Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing disease risk prediction model based on environmental factors

Analyzing the effects of various environmental factors on human diseases is one of the important issues in recent bioinformatics studies. In this paper we investigate several environmental factors regarding Type-2 diabetes and select some of them for develop an analytical model of disease risk prediction. For the selection of significant factors, we first preprocessed all the environmental factors into categorical values and then calculated the max/min odds ratios of all the categorized environmental factors. After that, we chose the top-n ranked factors as input features for the prediction model. The disease risk prediction model was developed with SVM classifiers, where training data were built based on Ansan/Ansung Cohort 2 Data obtained from the Korean National Institute of Health (KNIH). Here the data imbalanced problem was occurred in training data, which can be often observed in reality. Thus, to handle this problem, we regenerated the training data by using the SMOTE approach and used them for disease risk prediction modeling. For model evaluation, the proposed method was employed to predict the risk of Type-2 diabetes disease. The experiment results showed that our SVM classifiers based on selective environmental factors could produce very comparable results to the prediction model with genetic factors in forecasting the risk of specific disease.
Attractiveness Modulates Neural Processing of Infant Faces Differently in Males and Females

Consistent attention and proper processing of infant faces by adults are essential for infant survival. Previous behavioral studies showed gender differences in processing infant cues (e.g., crying, laughing or facial attractiveness) and more importantly, the efforts invested in nurturing offspring. The underlying neural mechanisms of processing unknown infant faces provide hints for understanding behavioral differences. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study recruited 32 unmarried adult (16 females and 16 males) participants to view unfamiliar infant faces and rate the attractiveness. Adult faces were also included. Behaviorally, despite that females and males showed no differences in attractiveness ratings of infant faces, a positive correlation was found between female’s (but not male’s) subjective liking for infants and attractiveness ratings of the infant faces. Functionally, brain activations to infant faces were modulated by attractiveness differently in males and females. Specifically, in female participants, activities in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and striatum/Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) were positively modulated by infant facial attractiveness, and the modulation coefficients of these two regions were positively correlated. In male participants, infant facial attractiveness negatively modulated the activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Our findings reveal that different neural mechanisms are involved in the processing of infant faces, which might lead to observed behavioral differences between males and females towards the baby.
An Adaptive Hybrid ARQ Scheme with Constant Packet Lengths

We propose a hybrid ARQ (HARQ) scheme for which a rate-1/2 error-correcting code with code length equal to the packet length is used in the HARQ operation, where each packet comprises two subpackets of equal lengths. For the HARQ system with constant packet lengths, the utilization of subpackets enables the flexibility of carrying new message (or data) in the retransmissions. Hence, such a system can gain additional throughput as compared to the system using all-redundancy retransmissions under the conditions of moderate to high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). In the proposed HARQ scheme, each of the subpackets can be chosen as a data part, or a redundancy part, or a function of two subpackets, where the data part or the redundancy part may belong to different codewords of the rate-1/2 error-correcting code. With a proper design of the function subpacket, we can adaptively control the error-correcting capability used in the HARQ operation. The key idea is that there is possibility of recovering three data subpackets in one retransmission and hence increasing the throughput. The price is that in each retransmission, up to three bits are needed in the feedback channel to indicate which subpacket is successfully recovered.
Social values and institutional change: an experimental study

We experimentally investigate whether and how individuals change formal institutions governing an organization. The focus is on formal rules prescribing individual cooperation to achieve a collective goal. Our analysis accounts for the role of social norms and individuals’ social values. We observe that prosocial individuals –who value cooperation and have a conflict between this value and existing rules allowing for low cooperation– attempt to change this rule. In line with our theoretical discussion, we also find that prosocial individuals first try to change the institutional environment by changing social norms. If this fails, these individuals change formal rules directly.
Integrated technology for distributed operational decision support systems

The paper proposes a methodology for distributed operational decision support. The methodology integrates technologies for ontology & context management, constraint satisfaction, and user profiling. It consists in building an ontology-based model of the problem to be solved by the decision maker, formalization of the problem with a set of constraints, instantiation with the data values provided by environmental information sources, and interpretation of this problem as a constraint satisfaction problem. Two types of context are used for problem modelling: abstract and operational
Meanings of gender and suicidal behavior during adolescence.

In the United States, gender differences in suicidal behavior rates emerge during adolescence, when females are more likely to engage in suicidal behavior, but are less likely to die as a result of a suicidal act than males. These gender patterns of suicidal behavior are common but not universal, suggesting cultural influences. This article reviews the highlights of the research on cultural meanings of gender and suicidal behavior. Studies suggest that U.S. adolescents perceive nonfatal suicidal behavior as more "feminine" and less potent than killing oneself. Persons who are suicidal in response to a relationship problem are considered more "feminine" than persons who become suicidal in response to an achievement failure. Males are more critical and avoidant of suicidal persons than females, especially when the suicidal person is a male. These beliefs may play a role in decisions about suicidal behavior (what kinds of suicidal behavior are chosen, and under what conditions). Cultural narratives of gender and suicidal behavior may be particularly influential for adolescents because adolescents are in the process of defining their identity, and often take cultural messages about "appropriate" gender behavior more seriously and more literally than adults. The implications of the findings from the research on cultural meanings of gender and suicidal behavior for prevention programs are outlined.
Climate, air quality, and health benefits of a carbon fee-and-rebate bill in Massachusetts, USA

State and regional climate policies in the United States are becoming more prevalent. Quantifying these policies’ health co-benefits provides a local and near-term rationale for actions that also mitigate global climate change and its accompanying harms. Here, we assess the health benefits of a carbon fee-and-rebate policy directed at fuel use in transport, residential and commercial buildings and industry in Massachusetts. We find that the air pollution reductions from this policy would save 340 lives (95% CI: 82–590), 64% of which would occur in Massachusetts, and reduce carbon emissions by 33 million metric tons, with 2017 as an implementation year, through 2040. When monetized, the benefits to health may be larger than the benefits from climate mitigation, but are sensitive to valuation methods, discount rates, and the leakage rate of natural gas, among other factors. These benefits derive largely from lower transportation emissions, including volatile organic compounds from gasoline combustion. Reductions in oil and coal use have relatively large benefits, despite their limited use in Massachusetts. This study finds substantial health benefits of a proposed statewide carbon policy in Massachusetts that carries near-term and direct benefit to residents of the commonwealth and demonstrates the importance of co-benefits modeling.
Gelişmekte Olan Ülkelerde Ülke Riski Göstergesi Olarak Kredi Temerrüt Swapları: Asimetrik Nedensellik Yöntemi

In this study, we examine the symmetric and asymmetric causality relationship between the CDS’s which are considered as an indicative of the country’s risk and the financial variables that are thought to affect the country’s CDS premiums. For this purpose; the casuality relationship between CDS premiums for 2005-2015 belonging to 9 devoloping countries, including Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, Poland, Malaysia and Portugal, and US dollar currency, US 10-year government bond interest rate and VIX index is investigated. Two tests, symmetric and asymmetric, were applied to reveal this relationship in the study. First test is the Granger causality test and the second test is Hatemi-J (2012) asymmetric causality test. As a result of the study, it is seen that there is an asymmetric causality relationship between CDS premiums and selected financial variables. It is also observed that Hatemi-J asymmetric causality test is more effective than the Granger test in explaining the causality relationship between CDS premiums and selected financial variables. Keywords: Sovereign risk, Credit derivatives, Credit default swaps, Asymmetric causality test, Granger Causality Test
Evidence on the Relation between Managerial Ability and Financial Reporting Timeliness

While prior research has investigated the relation between firm&#8208;level attributes and financial reporting timeliness, there is little evidence on whether managerial ability is associated with financial reporting timeliness. We examine the relation between managerial ability and financial reporting timeliness. Managers with higher ability possess greater human capital and are better able to maintain the systems and controls underlying the company's financial information. We therefore predict that managers with higher ability produce more timely financial disclosures. We find that, incremental to firm&#8208;level attributes, higher managerial ability is associated with a shorter earnings announcement lag, a shorter audit report lag, and a lower probability of a late US Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Collectively, our results suggest that managerial ability has a positive influence on the timeliness of financial reporting.
A comparative study on the immediate effects of electroacupuncture at Sanyinjiao (SP6), Xuanzhong (GB39) and a non-meridian point, on menstrual pain and uterine arterial blood flow, in primary dysmenorrhea patients.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare the effects of Sanyinjiao (SP6), Xuanzhong (GB39), and an adjacent non-meridian point on menstrual pain and uterine arterial blood flow in primary dysmenorrhea patients. DESIGN The design of the study was a prospective, randomized controlled trial. SETTING The setting of the study was the Shandong Institute of Medical Imaging, Jinan, China. PATIENTS The patients were 52 women with primary dysmenorrhea. INTERVENTIONS Women received electroacupuncture (EA) at SP6 (n=13), GB39 (n=14), and an adjacent non-meridian point (n=12), respectively, for 10 minutes when scored ≥40 on a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS), and for 30 minutes on the next 2 days. There was no EA in the waiting list group (n=13). OUTCOME MEASURES Primary outcomes were menstrual pain, resistance index (RI), and the ratio between peak systolic to end-diastolic flow velocity (S/D) in uterine arteries. Secondary outcomes included verbal rating scale (VRS) and retrospective symptom scale (RSS). RESULTS The SP6 group had a highly significant reduction in VAS scores compared with the waiting list group (-23.19mm, 95% confidence interval [CI]-32.06 to -14.33, P<0.0001), GB39 group (-18.58mm, 95% CI -27.29 to -9.88, P<0.0001) and the non-meridian point group (-20.78mm, 95% CI -29.82 to -11.73, P<0.0001), respectively. A significant reduction in VRS scores was found in the SP6 group compared with the GB39 group (P=0.034) and the non-meridian point group (P=0.038). There were no significant differences of RI, S/D-values and RSS scores among the four groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS EA at SP6 can immediately relieve menstrual pain and minimize the influence of pain on daily life compared with GB39 and an adjacent non-meridian point. The data preliminarily show the specificity of SP6 for the immediate pain relief of primary dysmenorrhea.
Entrepreneurial education and learning at universities: exploring multilevel contingencies

Abstract Despite the worldwide increase in entrepreneurship education offered at universities, there is an ongoing debate whether and under which conditions this type of education contributes to students’ entrepreneurial learning. Building on human capital theory, we hypothesize that the exposure to various entrepreneurship education initiatives has an inverted U-shaped relationship with entrepreneurial learning outcomes. We also argue that this relationship is moderated by the entrepreneurial experience of the students, the teaching pedagogy applied in entrepreneurial initiatives offered at the university and the prevalence of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship in the country. A multi-level analysis on a cross-country sample of 87,918 students resulting from GUESSS (‘Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey’) strongly confirms our hypotheses, and allows us to discuss implications for researchers, educators and policy makers with respect to the nature of entrepreneurial learning, the design of entrepreneurial education programs, as well as the contextual conditions that impact entrepreneurial learning outcomes.
On Graduation from Fiscal Procyclicality: The case of Bolivia

Since Frankel et al. (2013), many authors have sought evidence of the so-called graduation from fiscal procyclicality; this concept refers to the direction change experienced by a number of developing countries regarding the implementation of destabilizing procyclical policies in the past. While the cyclicality of fiscal policy in Bolivia has been evaluated by multiple authors, we believe that our contribution is relevant because it models the response of fiscal policy in a much more intuitive way, that is also less prone to some specification problems frequently cited in the literature.
Mechanism of Tet(O)‐mediated tetracycline resistance

Tet(O) is an elongation factor‐like protein which confers resistance to the protein synthesis inhibitor tetracycline by promoting the release of the drug from its inhibitory site on the ribosome. Here we investigated the interaction of Tet(O) with the elongating ribosome and show, using dimethyl sulfate (DMS) probing and binding assays, that it interacts preferentially with the post‐translocational ribosome. Furthermore, using an XTP‐dependent mutant of Tet(O), we demonstrated that Tet(O) induces conformational rearrangements within the ribosome which can be detected by EF‐Tu, and manifested as a stimulation in the GTPase activity of this elongation factor. As such, these conformational changes probably involve the ribosomal GTPase‐associated center and, accordingly, Tet(O) alters the DMS modification pattern of the L11 region. Additionally, tetracycline binding is associated with an Ea of 58 kJ/mol. These results suggest a model where both Tet(O) and tetracycline induce a conformational change in functionally opposite directions and the Tet(O)‐induced conformation persists after it has left the ribosome; this prevents rebinding of the drug while allowing productive A‐site occupation by a ternary complex in the presence of tetracycline.
Effects of motilin on human interdigestive gastrointestinal and gallbladder motility, and involvement of 5HT3 receptors

A plasma motilin peak and a partial gallbladder emptying precede the antral phase III of the migrating motor complex (MMC). To clarify the causal relationship between these factors, we aimed to study the role of motilin in interdigestive gastrointestinal and gallbladder motility simultaneously. In addition, involvement of 5HT3 receptors in the action of motilin was studied. Eight fasting, healthy male volunteers received 13 Leu‐motilin or 0.9% NaCl i.v. for 30 min, in randomized order on two separate occasions, from 30 min after phase III. Seven of the eight subjects also received the 5HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron in addition to motilin, on a third occasion. Antroduodenal motility, gallbladder volumes and plasma motilin were measured. The interval between the start of infusion and phase III was 95.0 (57.6–155.7) min for saline, 28.7 (21.0–33.2) min for motilin, and 39.3 (30.7–100.5) min for motilin + ondansetron (P < 0.05). Gallbladder volume decreased by one‐third from 10 min after both motilin and motilin + ondansetron infusion (P < 0.05), and returned to baseline with duodenal passage of phase III. In two of the seven subjects phase III was absent after motilin + ondansetron, although gallbladder volume decreased and only refilled during a later spontaneous phase III. We conclude that motilin induces both partial gallbladder emptying and antral phase III. Indeed, although gallbladder emptying clearly precedes antral phase III, ondansetron only prevented phase III in some cases and had no effect on gallbladder emptying. Passage of phase III in the duodenum makes an important contribution to gallbladder refilling.
Effects of Synaptic Depression and Recovery on Synchronous Network Activity

Summary: The output of an artificial neural network of spiking neurons linked by glutamatergic synapses subject to use-dependent depression was compared with physiologic data obtained from rat hippocampal area CA3 in vitro. The authors evaluated how network burst initiation and termination was affected by activity-dependent depression and recovery under a variety of experimental conditions including neuronal membrane depolarization, altered glutamate release probability, the strength of synaptic inhibition, and long-term potentiation and long-term depression of recurrent glutamatergic synapses. The results of computational experiments agreed with the in vitro data and support the idea that synaptic properties, including activity-dependent depression and recovery, play important roles in the timing and duration of spontaneous bursts of network activity. This validated network model is useful for experiments that are not feasible in vitro, and makes possible the investigation of two-dimensional aspects of burst propagation and termination.
The design of an optical fiber pressure transducer for use in the upper airways

The development of an optical fiber transducer for use in biomedical applications has been presented. The design was targeted for use in the upper airways of patients with sleep disorders stemming from partial or total occlusion of the airway. The transducer's preliminary specification was suited for that of upper airway manometry: a resolution of 10 Pa over the range /spl plusmn/5 kPa, a single transducer being less than 0.94 mm in diameter. Amplitude modulated optical fiber sensors are susceptible to loss due to bending of the fiber core and cladding. The design of the transducer uses a series of three optical fibers, one emitting and two receiving, the combination of the two receiving optical fibers is used to reduce effects of light loss: a bend radius of 50 mm is typical for the insertion into the naso-pharynx. The transducer transduction element is a silicone gel coated with reflective titanium dioxide, the meniscus deforms under pressure and modulates the intensity of light reflected back into the receiving optical fibers. The main disadvantage of optical fiber pressure transducers is their susceptibility to temperature drift. Temperature in the airway rarely changes more than 17/spl deg/C. The frequency of breathing and the high thermal mass of the catheter means that temperature drift in this application is not significant, and will cause an insignificant error of 12 Pa. The transducer is inexpensive to produce, and may be deemed disposable: approximately $20 in material costs (using current manufacturing techniques this can be halved). The system has the added advantage of being electrically, magnetically, and chemically passive. The potential for miniaturization is limited only by the mechanical strength of the optical fibers as mechanical problems associated with fragile elastic membranes do not apply.
Analysing the role of endogenous matrix molecules in the development of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis worldwide. In this condition, damage to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of cartilage occurs, resulting in joint destruction. Factors mediating cartilage damage include mechanical injury, cytokine and superoxide release on a background of genetic susceptibility and obesity. Studies of arthritic cartilage show increased production of ECM molecules including type II collagen, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, fibronectin (FN) and fibromodulin. Recent reports suggest that ECM proteins may become endogenous catabolic factors during joint damage. Activation of pro‐inflammatory pathways by ECM proteins has led to their description as damage‐associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). The ECM proteins involved include fibromodulin, which activates the complement pathway and may promote the persistence of joint inflammation. Fragmentation of type II collagen, FN and hyaluronan reveals cryptic epitopes that stimulate proteolytic enzymes including matrix metalloproteinases and aggrecanases (ADAMTSs – a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type 1 motifs). Proteolytic fragments also stimulate the release of nitric oxide, chemokines and cytokines and activation of the MAP kinases. Reports are emerging that the receptors for the fragments described involve interaction with integrins and toll‐like receptors. In this review the contribution of endogenous ECM molecules to joint destruction will be discussed. A deeper understanding of the pathways stimulated by endogenous ligands could offer potential avenues for novel therapies in the future.