mechanochemical synthesis. The recent success of metal–organic frameworks has also promoted renewed interest in the synthesis of porous metal phosphonates and phosphinates. Regarding characterisation, the main advances are the development of electron diffraction as a tool for crystal structure determination and the deployment of in situ characterisation techniques, which have allowed for a better understanding of reaction pathways. In terms of applications, metal phosphonates have been found to be suitable materials for several purposes: they have been employed as heterogeneous catalysts for the synthesis of fine chemicals, as solid sorbents for gas separation, notably CO2 capture, as materials for electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells and rechargeable batteries, and as matrices for drug delivery.
A Survey of Cannabis Acute Effects and Withdrawal Symptoms: Differential Responses Across User Types and Age

Abstract Objectives: There is a rapidly evolving legal and medical culture around cannabis, with corresponding changes in the demographics of users. For instance, the percentage of the aging population accessing cannabis is growing substantially, outpacing other age groups. The goals of this study were to describe the acute effects of cannabis, subjective experiences of withdrawal, and beliefs around the addictiveness of cannabis, as well as to determine whether these effects differ as a function of age or reason for use (medical vs. recreational use). It was hypothesized that medical users and younger users would report fewer adverse effects. Subjects: Survey responses from 2905 cannabis users were analyzed. Results: Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used to compare group percentages after statistically controlling for confounding differences in their demographic and cannabis use characteristics. The most commonly endorsed acute effects were improved sleep, more calm/peaceful, desire to eat, more creative, and dry mouth; while the most commonly endorsed withdrawal symptoms were irritability, insomnia, and anxiety. Relative to recreational users, medical users were less likely to report undesirable acute effects but were more likely to report undesirable withdrawal symptoms. Older (50+) individuals reported fewer undesirable acute effects and withdrawal symptoms compared with younger users (18–29). Only 17% of the total sample reported believing that cannabis is addictive, and this did not vary as a function of reason for use. Conclusions: Older people and medical users appear to experience acute and withdrawal effects of cannabis differently than recreational and younger users, perhaps because these groups benefit more from the medicinal properties of cannabis. These data can provide descriptive information to help inform health care providers and potential consumers about effects of cannabis use.
The feasibility of finger prick autologous blood (FAB) as a novel treatment for severe dry eye disease (DED): protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Introduction Patients with severe dry eye disease (DED) often have limited treatment options with standard non-surgical management focused on the use of artificial tears for lubrication and anti-inflammatory drugs. However, artificial tears do not address the extraordinary complexity of human tears. Crudely, human tears with its vast constituents is essentially filtered blood. Blood and several blood-derived products including autologous serum, have been studied as tear substitutes. This study proposes to test the use of whole, fresh, autologous blood obtained from a finger prick for treatment of severe DED. Methods and analysis The research team at the two participating sites will approach patients with severe DED for this study. Recruitment will take place over 12 months and we expect to recruit 60 patients in total. The primary outcome of this feasibility study is to estimate the proportion of eligible patients approached who consent to and comply with study procedures including treatment regimen and completion of required questionnaires. The secondary outcome measures, although not powered for in this feasibility, include corneal inflammation (assessed by the Oxford corneal staining guide), patient pain and symptoms scores (assessed by the Ocular Surface Disease Index Score), and objective signs of DED as indicated by visual acuity (assessed by Schirmer’s test, tear break-up time, lower and/or upper tear meniscus height measurement). Other secondary outcomes include patients’ quality of life (assessed using the validated EQ-5D-5L Questionnaire), cost to the National Health Service (NHS) and patient (assessed via use of NHS services and privately purchased over-the-counter treatment related to DED) and safety measure of pressure within the eye (assessed by the Intraocular Pressure (IOP) Score). Ethics and dissemination This protocol and any subsequent amendments, along with any accompanying material provided to the participant in addition to any advertising material used in this trial have been approved by the East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 17/EE/0508). Written approval from the committee was obtained and subsequently submitted to the respective Trust’s Research and Development (R&D) office with final NHS R&D approval obtained. Data obtained from this study will be published in a suitable peer-review journal and will also presented at international ophthalmic conferences including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Royal College of Ophthalmology Annual Congress, the Association for Research and Vision and Ophthalmology, and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Information will be provided to patient groups and charities such as the Sjogren’s Society and the Royal National Institute of Blind People. This will also be shared with the study participants as well as with relevant patient groups and charities. Trial registration number NCT03395431; Pre-results.
Development of a graphical method for choosing the optimal mode of traffic light

Changing the transportation infrastructure for improving the main characteristics of the transportation flow is the key problem in transportation planning, therefore the main question lies in the ability to plan the change of the main indicators for the long term. In this investigation, an analysis of the city’s population has been performed and the most difficult transportation segment has been identified. During its identification, the main characteristics of the transportation flow have been established. For the evaluation of these characteristics until 2025, an analysis of the available methods of establishing changes in their values has been conducted. During the analysis of the above mentioned methods of evaluation of the change in intensity, based on the method of extrapolation, three scenarios of the development of the transportation system have been identified. It has been established that the most favorable method of controlling the transportation flow in the entrance to the city is the long term control of the traffic system. For the first time, with the help of the authors, based on the investigations of foreign scientists and the mathematical analysis of the changes in intensiveness on the main routes of the given road, the method of graphically choosing the required control plan has been put forward. The effectiveness of said organization scheme of the transportation system has been rated in the Transyt-14 program, with the analysis of changes in the main characteristics of the transportation flow.