Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Changing Role of Social Capital During the Venture Creation Process: A Multilevel Study

We assess how social capital relates to individuals’ initial interest in becoming an entrepreneur, formally setting up a venture, and subsequent survival of the venture. Conceptualizing and measuring entrepreneurship as a sequential process inferred from cross-sectional data for 22,878 individuals living in 110 regions across 22 European countries, we find that regional social capital is relevant for formally setting up a venture, but it is not associated with initial interest, nor with venture survival after establishment. By assuming variability and not uniformity in how social capital relates to entrepreneurship, we gain a better understanding of the contextual determinants of the venture creation process.
Association of miRNA-145 with the occurrence and prognosis of hydrosalpinx-induced defective endometrial receptivity

MiR-145 is reported to facilitate inflammation and is also associated with unsuccessful embryonic implantation. Whether miR-145 mediates inflammatory response underlying hydrosalpinx-induced defective endometrial receptivity (ER) remains unclear, and this study attempted to clarify this point. Endometrium samples were collected from hydrosalpinx patients (case, n = 243) and patients with tubal patency/obstruction (control, n = 187). The peripheral blood samples of cases and controls were collected to determine the genotypes of miR-145 SNPs. The value of miR-145 expression in the diagnosis and prognostic estimation of hydrosalpinx was assessed using ROC curve and regression analysis, respectively. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) cell model was established with endometrial cells, and cells were transfected with miR-145 mimic, inhibitor, or negative control. MiR-145 and cytokine levels were quantified by quantitative reverse transcription PCR or western blot. MiR-145 expression was significantly higher in hydrosalpinx compared to control group, and high miR-145 expression was significantly associated with moderate/severe tube lesion, high pulsatility index (>1.06), and high resistance index (>0.61) in hydrosalpinx patients. ROC curve analysis indicated that monitoring miR-145 expression may be useful for the diagnosis of hydrosalpinx (AUC = 0.704). A alleles of rs41291957 (G>A) and rs353292 (G>A) were significantly associated with an increased risk of hydrosalpinx compared to G allele (p < 0.05), yet the mutant allele of rs353291 (A>G) and rs4705343 (T>C) significantly reduced susceptibility to hydrosalpinx compared to the wild type allele. Treatments with miR-145 mimic and LPS in endometrial cells significantly increased the levels of transforming growth factor-b1, tumor necrosis factor -a, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 compared to negative control, while treatment with miR-145 inhibitor decreased the cytokine levels. In conclusion, abnormally expressed miR-145 may be involved in hydrosalpinx-induced ER defects by regulating the inflammatory response.
Estimating leaf mercury content in Phragmites australis based on leaf hyperspectral reflectance

ABSTRACT Introduction: High mercury (Hg) concentrations affect the chlorophyll in leaves, thereby modifying leaf spectra. Hyperspectra is a promising technique for the rapid, nondestructive evaluation of leaf Hg content. In this study, we investigated Hg contents and reflective hyperspectra of reed leaves (Phragmites communis) in a gold mining (Jilin province, China). Spectral parameters sensitive to Hg content were identified through basic spectral transformations, continuous wavelet transformation (CWT), and spectral indices techniques. Leaf Hg inversion models were developed using stepwise multiple linear regression, partial least squares regression, and random forest algorithms.Outcomes: The results indicated that: 1) leaf Hg content decreased with increasing distance from the mine: Jiapigou (JPG) > Erdaocha (EDC) > Laojingchang (LJC) > Erdaogou (EDG) > Lingqian (LQ) > Weishahe (WSH). 2) Hg–sensitive wavelengths were primarily in the visible region; CWT increased the correlation between hyperspectral data and leaf Hg content, and improved the regression and accuracy of inversion; 3) the continuum removal–CWT–stepwise multiple linear regression was better for estimating low leaf Hg content; while the differential spectral index–partial least squares regression was better for estimating high leaf Hg content.Conclusion: These hyperspectral inversion methods could be used for rapid, nondestructive monitoring of wetland plants.
Hypertension and Diabetes Delay the Viral Clearance in COVID-19 Patients

Objectives: Comorbidities have significant indications for the disease outcome of COVID-19, however which underlying diseases that contribute the most to aggravate the conditions of COVID-19 patients is still largely unknown. SARS-CoV-2 viral clearance is a golden standard for defining the recovery of COVID-19 infections. To dissect the underlying diseases that could impact on viral clearance, we enrolled 106 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China between Jan 5 and Feb 25, 2020. Methodology: We comprehensively analyzed demographic, clinical and laboratory data, as well as patient treatment records. Survival analyses with Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression modelling were employed to identify factors influencing the viral clearance negatively. Results: We found that increasing age, male gender, and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) associated factors (including hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases) adversely affected the viral clearance. Furthermore, analysis by a random forest survival model pointed out hypertension, cortisone treatment, gender, and age as the four most important variables. Conclusions: We conclude that patients at old age, males, and/or having diseases associated with high expression of ACE2 will have worse prognosis during a COVID-19 infections.
ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATURAL SCIENCE: COMPARISON OF STUDENT ATTITUDES IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN MUARO JAMBI DISTRICT

Purpose of the study: This research was conducted to review the comparison of students’ attitudes towards science subjects through 3 indicators, namely the social implications of science, attitudes towards investigation and career interests in the field of science sourced from TOSRA. Methodology: The research design used is quantitative with the type of survey research. The research subjects were 1075 students. The instrument used in the form of a questionnaire attitude towards science subjects. The analysis technique used is descriptive statistics and inferential statistics in the form of one way ANOVA test. Main Findings: Students at Junior High School 26Muaro Jambi were dominant in the indicators of social implications with a percentage of 66.9% (103 out of 154 students) with a good category, while Junior High School 6 Muaro Jambi was dominant in the social implication indicators with a percentage of 51.5% (313 out of 608 students) with a sufficient category, and Junior High School 5 Muaro Jambi dominant in the indicators of social implications with a percentage of 62.3% (195 of 313 students) with a sufficient category. Based on the one way ANOVA test, it was found that there were differences in attitudes towards science subjects at Junior High School 26 Muaro Jambi, Junior High School 6 Muaro Jambi and Junior High School 5 Muaro Jambi. Novelty/Originality of this study: The renewal of this study is the absence of research conducted in Junior High School in Muaro Jambi Regency, Indonesia regarding students’ attitudes toward science subjects reviewed through indicators of the social implications of science, indicators of attitudes towards science investigations, and indicators of career interest in the field of science.
Distance weighting avoids erroneous scale effects in species‐habitat models

1. In species‐habitat models, curves describing the changes in correlation strength between habitat cover and species occurrence over a continuum of spatial scales tend to be hump‐shaped, and the correlation maximum is generally assumed to indicate the ecologically most meaningful scale of habitat influence on the species. This approach does not take account of the fact that distant habitat is overrated by increasing area with larger buffer sizes whilst habitat influence decays with distance. We devised four levels of distance weighting, down‐weighting more distant habitat with increasing realism.
Prioritized Uplink Resource Allocation in Smart Grid Backscatter Communication Networks via Deep Reinforcement Learning

With the rapid increase in the number of wireless sensor terminals in smart grids, backscattering has become a very promising green technology. By means of backscattering, wireless sensors can either reflect energy signals in the environment to exchange information with each other or capture the energy signals to recharge their batteries. However, the changing environment around wireless sensors, limited radio frequency and various service priorities in uplink communications bring great challenges in allocation resources. In this paper, we put forward a backscatter communication model based on business priority and cognitive network. In order to achieve optimal throughput of system, an asynchronous advantage actor-critic (A3C) algorithm is designed to tackle the problem of uplink resource allocation. The experimental results indicate that the presented scheme can significantly enhance overall system performance and ensure the business requirements of high-priority users.
Intermittent Hypoxia Attenuates Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Brief periods of ischemia preceding an ischemia-reperfusion injury, known as ischemia preconditioning, attenuate the reduction in brachial artery endothelial function. It remains unknown whether brief bouts of systemic hypoxemia would similarly mitigate the blunted vasodilatory response induced by an ischemia-reperfusion injury. The purpose of this study was to determine whether intermittent hypoxia protects against an ischemia-reperfusion injury in young healthy adults. Sixteen healthy individuals, 9 men and 7 women (age: 23 ± 3 years, height: 175 ± 9 cm, body weight: 72.9 ± 13.4 kg), participated in the study. Brachial artery endothelial function was assessed by flow-mediated dilation before and after a 20-minute blood flow occlusion. Blood flow occlusion was preceded by either intermittent hypoxia (Hyp) or intermittent normoxia (Norm). Both visits were separated by a period of seven days. Women who had regular menstrual cycles were scheduled in the early follicular phase. Intermittent hypoxia was created by titrating nitrogen into a breathing system to achieve an arterial oxygen saturation of 90%. Intermittent hypoxia consisted of three 4-minute hypoxic cycles separated by 4-minute normoxic cycles. Intermittent hypoxia resulted in a lower arterial oxygen saturation (Hyp: 87 ± 3 vs. Norm: 99 ± 1%, p < 0.01), which was equivalent to a lower fraction of inspired oxygen (Hyp: 0.123 ± 0.013, Norm: 0.210 ± 0.003, p < 0.01). When preceded by intermittent normoxia, blood flow occlusion resulted in a blunted flow-mediated dilation (Norm: 7.1 ± 2.5 to
An Integrated Study on Chicken Gut Microbiome Associated with Diets and Feed Utilization Using Microarray and Illumina Sequencing

ii Acknowledgments. vi Vita . vii List of Tables . xiii List of Figures . xiv Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 5 2.1 Intestinal microbiome of poultry . 5 2.2 Interactions between gut microbiome and poultry host . 8 2.2.1 Nutritional interactions . 8 2.2.2 Microbiome affects intestinal morphology and physiology . 13 2.2.3 Microbiome and immunity . 15 2.3 Interactions between gut microbiome and diet . 20
A Multi-Objective Coordinated Charging and Discharging Strategy for Electric Vehicles Based on Stackelberg Game

For the negative impact of large-scale electric vehicles (EVs) disorderly charging on the power grid, a multi-objective optimization strategy for coordinated charging and discharging of EVs based on Stackelberg game is proposed. As the leader, the grid company aims to stabilize load fluctuations and formulate a reasonable electricity price strategy to guide EVs to participate in vehicle-to-grid (V2G); As followers, EV users optimize their charging plans based on electricity price information with the objective of reducing costs and obtaining good comfort. This paper uses the MOPSO algorithm to solve the proposed multi-objective Stackelberg problem, and calculates the optimization results under various preferences, which proves the effectiveness of the proposed model and method.
Substrate orientation effects on nanoelectrode lithography: ReaxFF molecular dynamics and experimental study

The crystallographic orientation of the substrate is an essential parameter in the kinetic mechanism for the oxidation process. Hence, the choice of substrate surface orientation is crucial in nanofabrication industries. In the present work, we have studied qualitatively the influence of substrate orientation in nanoelectrode lithography using ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics simulation. We have investigated the oxidation processes on (100), (110) and (111) orientation surfaces of silicon at different electric field intensities. The simulation results show the thickness of the oxide film and the initial oxygen diffusion rate follow an order of (100) > (110) > (111) at lower electric field intensities. It also confirms that surfaces with higher surface energy are more reactive at lower electric field intensity. Crossovers occurred at a higher electric field intensity (7 V nm−1) under which the thickness of the oxide film yields an order of T(110) > T(100) > T(111). These types of anomalous characteristics have previously been observed for thermal oxidation of silicon surfaces. Experimental results show different orders for the (100) and (111) substrate, while (110) remains the largest for the oxide thickness. A good correlation has been found between the oxide growth and the orientation-dependent parameters where the oxide growth is proportional to the areal density of the surfaces. The oxide growth also follows the relative order of the activation energies, which could be another controlling factor for the oxide growth. Less activation energy of the surface allows more oxide growth and vice versa. However, the differences between simulation and experimental results probably relate to the empirical potential as well as different time and spatial scales of the process.
Genetic and morphological differentiation of the mangrove crab Perisesarma guttatum (Brachyura: Sesarmidae) along an East African latitudinal gradient

The genetic structure and morphometric differentiation of mangrove crab Perisesarma guttatum populations were examined among shelf connected locations along a latitudinal gradient on the East African coast. Over 2200 specimens were sampled from 23 mangrove sites for geometric morphometrics analysis. Population genetic analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA sequences were used to evaluate connectivity among populations. A total of 73 haplotypes were detected, and almost no haplotypes were found in common between two highly supported phylogeographic clades: southern Mozambique (Inhaca Island and Maputo Bay) and a northern clade that included north Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. These two clades were identified based on the species' populations pairwise genetic differentiation and geographical location. ΦST values were considerably high between the two clades, indicating the presence of significant population genetic structure between Kenya and South Mozambique. However, each clade was composed of genetically similar populations along the latitudinal gradient, and no significant population structure was found within each clade because the Φst values were not significant. The morphometric analysis corroborated the division into two clades (i.e. Inhaca Island/Maputo Bay and northern populations) and also detected less shape variation among populations that were few kilometres apart. The significant spatial genetic structuring between the southern and the northern populations of P. guttatum along the geographic gradient under study, combined with morphological differences, suggests that these populations may be considered as cryptic species. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99, 28–46.
Testing the Effect of Snag and Cavity Supply on Deadwood-Associated Species in a Managed Boreal Forest

Standing deadwood is an important attribute of old-growth boreal forests and it provides essential microhabitats for deadwood-associated species. In managed boreal forests, short rotations tend to limit the amount and diversity of standing deadwood. This study evaluates if the anthropogenic supply of deadwood attributes through tree girdling or by providing nest boxes may favor deadwood-associated species. We studied the short-term response of saproxylic beetles, foraging woodpeckers, and secondary cavity users to snag and cavity supply in 50 to 70-year-old black spruce stands. In spring 2015, we girdled 8000 black spruce according to two spatial distributions (uniform and clustered), and we also installed 450 nest boxes of six different sizes at three distances from the forest edge. Using trunk window traps, we captured significantly more beetles in sites with girdled trees than in control sites in both 2015 and 2016. We also recorded a trend of a greater abundance of beetles in clusters of girdled trees than within uniformly distributed girdled trees. Trypodendron lineatum (Oliver) dominated beetle assemblages, representing 88.5% of all species in 2015 and 74.6% in 2016. The number of beetles captured was 7× higher in 2015 than in 2016. In contrast, we observed greater amounts of woodpecker foraging marks in fall 2016 than in either fall 2015 or spring 2016. Woodpeckers foraged significantly more in clusters of girdled trees than within uniformly distributed girdled trees. Woodpeckers’ foraging mark presence was positively associated with the proportion of recent cuts at 1 km around the study sites. Five Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus Forster) pairs used nest boxes and occupied smaller box sizes that were located away from the forest edge. Our study showed that structural enrichment can be effective in rapidly attracting deadwood-associated species within managed forest stands.
In vitro propagation of Solidago virgaurea L. through nodal culture

A reliable in vitro propagation protocol has been established from nodal segmentsof a highly valuable medicinal plant Solidago virgaurea L. The explants were cultured onMurashige and Skoog’s medium augmented with different concentrations andcombinations of plant growth regulators for shoot bud initiation and multiplications.Highest frequency of shoot proliferation (91.8 ± 0.64) and maximum number (12.1 ± 0.20) pernode was observed in Murashige and Skoog’s medium augmented with4.5 mg/l of Kinetinin combination with 0.5 mg/l of Indole -3- Acetic acid. Highest frequency (91.7 ± 1.43) ofrooting and maximum number (3.8 ± 0.28) of rootlet per shoot let was achieved onMurashige and Skoog’s medium fortified with 4.5 mg/l of Indole -3- Acetic acid incombination with 0.5 mg/l of Benzyl -6- amino purine. Regenerated plants weresuccessfully transferred to field (78%).
The global stability of a class of history-dependent macroeconomic models

We consider piecewise-linear, discrete-time, macroeconomic models that have a continuum of feasible equilibrium states. The non-trivial equilibrium set and resulting path-dependence are induced by stickiness in either expectations or the response of the Central Bank. For a low-dimensional variant of the model with one representative agent, and also for a multi-agent model, we show that when exogenous noise is absent from the system the continuum of equilibrium states is the global attractor and each solution trajectory converges exponentially to one of the equilibria. Further, when a uniformly bounded noise is present, or the equilibrium states are destabilized by an imperfect Central Bank policy (or both), we estimate the size of the domain that attracts all the trajectories. The proofs are based on introducing a family of Lyapunov functions and, for the multi-agent model, deriving a formula for the inverse of the Prandtl-Ishlinskii operator acting in the space of discrete-time inputs and outputs.
Sparse Low-redundancy Linear Array with Uniform Sum Co-array

Sparse arrays can resolve vastly more scatterers than the number of sensors in tasks such as coherent source localization. This entails significant cost reductions compared to conventional arrays with uniformly spaced elements. In this paper, we introduce a parametric sparse linear array configuration called the Kløve array (KA). The KA has a contiguous sum and difference co-array, making it suitable for both active and passive sensing. We show that KAs of any size can have both low redundancy, and few closely spaced elements. This may improve robustness in the face of mutual coupling.1
Forecasting of FOREX Price Trend using Recurrent Neural Network - Long short-term memory

: Algorithms of neural networks (NN) can search and represent both structured and not structured data, we employ then on financial time-series. This paper describes the use of Long short-term memory (LSTM) for FOREX pair EUR/USD price prediction. Aim of the paper is to test and proposes the best time block to predict based on a daily FOREX data. We employ the mean of absolute errors and the least mean squared errors to assess prediction results in order to find the time block. We tested time blocks from ten to fifty-eight days and 100 or 300 epochs. Training dataset contained daily exchange rate data from 1.4. 1971 until 9.5. 2019. The best performing network has been trained for 30-day period and 100 epochs. This paper also describes the effect of training for a high number of epochs.
Imputation methods for recovering streamflow observation: A methodological review

Abstract Missing value in hydrological studies is an unexceptional riddle that has long been discussed by researchers. There are various patterns and mechanisms of “missingness” that can occur and this may have an impact on how the researcher should treat the missingness before analyzing the data. Supposing the consequence of missing value is disregarded, the outcomes of the statistical analysis will be influenced and the range of variability in the data will not be appropriately projected. The aim of this paper is to brief the patterns and mechanism of missing data, reviews several infilling techniques that are convenient to time series analyses in streamflow and deliberates some advantages and drawback of these approaches practically. Simplest infilling approaches along with more developed techniques, such as model-based deterministic imputation method and machine learning method, were discussed. We conclude that attention should be given to the method chosen to handle the gaps in hydrological aspects since missing data always result in misinterpretation of the resulting statistics.