Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adolescent–avatar similarity and its predictors: global self-esteem, gender or personality?

: Avatars are virtual representations of virtual world users. Creating a virtual representation can be considered an important element of the self-esteem formation process in modern adolescents. As previous research suggests, the similarity level between an avatar and its creator is related to the latter’s self-esteem. However, previous studies were limited by small and unrepresentative samples, which creates difficulties in generalizing the results. Moreover the studies usually did not include adolescents. This study aims to investigate possible predictors of adolescent–avatar similarity (AAS), in particular global self-esteem, which develops in adolescence. In addition to self-esteem, the importance of personality and gender was also examined. 130 high school students played the Characterium computer game, which was designed for this project. The participants also completed measures of global self-esteem and personality and explained why they had created such avatars. In order to test the research hypotheses, hierarchical regression analyses were performed. No relationship was found between adolescents’ global self-esteem and AAS; however extraversion and gender were significant predictors of adolescent–avatar similarity. Due to the limited number of studies in adolescents, we discuss our results based on the results of adults. The lack of verification of the first hypothesis may be due to the fact that adolescents use avatars to experiment with their own identity, regardless of their self-esteem. This suggests that they use avatars for a different purpose than adults (who want to boost their self-esteem). We discuss gender and personality results in terms of gender and personalty differences in (adult) players. Additionally we propose a hypothesis of cognitive overload (for adolescent extroverts).
Measuring the Climate Risk Exposure of Insurers

Insurance companies can be exposed to climate-related physical risk through their operations and to transition risk through their $12 trillion of financial asset holdings. We assess the climate risk exposure of property and casualty (P&C) and life insurance companies in the U.S. We construct a novel physical risk factor by forming a portfolio of P&C insurers’ stocks, with each insurer’s weight reflecting their operational exposure to states associated with high physical climate risk. We then estimate the dynamic physical climate beta, representing the stock return sensitivity of each insurer to the physical risk factor. In addition, using the climate beta estimates introduced by Jung et al. (2021), we calculate the expected capital shortfall of insurers under various climate stress scenarios. We validate our approach by utilizing granular data on insurers’ asset holdings and state-level operational exposure. Our findings indicate a positive association between larger exposures to risky states and higher holdings of brown assets with higher sensitivity to physical and transition risk, respectively.
Attractors and their stability on Boussinesq type equations with gentle dissipation

The paper investigates longtime dynamics of Boussinesq type equations with gentle dissipation: \begin{document}$ u_{tt}+Δ^2 u+(-Δ)^{α} u_{t}-Δ f(u) = g(x)$\end{document} , with \begin{document}$α∈ (0, 1)$\end{document} . For general bounded domain \begin{document}$Ω\subset \mathbb{R}^N (N≥1)$\end{document} , we show that there exists a critical exponent \begin{document}$p_α\equiv\frac{N+2(2α-1)}{(N-2)^+}$\end{document} depending on the dissipative index α such that when the growth p of the nonlinearity f(u) is up to the range: \begin{document}$1≤p , (ⅰ) the weak solutions of the equations are of additionally global smoothness when \begin{document}$t>0$\end{document} ; (ⅱ) the related dynamical system possesses a global attractor \begin{document}$\mathcal{A}_α$\end{document} and an exponential attractor \begin{document}$\mathcal{A}^α_{exp}$\end{document} in natural energy space for each \begin{document}$α∈ (0, 1)$\end{document} , respectively; (ⅲ) the family of global attractors \begin{document}$\{\mathcal{A}_α\}$\end{document} is upper semicontinuous at each point \begin{document}$α_0∈ (0,1] $\end{document} , i.e., for any neighborhood U of \begin{document}$\mathcal{A}_{α_0}, \mathcal{A}_α\subset U$\end{document} when \begin{document}$|α-α_0|\ll 1$\end{document} . These results extend those for structural damping case: \begin{document} $α∈ [1, 2)$\end{document} in [ 31 , 32 ].
Serum Level of Cytokeratin 18 (M65) as a Prognostic Marker of High Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Individuals with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Alterations in apoptosis, as reflected by circulating Cytokeratin 18 (CK18), are involved in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and atherogenesis. We aimed to explore the discriminant accuracy of Cytokeratin 18 (CK18, including M65 and M30 forms) for an elevated fatty liver index (FLI) as a validated proxy of NAFLD, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in the general population. Both serum CK18 forms were measured using a commercial immunoassay in randomly selected samples from 312 participants of the PREVEND general population cohort. FLI ≥ 60 was used to indicate NAFLD. Framingham Risk Score (FRS) and the SCORE2 were used to estimate the 10-year risk of CVD. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, linear/logistic regression models, and Spearman’s correlations were used. Intricate associations were found between CK18, FLI, and CVD risk scores. While M30 was the only independent predictor of FLI ≥ 60, M65 best discriminated NAFLD individuals at very-high 10-year CVD risk according to SCORE2 (AUC: 0.71; p = 0.001). Values above the predefined manufacturer cutoff (400 U/L) were associated with an independent 5-fold increased risk (adjusted odds ratio: 5.44, p = 0.01), with a negative predictive value of 93%. Confirming that NAFLD is associated with an increased CVD risk, our results in a European general population-based cohort suggest that CK18 M65 may represent a candidate biomarker to identify NAFLD individuals at low CVD risk.
Stabilizer or multiplier: The manifestation of theoretical policy
 effect on the house prices

This paper employs Jorda’s (2005) local projection (LP) methodology to assess the impact of macroeconomic policies on apartment prices pre-and post-COVID-19. It contemplates the economic linkages to estimate the multiplier effects of the monetary and fiscal shocks as they are transmitted to the apartment prices through the so-called COVID proxies. This paper introduces a reduced number of economic proxies that substantially explain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aggregate production in South Korea: unemployment; oil prices; uncertainties. I use these COVID proxies that are exogenously given, as a set of channels through which the transmission paths of the macroeconomic policies linked towards the apartment prices are misaligned with the desired paths. The LP model provides a reasonably good explanation to the varying effects of financial shocks pre-and post-COVID-19 by predicting the state-dependent impulse responses. The impulse responses suggest that the monetary multipliers on apartment prices are larger and more significant during the COVID-19 crisis than during normal times, while it is vice versa in terms of fiscal multipliers.
The confound of hemodynamic response function variability in human resting-state functional MRI studies

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an indirect measure of neural activity with the hemodynamic response function (HRF) coupling it with unmeasured neural activity. The HRF, modulated by several non-neural factors, is variable across brain regions, individuals and populations. Yet, a majority of human resting-state fMRI connectivity studies continue to assume a non-variable HRF. In this article, with supportive prior evidence, we argue that HRF variability cannot be ignored as it substantially confounds within-subject connectivity estimates and between-subjects connectivity group differences. We also discuss its clinical relevance with connectivity impairments confounded by HRF aberrations in several disorders. We present limited data on HRF differences between women and men, which resulted in a 15.4% median error in functional connectivity estimates in a group-level comparison. We also discuss the implications of HRF variability for fMRI studies in the spinal cord. There is a need for more dialogue within the community on the HRF confound, and we hope that our article is a catalyst in the process.
Expression of TILs and Patterns of Gene Expression from Paired Samples of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) Patients

Simple Summary Recently immunotherapy has been approved in first line for patients with MPM. However, the benefit of immunotherapy in MPM is modest, and recognizing the immune landscape of this tumor could guide the optimal therapeutic strategy. In some tumors dynamic changes of TILs has been reported after chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and immunotherapy. We investigated the changes in expression of TILs in human MPM tumor tissue using immunohistochemistry and patterns of gene expression from paired samples. We included samples of patients treated with chemotherapy, immunotherapy and patients without any treatment between the samples. In our series, after systemic treatment or at progressive disease we observed a decrease of the number of TILs and a downregulation of the immune-related genes. In patients without any treatment between the samples we found an increase of immune cells. We suggest that the immune system tends to turn off during the evolution of disease of after treatment. Abstract MPM is an aggressive disease with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and interest in exploring immunotherapy in this disease has been increasing. In the first line of treatment, the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab demonstrated an improvement in survival over chemotherapy. The presence of TILs has been recognized as a marker of antitumor immune response to chemotherapy in solid tumors. The aim of our study is to identify the effect of treatment on immune cells and the immune gene profile in MPM. We investigated the changes in expression of TILs in 10 human MPM paired tumor tissues using immunohistochemistry and gene expression analysis from paired untreated and treated samples. In this small series, we demonstrated that during the evolution of disease without any treatment there was an increase in the inflammatory component in tumor samples. After systemic treatment there was a decrease in the number of TILs. We observed that after systemic treatment or disease progression immune gene signatures were suppressed. Our integrated analysis of paired samples with immune profile and genomic changes on MPM suggested that during the evolution of the disease the immune system tends to switch, turning off with treatment.
Active disturbance rejection control of an islanded PV/wind/battery microgrid with power quality enhancement by SAPF

The focus in this study is on an islanded microgrid based on hybrid renewable energy sources and storage systems. This latter is considered as an essential element for all off-grid autonomous systems to offer a reliable and stable operation. The proposed system is composed of a photovoltaic system, a wind power system based on a synchronous generator and a storage system. The proposed control strategy is intended to control, through the load side converter (LSC), the AC bus voltage in terms of amplitude and frequency under different operating conditions, and to obtain, through the bi-directional battery side converter (BSC), a better regulation between the available production and the global load demand. The proposed strategy also contributes to the power quality improvement in the AC bus by controlling the PV inverter to work as a shunt active power filter to provide the required harmonic current component to non-linear loads. A new robust control strategy for internal current and voltage control loops is proposed in this research paper, it’s the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) and it is based on the extended state observer which allows to estimate all disturbances affecting the control, such as modeling errors and parameter variations.
Multi-Objective Optimization of Moving-magnet Linear Oscillatory Motor Using Response Surface Methodology with Quantum-Behaved PSO Operator

To reduce the difficulty of manufacturing and increase the magnetic thrust density, a moving-magnet linear oscillatory motor (MMLOM) without inner-stators was Proposed. To get the optimal design of maximum electromagnetic thrust with minimal permanent magnetic material, firstly, the 3D finite element analysis (FEA) model of the MMLOM was built and verified by comparison with prototype experiment result. Then the influence of design parameters of permanent magnet (PM) on the electromagnetic thrust was systematically analyzed by the 3D FEA to get the design parameters. Secondly, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to build the response surface model of the new MMLOM, which can obtain an analytical model of the PM volume and thrust. Then a multi-objective optimization methods for design parameters of PM, using response surface methodology (RSM) with a quantum-behaved PSO (QPSO) operator, was proposed. Then the way to choose the best design parameters of PM among the multi-objective optimization solution sets was proposed. Then the 3D FEA of the optimal design candidates was compared. The comparison results showed that the proposed method can obtain the best combination of the geometric parameters of reducing the PM volume and increasing the thrust.
Evolutionary Study of Protein Short Tandem Repeats in Protein Families

Tandem repeats in proteins are patterns of residues repeated directly adjacent to each other. The evolution of these repeats can be assessed by using groups of homologous sequences, which can help pointing to events of unit duplication or deletion. High pressure in a protein family for variation of a given type of repeat might point to their function. Here, we propose the analysis of protein families to calculate protein short tandem repeats (pSTRs) in each protein sequence and assess their variability within the family in terms of number of units. To facilitate this analysis, we developed the pSTR tool, a method to analyze the evolution of protein short tandem repeats in a given protein family by pairwise comparisons between evolutionarily related protein sequences. We evaluated pSTR unit number variation in protein families of 12 complete metazoan proteomes. We hypothesize that families with more dynamic ensembles of repeats could reflect particular roles of these repeats in processes that require more adaptability.
The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Acute Kidney Injury during Colistin Therapy: A Retrospective Cohort Study from Lebanon

Introduction: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and stages of severity of acute kidney injury (AKI) caused by colistimethate sodium (CMS) treatment in patients diagnosed with systemic antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. The predictors of all-cause mortality in this patient population were also examined. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients who were admitted to a university-affiliated hospital and acute tertiary care referral center in Beirut, Lebanon between January 2015 and December 2018 and underwent CMS treatment for a period of 48 h or more. Results: The study sample included 298 adult patients, of which 46.3% (n = 138/298) developed AKI (assessed using the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria). Of these, 37.7% (n = 51/138) were diagnosed with stage 1 AKI, 23.9% with stage 2 (n = 33/138), and 38.4% with stage 3 (n = 53/138). Nephrotoxicity was reversed in 87.5% of AKI patients who survived until hospital discharge. Independent risk factors for AKI included patient age ≥ 75 years (aOR = 1.854; 95% CI: 1.060–3.241; p-value = 0.03); underlying chronic kidney disease (aOR = 4.849; 95% CI: 2.618–9.264; p-value < 0.0001); and concomitant use of vasopressors (aOR = 4.305; 95% CI: 2.517–7.456; p-value < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that the predictors of severe AKI (stage 2 or 3) included baseline hypoalbuminemia (aOR = 2.542; 95% CI: 1.000–6.564; p-value = 0.05); concomitant use of vasopressors (aOR = 6.396; 95% CI: 2.741–15.87; p-value < 0.0001); and CMS days of therapy (DOT) prior to development of AKI ≥ 7 days (aOR = 4.728; 95% CI: 2.069–11.60; p-value < 0.0001). All-cause mortality was recorded in 51.3% of patients (n = 153/298), and this was significantly higher in patients with AKI (76.8%; n = 106/138) compared to those without (29.4%; n = 47/160; OR = 7.964; 95% CI: 4.727–13.417; p-value < 0.0001). Independent predictors of all-cause mortality included a baseline Charlson comorbidity index score ≥5 (aOR = 4.514; 95% CI: 2.443–8.530; p-value < 0.0001); concomitant use of vasopressors (aOR = 7.76; 95% CI: 4.238–14.56; p-value < 0.0001); and CMS-induced AKI (aOR = 4.117; 95% CI: 2.231–7.695; p-value < 0.0001). Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that old age, history of chronic kidney disease, and concomitant vasopressor treatment are all independent predictors of CMS-induced AKI. The risk of developing severe AKI significantly increases with CMS DOT. Understanding the risk factors of nephrotoxicity is essential for improving prognosis and treatment outcomes.
As Verified with the Aid of Biotinylated Spermine, the Brain Cannot Take up Polyamines from the Bloodstream Leaving It Solely Dependent on Local Biosynthesis

The importance of polyamines (PAs) for the central nervous system (CNS) is well known. Less clear, however, is where PAs in the brain are derived from. Principally, there are three possibilities: (i) intake by nutrition, release into the bloodstream, and subsequent uptake from CNS capillaries, (ii) production by parenchymatous organs, such as the liver, and again uptake from CNS capillaries, and (iii) uptake of precursors, such as arginine, from the blood and subsequent local biosynthesis of PAs within the CNS. The present investigation aimed to unequivocally answer the question of whether PAs, especially the higher ones like spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM), can or cannot be taken up into the brain from the bloodstream. For this purpose, a biotin-labelled analogue of spermine (B-X-SPM) was synthesized, characterized, and used to visualize its uptake into brain cells following application to acute brain slices, to the intraventricular space, or to the bloodstream. In acute brain slices there is strong uptake of B-X-SPM into protoplasmic and none in fibrous-type astrocytes. It is also taken up by neurons but to a lesser degree. Under in vivo conditions, astrocyte uptake of B-X-SPM from the brain interstitial fluid is also intense after intraventricular application. In contrast, following intracardial injection, there is no uptake from the bloodstream, indicating that the brain is completely dependent on the local synthesis of polyamines.
Systematic Mapping Study of Bank Resilience

Banking institutions make an important contribution to improving economic conditions so that they remain conducive. This causes banks to play a role in the world of development and trade related to the provision of business capital or in fulfilling community needs. This study aims to describe the characteristics of bank resilience research data in various aspects/categories and determine the factors that influence the increase in bank resilience. The method used in this study is a systematic mapping study (SMS) to examine scientific publications produced from time to time, focus, locus, the most widely investigated types of research, as well as the most widely used research methods. The SMS procedure follows established empirical guidelines and the mapping data relies on Springer, SAGE, Emerald, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus electronic databases. Based on the results of SMS on research in the field of organizational change, it is known that 84 studies meet the inclusion criteria. We classify 84 articles in the topic area by category of type of paper, method, focus, locus, and year of research publication as well as factors that can affect bank resilience.
DNS-BC: Fast, Reliable and Secure Domain Name System Caching System Based on a Consortium Blockchain

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a fundamental component of the internet, responsible for resolving domain names into IP addresses. DNS servers are typically categorized into four types: recursive resolvers, root name servers, Top-Level Domain (TLD) name servers, and authoritative name servers. The latter three types of servers store actual records, while recursive resolvers do not store any real data and are only responsible for querying the other three types of servers and responding to clients. Recursive resolvers typically maintain a caching system to speed up response times, but these caching systems have the drawbacks of a low real-time performance, a poor accuracy, and many security and privacy issues. In this paper, we propose a caching system based on a consortium blockchain, namely DNS-BC, which uses the synchronization mechanism of the consortium blockchain to achieve a high real-time performance, uses the immutable mechanism of the consortium blockchain and our designed credibility management system to achieve up to a 100% accuracy, and has been combined with encrypted transmission protocols to solve common security and privacy issues. At the same time, this caching system can greatly reduce the traffic that name servers need to handle, thereby protecting them from Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. To further accelerate the data transmission speed, we have designed a new encrypted DNS protocol called DNS over KCP (DoK). The DoK protocol is based on the KCP protocol, which is a fast and reliable transmission protocol, and its latency can reach one-third of that of TCP when the network environment deteriorates. In our experiments, the transmission time of this protocol is about a quarter of that of the widely used encrypted protocols DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH).
Coopetition outside the market economy: Oxfordshire’s community food initiatives as a case study

Organisations often engage simultaneously in cooperation and competition. This has been termed coopetition. Previous research has treated coopetition as a feature of the market economy, situating the research primarily in the corporate and management literature. This paper provides an alternative snapshot of coopetition in a non-market economy – within Community Food Initiatives (CFIs) – and explores its impact on the community’s resilience. Although externally, CFIs may appear entirely cooperative, data collected between 2019 and 2021 in Oxfordshire shows simultaneous cooperation and competition across a network of CFI actors. Applying the concept of coopetition to non-market economies extends our current knowledge and illuminates how the interplay between competition and cooperation informs decisions and relationships. This paper explores the role of coopetition between CFIs in relation to the community’s resilience, or the ability of communities to adapt and maintain functionality during environmental, economic, social, or political challenges. It re-visualises Bengtsson and Kock's (2000) framework on coopetative typologies, creating a framework for dynamic coopetative relationships between CFI actors. It then outlines six 'insights' – the results of the work – and adds detail to the typology framework. It finds that, while competitive firms may consider equal relationships to be resilient, CFIs' ‘comfort zone’ is between cooperative-dominant and equal relationships, and that extremes in either direction can negatively impact CFI resilience if they are prolonged. It also highlights potential strategies for practitioners and supporters to improve CFI resilience, and suggests extending research to other non-market economy sectors to continue fleshing out coopetition research.