Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of sepsis and 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine replacement on myocardial integrity during oxidant challenge.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether sepsis, with or without thyroid hormonal augmentation, induces myocardial tolerance to an oxidant challenge. DESIGN A prospective, randomized, controlled animal trial. SETTING University research laboratory. SUBJECTS Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats. INTERVENTIONS After anesthesia, animals underwent cecal ligation and puncture, with or without 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine replacement (3 ng/hr), or sham surgery. Twenty-four hours later, the heart was rapidly excised for retrograde Langendorff perfusion. Oxyradical challenge consisted of the addition of 200 microM of hydrogen peroxide to the perfusate for 60 mins. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Myocardial contractility and relaxation were continuously recorded. Perfusate glutathione and lactate dehydrogenase concentrations were determined enzymatically at 30-min intervals for 90 mins. Oxyradical perfusion alone significantly increased glutathione efflux and decreased myocardial contractility when compared with control animals. Prior cecal ligation and puncture decreased oxidant-mediated glutathione efflux and maintained myocardial contractility. 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine supplementation appeared to increase late cardiac contractility and cellular integrity during oxidant challenge. However, this increase was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Antecedent septic challenge appears to induce tolerance to further myocardial oxyradical exposure and improves myocardial functional and biochemical integrity. Thyroid hormonal supplementation may provide a modest additional benefit in septic animals.
The Effects of Bank Specific and Macroeconomic Factors on Nonperforming Loans in Commercial Banks in Kenya: A Comparative Panel Data Analysis

The main goal of every banking institution is to operate profitably in order to maintain stability and sustainable growth. However, the existence of high levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking industry negatively affects the level of private investment, impair a bankâ€™s ability to settle its liabilities when they fall due and constrain the scope of bank credit to borrowers. External and internal economic environments are viewed as critical drivers for nonperforming loans. In this regard, the main goal of this study was to investigate the link between NPLs and bank-specific and macroeconomic factors, and establish the extent to which these factors affect the occurrence of nonperforming loans in commercial banks in Kenya. The dependent variable under investigation was nonperforming loans while independent variables included macroeconomic and bank specific factors. The macroeconomic factors included; real GDP, GDP per capita, lending interest rates, inflation, government expenditure, export and imports, exchange rate between the Kenya shilling and US dollar and asset value as measured by the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) 20 share Index. Bank specific factors included; credit risk management techniques, bank structures, and quality management factors. The period covered under this study was 1995 to 2009. Secondary and primary data was used. A census of 44 commercial banks in kenya was taken. A causal- compararive research design based on bank structures was adopted. The study used panel econometrics approach employing both pooled (unbalanced) panel and fixed effect panel models. The study found evidence that per capita income was negative and significantly related to NPL levels across bank size categories ( large, t-value -6.13, medium, t-value -4.81, small, t-value -4.16). Similarly per capita income was negative and significantly related to NPL levels across bank ownership categories ( Foreign; t-value -4.45, local; t-value -6.53, government; t-value -6.41). Further, return on assets (ROA) was negative and significantly related to NPLs levels in large banks (t- value -8.10) and small banks (t- value -4.73) but insignificant in medium banks. In addition the study found that return on asset (ROA) was negative and significant in local banks (t-value-8.41) and government banks (t-value -3.99) but not in foreign banks. However the study found no evidence that banks asset size was related to NPLs levels across all bank categories in Kenya. In conclusion, the study found evidence that bank specific factors contribute to NPLs performance at higher magnitude (I²= 8.361) compared with macroeconomic factors (I²= 0.561). These results support Fofack, 2005; Flamini, 2009; Khemraj, 2009; Dinos & Ashta, 2010 findings. The study recommends that commercial banks portfolio management strategies focus more on the bank specific factors which the management has more control over and seek practical and achievable solutions to redress NPLs problems.
Optimal Surrender of Guaranteed Minimum Maturity Benefits Under Stochastic Volatility and Interest Rates

In this paper we analyse how the policyholders’surrender behaviour is influenced by changes in various sources of risk impacting a variable annuity (VA) contract embedded with a guaranteed minimum maturity benefit rider that can be surrendered anytime prior to maturity. We model the underlying mutual fund dynamics by combining a Heston (1993) stochastic volatility model together with a Hull and White (1990) stochastic interest rate process. The model is able to capture the smile/skew often observed on equity option markets (Grzelak and Oosterlee 2011) as well as the influence of the interest rates on the early surrender decisions as noted from our analysis. The annuity provider charges management fees which are proportional to the level of the mutual fund as a way of funding the VA contract. To determine the optimal surrender decisions, we present the problem as a 4-dimensional free-boundary partial differential equation (PDE) which is then solved efficiently by the method of lines (MOL) approach. The MOL algorithm facilitates simultaneous computation of the prices, fair management fees, optimal surrender boundaries and hedge ratios of the variable annuity contract as part of the solution at no additional computational cost. A comprehensive analysis on the impact of various risk factors in influencing the policyholder’s surrender behaviour is carried out, highlighting the significance of both stochastic volatility and interest rate parameters in influencing the policyholder’s surrender behaviour. With the aid of the hedge ratios obtained from the MOL, we construct an effective dynamic hedging strategy to mitigate the provider’s risk and compare different hedging performances when the policyholders’ surrender behaviour is either optimal or sub-optimal.
Multistatic Radar Imaging of Moving Targets

We develop a linearized imaging theory that combines the spatial, temporal, and spectral aspects of scattered waves. We consider the case of fixed sensors and a general distribution of objects, each undergoing linear motion; thus the theory deals with imaging distributions in phase space. We derive a model for the data that is appropriate for narrowband waveforms in the case when the targets are moving slowly relative to the speed of light. From this model, we develop a phase-space imaging formula that can be interpreted in terms of filtered backprojection or matched filtering. For this imaging approach, we derive the corresponding phase-space point-spread function (PSF). We show plots of the phase-space point-spread function for various geometries. We also show that in special cases, the theory reduces to: 1) range-Doppler imaging, 2) inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), 3) synthetic aperture radar (SAR), 4) Doppler SAR, and 5) tomography of moving targets.
Real Money : Ad Tech Platforms , Profit-Driven Hoaxes , and the Business of Journalism

Following the viral spread of hoax political news in the lead-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, it's been reported that at least some of the individuals publishing these stories made substantial sums of money—tens of thousands of U.S. dollars—from their efforts. Whether or not such hoax stories are ultimately revealed to have had a persuasive impact on the electorate, they raise important normative questions about the underlying media infrastructures and industries—ad tech firms, programmatic advertising exchanges, etc.—that apparently created a lucrative incentive structure for "fake news" publishers. Legitimate ad-supported news organizations rely on the same infrastructure and industries for their livelihood. Thus, as traditional advertising subsidies for news have begun to collapse in the era of online advertising, it's important to understand how attempts to deal with for-profit hoaxes might simultaneously impact legitimate news organizations. Through 20 interviews with stakeholders in online advertising, this study looks at how the programmatic advertising industry understands “fake news,” how it conceptualizes and grapples with the use of its tools by hoax publishers to generate revenue, and how its approach to the issue may ultimately contribute to reshaping the financial underpinnings of the digital journalism industry that depends on the same economic infrastructure.
A Predictive Current Control Based Shunt Active Power Filter

The nonlinear loads are connected at the point of common coupling generates the harmonics, which may deteriorate the power quality. The active power filter has been proved to be an effective method to mitigate harmonic currents generated by the nonlinear loads as well as to compensate reactive power. The methods of harmonic current compensation play a crucial part in the performance of active power filter. Traditionally, active power filters have been controlled using pre-tuned controllers, such as PItype or adaptive, for the control of current as well as the dc-voltage loops. PI controllers must be designed based on the equivalent linear model. Predictive controllers use the nonlinear model, which is closer to real operating conditions in order to improve the performance and life of the power switches of voltage source inverter (VSI), reduces its switching frequency. An active power filter implemented with a 4-leg voltage source inverter using a predictive control scheme is presented in this paper. Predictive current control algorithm is based on the system model. The compensation performance of the proposed active power filter and the associated control scheme under steady state and transient operating conditions is demonstrated through simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK.
AMLA : an AutoML frAmework for Neural Network Design

AMLA is an Automatic Machine Learning frAmework for implementing and deploying neural architecture search algorithms. Neural architecture search algorithms are AutoML algorithms whose goal is to generate optimal neural network structures for a given task. AMLA is designed to deploy these algorithms at scale and allow comparison of the performance of the networks generated by different AutoML algorithms. Its key architectural features are the decoupling of the network generation from the network evaluation, support for network instrumentation, open model specification and a microservices based architecture for deployment at scale. In AMLA, AutoML algorithms and training/evaluation code are written as containerized microservices that can be deployed at scale on a public or private infrastructure. The microservices communicate via well defined interfaces and models are persisted using standard model definition formats, allowing the plug and play of the AutoML algorithms as well as the AI/ML libraries. This makes it easy to prototype, compare, benchmark and deploy autoML algorithms in production. AMLA is currently being used to deploy an AutoML algorithm that generates Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) used for image classification.
The effects of globalization on job choice and unemployment under labor search friction

Trade liberalization increases the import of foreign goods and makes local markets more competitive. To survive the severe competition, local firms must improve the quality of production factor, and employ more highly skilled workers than unskilled workers. An increase in the demand for skilled workers encourages workers to pursue higher education. However, the recent employment of highly educated workers is stagnant globally. Although trade liberalization enhances the demand for skilled workers, it may not contribute to increasing their employment. I analyze how trade liberalization affects the local employment of skilled workers, occupational choice, and wage inequality. Firms can always produce low-quality goods by using only unskilled labor. If a firm succeeds in employing an appropriately skilled worker, it can improve the quality of the goods it produces. However, due to are search friction, matches are not always successful. If firms and workers fail to match appropriately, the unmatched skilled workers remain unemployed and the unmatched firms continue to produce low-quality goods. With this knowledge, workers choose their occupations: and either remain to be unskilled or lean skills. Trade liberalization raises the skilled wage rate and the successful probability of matching, which encourages unskilled workers to learn skill but increase the number of the skilled workers after trade liberalization. Therefore, the unemployment rate of skilled workers may increase after globalization.
Habituated visual neurons in locusts remain sensitive to novel looming objects

SUMMARY Many animals must contend with visual cues that provide information about the spatiotemporal dynamics of multiple objects in their environment. Much research has been devoted to understanding how an identified pair of interneurons in the locust, the Descending Contralateral Movement Detectors (DCMDs), respond to objects on an impending collision course. However, little is known about how these neurons respond when challenged with multiple, looming objects of different complex shapes. I presented locusts with objects resembling either another locust or a bird approaching on a direct collision course at 3 m s-1 while recording from the DCMD axon within the mesothoracic ganglion. Stimulus presentations were designed to test: (i) whether DCMD habituation was related to the frequency of approach, (ii) if habituated DCMDs were able to respond to a novel stimulus and (iii) if non-looming motion within complex objects (internal object motion) during approach affects habituation. DCMD responses to simulated locusts or birds habituated more when the time interval between consecutive approaches within similar sequences decreased from 34 s to 4 s. Strongly habituated DCMDs were, however, able to respond to the same object approaching along a new trajectory or to a larger object approaching along the same trajectory. Habituation was not affected by internal object motion. These data are consistent with earlier findings that DCMD habituation occurs at localized synapses, which permits maintained sensitivity to multiple objects in the animal's environment.
Syddansk Universitet A roadmap for comparing readmission policies with application to Denmark , England , Germany and the United States Kristensen

Hospital readmissions receive increasing interest from policy makers because reducing unnecessary readmissions has the potential to simultaneously improve quality and save costs. This paper reviews readmission policies in Denmark, England, Germany and the United States (Medicare system). The suggested roadmap enables researchers and policy makers to systematically compare and analyse readmission policies. We find considerable differences across countries. In Germany, the readmission policy aims to avoid unintended consequences of the introduction of DRG-based payment; it focuses on readmissions of individual patients and hospitals receive only one DRG-based payment for both the initial and the re-admission. In Denmark, England and the US readmission policies aim at quality improvement and focus on readmission rates. In Denmark, readmission rates are publicly reported but payments are not adjusted in relation to readmissions. In England and the US, financial incentives penalise hospitals with readmission rates above a certain benchmark. In England, this benchmark is defined through local clinical review, while it is based on the risk-adjusted national average in the US. At present, not enough evidence exists to give recommendations on the optimal design of readmission policies. The roadmap can be a tool for systematically assessing how elements of other countries’ readmission policies can potentially be adopted to improve national policies. rs. Publ Y-NC-N © 2014 The Autho the CC B
Comparative study between Chinese and western music aesthetics and culture

The feature comparison between Chinese and western music aesthetics is a big topic. Comparative study is the basic principle of our methodology, that is, study and research of music aesthetics in China are premises of western music aesthetics and vice versa, and take the study of aesthetics of music history as a priority in order to obtain a methodology reference. This article attempts to study the main characteristic of Chinese and western music aesthetics from the cultural perspective, and understand the similarities and differences between Chinese and western music culture through the comparison. Papers in the premise of summarizing and comparing Chinese and western music aesthetics characteristics, cut to the Chinese and western music aesthetics in the "harmony", "artistic conception", "reasonable" and so on in the aesthetic category. Keywordsmusic esthetics thought; Music culture;
The health benefits of walking in greenspaces of high natural and heritage value

Lifestyles are increasingly characterised by sedentary behaviour, obesity problems, stress, mental ill-health and disconnection from nature. However, contact with nature has been shown to improve psychological health by reducing stress, enhancing mood and replenishing mental fatigue. In addition to providing a range of environmental services, greenspaces provide opportunities and incentives for ‘green exercise’ such as walking, cycling or horse riding. Visitor numbers indicate that many people already benefit from spending time in greenspaces, but little is known about the immediate impact of an acute exposure on their health and wellbeing. This study focuses on evaluating changes in self-esteem and mood after walking in four different National Trust sites of natural and heritage value in the East of England. The standardised measures of both self-esteem and mood were administered immediately pre- and post-activity. Self-esteem scores for visitors leaving the sites were significantly higher than those just arriving and overall mood also significantly improved. Feelings of anger, depression, tension and confusion all significantly reduced and vigour increased. Thus, the environment plays an important role in facilitating physical activities and helping to address sedentary behaviours. Walking, in particular, can serve many purposes including exercise, recreation, travel, companionship, relaxation and restoration. However, walking in greenspaces may offer a more sustainable option, as the primary reward is enhanced emotional wellbeing through both exposure to nature and participation in exercise.
Classifying Language Features and Libraries

Programming languages get increasingly more complex as they evolve. In fact, new language features are sometime only understood and used by a privileged set of developers. As a result, different groups of developers only use different aspects of the language. In this paper, we argue that developers would benefit from language and library designers classifying language and library features explicitly. We propose that programming language features and libraries should be classified based on different dimensions such as typical applications and conceptual complexity. The classification enables a wide range of uses. We focus on collaborative team development and propose that language features usage should be controlled based on team roles. We briefly sketch other beneficial applications of our ideas including for software comprehension and teaching.
Towards a Big Data Platform for News Angles

Finding good angles on news events is a central journalistic and editorial skill. As news work becomes increasingly computer-assisted and big-data based, journalistic tools therefore need to become better able to support news angles too. This paper outlines a big-data platform that is able to suggest appropriate angles on news events to journalists. We ﬁrst clarify and discuss the central characteristics of news angles. We then proceed to outline a big-data architecture that can propose news angles. Important areas for further work include: representing news angles formally; identifying interesting and unexpected angles on unfolding events; and designing a big-data architecture that works on a global scale.
Refocus on Potential Health Benefits of Tea

Tea is a potent and divine herb, having well known medicinal value. Tea is widely consumed beverage in the world. Since its discovery about 5000 years ago, tea has been a subject of intensive research. As tea contains important antioxidant nutrients (such as flavonoids and polyphenols) vitamins and minerals, it offers health advantage, participates in various physiological activities and protects the cell against the toxic effects of free radicals which reflects its role in suppression of oxidative stress mediated disorders such as aging, cardiovascular disease and cancer etc. Various researches are going on to explore the hidden facts about its role in health and diseases. However, the exact mechanism behind its involvement in such events is not yet fully elucidated and needs further investigation. Tea rarely produces any toxic side effects even at high intake. It’s protective properties and safety profile makes it an attractive therapeutic tool. Therefore, the present article is focused on the current aspects related to health benefits of tea intake with special reference to free radicals mediated diseases.
Associations between Nut Consumption and Health Vary between Omnivores, Vegetarians, and Vegans

Regular nut consumption is associated with reduced risk factors for chronic disease; however, most population-based studies lack consideration of effect modification by dietary pattern. The UK Women’s Cohort Study (UKWCS) provides an ideal opportunity to examine relationships between nut consumption and chronic disease risk factors in a large sample with diverse dietary patterns. Nut and nutrient intake from 34,831 women was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire among self-identified omnivores, vegetarians and vegans. In this cross-sectional analysis, higher nut consumption was associated with lower body weight (difference between highest and lowest consumption categories from adjusted model: 6.1 kg; 95% CI: 4.7, 7.6) body mass index (BMI, 2.4 units difference; 95% CI: 1.9, 2.9), and waist circumference (2.6 cm difference; 95% CI: 1.4, 3.8) (all p for linear trend < 0.001). Higher nut consumption was also associated with reduced prevalence of high cholesterol and high blood pressure; having a history of heart attack, diabetes and gallstones; and markers of diet quality (all adjusted p for linear trend ≤ 0.011). Higher nut consumption appeared overall to be associated with greater benefits amongst omnivores compared to vegetarians and vegans. Findings support existing literature around beneficial effects of nut consumption and suggest that benefits may be larger among omnivores. Nut promotion strategies may have the highest population impact by specifically targeting this group.