Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of Preoperative Carbohydrate and Non-carbohydrate Loading on Gastric Emptying in Diabetic and Non-diabetic Patients Posted for Elective Surgery

Background Preoperative fasting for six hours and accepting clear fluids till two hours of surgery is followed as a regular practice. Carbohydrate-rich fluids antagonize catabolism and are claimed to be tolerated better. This study aims to compare the effect of carbohydrate-rich drinks on gastric volume and blood sugar control in diabetic and non-diabetic patients undergoing elective surgery with plain water. Methods Two hundred forty patients aged 40 to 65 undergoing elective surgery under regional anesthesia were randomized into diabetic control, diabetic study, non-diabetic control, and non-diabetic study. Control groups were given 400 ml of plain water, while the study group received 50 grams of dextrose dissolved in 400 ml of water two hours prior to surgery. Gastric volume was evaluated using USG, and thirst and discomfort were assessed using the Likert scale. Perioperatively, blood sugar values were monitored and kept under control using insulin. Results Mean gastric volume (ml) in diabetic control (35.3±12.95 ml), diabetic study (31.2±11.75 ml), non-diabetic control (29±11.42 ml), and non-diabetic study (30.4±9.12 ml) showed no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). Capillary blood glucose (CBG) values two hours post fluid intake showed a significant increase in CBG levels in the diabetic study (183.2±28.67 mg/dl) compared to the diabetic control group (138.66±15.81 mg/dl). The values returned to baseline within six hours. Thirst and discomfort were significantly lower in the study group of diabetic and non-diabetic populations. Conclusion We conclude that carbohydrate loading does not affect gastric volume in diabetics and non-diabetics. However, the sugar values do increase which may warrant hourly checking and administration of insulin in diabetics.
Subsistence Entrepreneurs and Misallocation

Empirical evidence suggests that many individuals in developing countries operate businesses not due to some superior skill or idea, but because they lack the opportunity to become salaried employees. In a model with incomplete markets, occupational choice, and frictional job search, I argue that this is due to the interaction of low unemployment benefits and financial market underdevelopment. The resulting misallocation along the extensive margin between salaried positions and business ownership generates a larger left tail of firm size and a significantly smaller quantitative impact of targeted lending to poor entrepreneurs. Model predictions are then tested with individual-level surveys of both Chilean and Mexican microenterprise owners. Evidence shows that misallocated owners have lower profit conditional on observable inputs and are more likely to have left their last salaried position involuntarily. Both are consistent with the model.
The Advances, Challenges and Future Possibilities of Millimeter-Wave Chip-to-Chip Interconnections for Multi-Chip Systems

With aggressive scaling of device geometries, density of manufacturing faults is expected to increase. Therefore, yield of complex Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chips (MP-SoCs) will decrease due to higher probability of manufacturing defects especially, in dies with large area. Therefore, disintegration of large SoCs into smaller chips called chiplets will improve yield and cost of complex platform-based systems. This will also provide functional flexibility, modular scalability as well as the capability to integrate heterogeneous architectures and technologies in a single unit. However, with scaling of the number of chiplets in such a system, the shared resources in the system such as the interconnection fabric and memory modules will become performance bottlenecks. Additionally, the integration of heterogeneous chiplets operating at different frequencies and voltages can be challenging. State-of-the-art inter-chip communication requires power-hungry high-speed I/O circuits and data transfer over long wired traces on substrates. This increases energy consumption and latency while decreasing data bandwidth for chip-to-chip communication. In this paper, we explore the advances and the challenges of interconnecting a multi-chip system with millimeter-wave (mm-wave) wireless interconnects from a variety of perspectives spanning multiple aspects of the wireless interconnection design. Our discussion on the recent advances include aspects such as interconnection topology, physical layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) and routing protocols. We also present some potential paradigm-shifting applications as well as complementary technologies of wireless inter-chip communications.
Astro2020 Science White Paper: Black Hole Growth in Mergers and Dual AGN.

Hierarchical models of galaxy formation predict that galaxy mergers represent a significant transitional stage of rapid supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth. Yet, the connection between the merging process and enhanced active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity as well as the timescale of SMBH mergers remains highly uncertain. The breakthrough in reconciling the importance of galaxy mergers with black hole growth lies in a thoroughly-studied census of dual AGN across cosmic history, which will be enabled by next-generation observational capabilities, theoretical advances, and simulations. This white paper outlines the key questions in galaxy mergers, dual and offset AGN, and proposes multiwavelength solutions using future high-resolution observatories in the X-rays (AXIS, Lynx), near and mid-infrared (30 meter class telescopes, JWST), and submillimeter (ALMA).
Environmental Economics

This article, prepared for the forthcoming 2nd edition of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, provides an overview of the economics of environmental policy. Included are the setting of goals and targets, notably the Kaldor-Hicks criterion, and the related method of assessment known as benefit-cost analysis. Also reviewed are the means of environmental policy, that is, the choice of specific policy instruments, featuring an examination of potential criteria for assessing alternative instruments, with focus on cost-effectiveness. The theoretical foundations and experiential highlights of individual instruments are reviewed, including conventional command-and-control mechanisms and market-based instruments.
System Report : Intercropping of Olive Orchards in Italy

Project name AGFORWARD (613520) Work-package 3: Agroforestry for High Value Trees Specific group Intercropping of Olive Orchards in Italy Deliverable Contribution to Deliverable 3.7 (3.1): Detailed system description of a case study system Date of report 30 November 2015 Authors Adolfo Rosati, Dario Mantovani, CRA, Spoleto, Italy Contact adolfo.rosati@entecra.it Approved Anastasia Pantera (18 April 2016) Paul Burgess (20 April 2016)
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS MOVING AT SMALL PITCH-ANGLES IN INHOMOGENEOUS MAGNETIC FIELD

Synchrotron radiation of relativistic electrons moving in an inhomogeneous magnetic field at small pitch-angles is considered. The trajectory of an ultrarelativistic electron is obtained taking into account a curvature and radial inhomogeneity of magnetic field lines. The general formulae describing the radiation of an electron moving at pitchangles from 0 to π/2 are derived. The range of instantaneous characteristic frequencies appears instead a single characteristic frequency. The applicability of the formulae for runaway electrons in the tokamak is evaluated. The condition for using of the obtained formulae is derived.
Living withRobots: Investigating theHabituation Effect in Participants' Preferences DuringaLongitudinal Human-Robot Interaction Study

This paper presents anddiscusses a longitudinal studywhichinvestigated habituation effects betweenhumans androbots over a period offiveweeks.Participants' prefer- encesfortherobot's approach distance withrespect toits ap- proach direction andappearance were investigated ina variety ofdomestic scenarios. Thesehuman-robot interaction (HRI) scenarios were alsodesigned toexplore thenotions ofauton- omy andcontrol. Theresults ofthis studyshowthatparticipants' preferences change over timeas theparticipants habituate totherobot. Thistrend was significant intermsoftherobot's appearance andapproach direction. Also, itseems toindicate thatpartici- pantswho are accustomed totherobotprefer tobemore 'in control' ofthesituation - inthattheyappreciated reduced ro- botautonomyincaseofunexpected events.
Unified Principles of Nature: Solution to the “Problem of Time”

Although the concept of time was discussed intensively by authors over centuries, the “problem of time” is prominent today again in quantum gravity. As quantum physicists believe a more detailed understanding of the entanglement of time could lead to a unification of quantum-mechanics with general relativity, the author explores the “problem of time” in a deductive approach. Upon the solution of the problem of time, unified principles of nature are then postulated to integrate Newtonian laws, general relativity and quantum mechanics into one framework, offering a perspective to a new world model and a framework for the TOE.
All-Frequency Environment Light Rendering using Rotatable Square Light and Multiple Product Approximation

This paper presents a novel approximation technique that handles object rotation and translation in all-frequency rendering of dynamic scenes. The method can also handle arbitrary isotropic/anisotropic BRDFs, allowing on-the-fly BRDF swapping or editing. The main challenge is in the efficient approximation of the costly rendering integral between light, BRDF and visibility. We decompose the environment map, which is the integral domain, into several subregions (20-40 is sufficient for producing compelling results) so that the rendering integral over the environment map equals the sum of integrals over individual subregions. We introduce a multi-product approximation that approximates the rendering integral in each subregion by the product of separate integrals of light, BRDF and visibility. To fast compute the BRDF integral and visibility integral, we propose a new representation, rotatable square light (RSL), to represent each subregion. Based on the RSL representation, the BRDF and visibility integrals can be approximated quickly using Summed-Area Table (SAT) and Visibility Distance Table (VDT), respectively. Our algorithm can be implemented on current GPU and interactive frame rates can be achieved.
Düzce Üniversitesi Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi

Günümüz dünyasında veri madenciliği, yaĢanan olayların anlaĢılabilmesi, yorumlanabilmesi ve geleceğe dair tahminlerin yapılabilmesi için büyük önem arz etmektedir. Bu nedenle, istatistik teknikleri her geçen gün değiĢmekte ve yenilenmektedir. Özellikle, günümüzde büyük verilerin anlaĢılabilmesi amacıyla makine öğrenme teknikleri sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalıĢmada, literatürde yoğun olarak kullanılan k-ortalama kümeleme algoritması çeĢitlerinden klasik, bulanık ve torbalı k-ortalamalar yöntemlerinin kümeleme performanslarının karĢılaĢtırılması amaçlanmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda veri setine ulaĢılabilen 132 ülke beĢeri sermaye özellikleri doğrultusunda kümelenmiĢtir. ÇalıĢmanın sonucunda, torbalı küme algoritmasının zaman açısından diğerlerinden daha yavaĢ olduğu ancak daha baĢarılı kümeleme yaptığı bulgusuna ulaĢılmıĢtır. Benzer Ģekilde, bulanık k-ortalama algoritmasının klasik k-ortalamalara göre daha baĢarılı olduğu görülmüĢtür.
SPICE-Based SAR Tomography over Forest Areas Using a Small Number of P-Band Airborne F-SAR Images Characterized by Non-Uniformly Distributed Baselines

Synthetic aperture radar tomography (TomoSAR) has been proven to be a useful way to reconstruct vertical structure over forest areas with P-band images, on account of its three-dimensional imaging ability. In the case of a small number of non-uniformly distributed acquisitions, compressive sensing (CS) is generally adopted in TomoSAR. However, the performance of CS depends on the selected hyperparameter, which is closely related to the noise of a pixel. In this paper, to overcome this limitation, we propose a sparse iterative covariance-based estimation (SPICE) approach based on the wavelet and orthogonal sparse basis (W&O-SPICE) for application over forest areas. SPICE is a sparse spectral estimation method that achieves a high vertical resolution, and takes account of the noise adaptively for each resolution cell. Thus, it does not require the user to select a hyperparameter. Furthermore, the used sparse basis not only ensures the sparsity of the forest canopy scattering contribution, but it can also keep the original sparse information of the ground contribution. The proposed method was tested in simulated experiments and the results demonstrated that W&O-SPICE can successfully reconstruct the vertical structure of a forest. Moreover, three P-band fully polarimetric airborne SAR images with non-uniformly distributed baselines were applied to reconstruct the vertical structure of a tropical forest in Mabounie, Gabon. The underlying topography and forest height were estimated, and the root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) were 6.40 m and 4.50 m with respect to the LiDAR digital terrain model (DTM) and canopy height model (CHM), respectively. In addition, W&O-SPICE showed a better performance than W&O-CS, beamforming, Capon, and the iterative adaptive approach (IAA).
Segmentifier: Interactive Refinement of Clickstream Data

Clickstream data has the potential to provide insights into e‐commerce consumer behavior, but previous techniques fall short of handling the scale and complexity of real‐world datasets because they require relatively clean and small input. We present Segmentifier, a novel visual analytics interface that supports an iterative process of refining collections of action sequences into meaningful segments. We present task and data abstractions for clickstream data analysis, leading to a high‐level model built around an iterative view‐refine‐record loop with outcomes of conclude with an answer, export segment for further analysis in downstream tools, or abandon the question for a more fruitful analysis path. Segmentifier supports fast and fluid refinement of segments through tightly coupled visual encoding and interaction with a rich set of views that show evocative derived attributes for segments, sequences, and actions in addition to underlying raw sequences. These views support fast and fluid refinement of segments through filtering and partitioning attribute ranges. Interactive visual queries on custom action sequences are aggregated according to a three‐level hierarchy. Segmentifier features a detailed glyph‐based visual history of the automatically recorded analysis process showing the provenance of each segment as an analysis path of attribute constraints. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through a usage scenario with real‐world data and a case study documenting the insights gained by a corporate e‐commerce analyst.
The Social Costs of Monopoly and Regulation

This paper presents a model and some highly tentative empirical estimates of the social costs of monopoly and monopoly-inducing regulation in the United States. Unlike the previous studies, it assumes that competition to obtain a monopoly results in the transformation of expected monopoly profits into social costs. A major conclusion is that public regulation is probably a larger source of social costs than private monopoly. The implications of the analysis for several public policy issues, such as appropriate policy toward mergers and price discrimination, are also discussed.
CORPORATE TAXES AND THE LOCATION OF FDI IN EUROPE: THE IMPORTANCE ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS

European countries face ever-increasing competition for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This paper studies how corporate taxes affect the location of FDI in Europe. Using firm-level data, we start by analysing the impact of the level and volatility of three tax rates on FDI: effective, statutory, and marginal tax rates. Next, we investigate how economic and monetary integration influences the effect of taxes on FDI. Finally, we focus on how the impact of taxes varies by project characteristics and sector: expansion versus new investment, industry versus services, high-tech versus low-tech manufacturing industries, and high versus low capital intensity firms. We conclude that stable taxes play a significant role in attracting FDI and, most importantly, that lowering taxes fosters FDI especially when the country has a high tax rate or is outside the euro area. There are some nuances in this relationship that are relevant to policymakers. Tax cuts are particularly important in stimulating foreign firms already in situ to expand their activities and in attracting industrial businesses. Finally, capital-intensive projects are less sensitive to taxes, but high-tech manufacturing projects have the same reaction to tax rates as other manufacturing projects.
Daytime sensitivity of the lower ionosphere to solar X-ray flares evaluated from VLF signal measurements

Solar X-ray flares produce enhancement of ionization in the daytime lower ionosphere that modifies the propagation of Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio signals. Considering the lower ionosphere as a detector of solar Xray photons, we investigate its sensitivity. This sensitivity is defined as the minimum X-ray fluence (Fmin) necessary to produce a disturbance of the quiescent ionospheric conductivity detectable by the VLF technique. We define Fmin as the photon energy flux integrated over the time interval from the start of a solar X-ray flare up to the beginning of the ionospheric disturbance. Fmin is computed for ionospheric disturbances, which occurred between December and January since year 2007 till 2016. The computation made use of the X-ray flux in the energy band less than 2 Å and the amplitude of VLF signals emitted from The USA (NAA), France (HWU) and Turkey (TBB), and recorded in Brazil and Peru (NAA), and northern Finland (HWU and TBB). We found a solar cycle dependence of Fmin, as well as, a dependence on the solar illumination conditions. Our results suggest that the lower ionosphere is more sensitive to X-ray flares during the minimum epoch of solar cycle 24 and that the sensitivity decreases when the Sun is more active. Similarly, our results suggest that the ionospheric sensitivity improves when the solar zenith angle has lower values. Our findings also agree with previous results showing that the height of the lower boundary of the ionosphere varies during the solar activity cycle.
Occupant Satisfaction in 60 Radiant and All-air Building : Comparing Thermal Comfort and Acoustic Quality

Radiant heating and cooling systems have the potential to save energy and are widely used in zero net energy buildings. Their positive and negative impacts on indoor environmental quality and, in particular, thermal comfort compared to all-air systems are still debated in the literature. This paper presents indoor environmental quality survey results from 3,892 respondents in 60 office buildings located in North America. 34 (2,247 respondents) of these buildings utilized all-air systems and 26 (1,645 respondents) utilized radiant systems as primary conditioning system. Our results indicate that radiant and all-air buildings have equal indoor environmental quality, including acoustic performance, with a tendency towards improved temperature satisfaction in radiant buildings.
Physics opportunities for a fixed-target programme in the ALICE experiment

A fixed-target programme in the ALICE experiment using the LHC proton and lead beams offers many physics opportunities related to the parton content of the nucleon and nucleus at high-x, the nucleon spin and the Quark-Gluon Plasma. We investigate two solutions that would allow ALICE to run in a fixed-target mode: the internal solid target coupled to a bent crystal and the internal gas target. The feasibility of these solutions are being studied for a possible installation at the LHC interaction point IP2 during the Long Shutdown 3.
Taxing Childcare: Effects on Childcare Choices, Family Labor Supply, and Children

Previous studies report a range of estimates for the response of female labor supply and childcare attendance to childcare prices. We shed new light on these questions using a policy reform that raises the price of public day care. After the reform, children are 8 percentage points less likely to attend public day care, which implies a compensated price elasticity of −0.6. There is little labor supply response in the full sample, although there are declines for vulnerable subgroups. Spillover effects on older siblings and fertility decisions show that the policy affects the whole household, not just targeted family members.
Unsteady computational simulation of the flow structure of an isolated wheel in contact with the ground

The flow around an isolated wheel, as in a Formula 1 car, is complex and yet often simulated using Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes models. Given the transient, three-dimensional nature of the flow field, LES (Large Eddy Simulations) and/or DES (Detached Eddy Simulations) are more appropriate. In this work, an exposed rotating wheel in contact with the ground has been modelled using unsteady RANS (Reynolds Average Navier Stokes), LES and DES. The comparison allows the effect of the unsteady RANS approximation to be appreciated by drawing conclusions from observing the flow field around the wheel, giving special attention to the vortices generated. The LES/DES models reveal details of the transient flow field that were not apparent from unsteady RANS simulations.
The development and present status of the SOP model of Pavlovian conditioning

The Sometimes Opponent Processes (SOP) model in its original form was especially calculated to address how expected unconditioned stimulus (US) and conditioned stimulus (CS) are rendered less effective than their novel counterparts in Pavlovian conditioning. Its several elaborations embracing the essential notion have extended the scope of the model to integrate a much greater number of phenomena of Pavlovian conditioning. Here, we trace the development of the model and add further thoughts about its extension and refinement.
Human Coronavirus NL 63 , France

identified in the Netherlands, and its circulation in France has not been investigated. We studied HCoV-NL63 infection in hospitalized children diagnosed with respiratory tract infections. From November 2002 to April 2003, we evaluated 300 respiratory specimens for HCoV-NL63. Of the 300 samples, 28 (9.3%) were positive for HCoV-NL63. The highest prevalence was found in February (18%). The main symptoms were fever (61%), rhinitis (39%), bronchiolitis (39%), digestive problems (33%), otitis (28%), pharyngitis (22%), and conjunctivitis (17%). A fragment of the spike protein gene was sequenced to determine the variety of circulating HCoV-NL63. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that strains with different genetic markers cocirculate in France.