Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Much Does Education Improve Intelligence? A Meta-Analysis

Intelligence test scores and educational duration are positively correlated. This correlation could be interpreted in two ways: Students with greater propensity for intelligence go on to complete more education, or a longer education increases intelligence. We meta-analyzed three categories of quasiexperimental studies of educational effects on intelligence: those estimating education-intelligence associations after controlling for earlier intelligence, those using compulsory schooling policy changes as instrumental variables, and those using regression-discontinuity designs on school-entry age cutoffs. Across 142 effect sizes from 42 data sets involving over 600,000 participants, we found consistent evidence for beneficial effects of education on cognitive abilities of approximately 1 to 5 IQ points for an additional year of education. Moderator analyses indicated that the effects persisted across the life span and were present on all broad categories of cognitive ability studied. Education appears to be the most consistent, robust, and durable method yet to be identified for raising intelligence.
The benign helminth Hymenolepis diminuta ameliorates chemically induced colitis in a rat model system

Abstract The tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta is a model for the impact of helminth colonization on the mammalian immune system and a candidate therapeutic agent for immune mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). In mice, H. diminuta protects against models of inflammatory colitis by inducing a strong type 2 immune response that is activated to expel the immature worm. Rats are the definitive host of H. diminuta, and are colonized stably and over long time periods without harming the host. Rats mount a mild type 2 immune response to H. diminuta colonization, but this response does not generally ameliorate colitis. Here we investigate the ability of different life cycle stages of H. diminuta to protect rats against a model of colitis induced through application of the haptenizing agent dinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (DNBS) directly to the colon, and monitor rat clinical health, systemic inflammation measured by TNFα and IL-1β, and the gut microbiota. We show that immature H. diminuta induces a type 2 response as measured by increased IL-4, IL-13 and IL-10 expression, but does not protect against colitis. In contrast, rats colonized with mature H. diminuta and challenged with severe colitis (two applications of DNBS) have lower inflammation and less severe clinical symptoms. This effect is not related the initial type 2 immune response. The gut microbiota is disrupted during colitis and does not appear to play an overt role in H. diminuta-mediated protection.
Is corruption endogenous to foreign direct investment in resource-rich developing economies?

This paper offers econometric evidence that corruption and foreign direct investment (FDI) can co-evolve if conditional on the level of development, the type of regimes, and the level of natural resource endowment. In conventional FDI empirical studies, the perceived corruption level in host countries is treated as being exogenous. Corruption, however, is also found to be endogenous to FDI depending upon economic circumstances and political conditions prevailing in host countries. The impact of FDI on corruption in host economies is found to vary across economies if disaggregated samples are used. Asian economies show a different pattern as compared to other regions. African economies display two distinct trends in their association with FDI activities if conditional on resource availability. The minimum threshold level of income beyond which increased inflow of FDI will result in lower corruption increases with the increased availability of resources. The impact is much greater for resource-rich developing economies managed by authoritarian regimes. To account for the joint-determination of corruption and FDI in resource-rich developing economies, this paper proposes a system of simultaneous equations to consistently estimate the parameters of the structural equations for three disaggregated samples. Results obtained from 2sls estimations confirm that there is a simultaneity issue as the coefficients for corruption variable as well as FDI are highly significant. The coefficients of other major determinants of corruption and FDI are also robust and strong. The consumption of FDI in resource-rich African economies results in higher corruption than it is in resource-rich Middle Eastern economies.
A Gamma Process-Based Prognostics Method for CCT Shift of High-Power White LEDs

The correlated color temperature (CCT) is one of the performance indicators of color shift failure of the high-power white light-emitting diodes (HPWLEDs). The prognostics for CCT shift of HPWLEDs using deterministic or statistical models usually generate a considerable amount of uncertainties by assuming the degradation model of CCT is a deterministic exponential function, which may not be accurate. To overcome this problem, a stochastic process model based on gamma process is established to present the distribution of CCT maintenance lifetime with the probability density function and the cumulative distribution function. The test data reported from LUXEON was used as an example to demonstrate the utilization of the gamma process model. The mean time to failure of which was proved to be more conservative than the L70 lifetime predicted by the conventional method. The CCT shift appears to have a period of nonmonotonic seasoning stage, whereas the gamma process is only applicable to the monotonic degradation. Aiming at this problem, a unified analytical method was established based on generalized Eyring model to estimate seasoning stage under various conditions. The results of which were proved to be reliable.
Targeting glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor for neurodegenerative disorders

ABSTRACT Introduction: Incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) exert pleiotropic effects on endocrine pancreas and nervous system. Expression of GIP and GIP receptor (GIPR) in neurons, their roles in neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, neurotransmission, and neuromodulation uniquely position GIPR for therapeutic applications in neurodegenerative disorders. GIP analogs acting as GIPR agonists attenuate neurobehavioral and neuropathological sequelae of neurodegenerative disorders in preclinical models, e.g. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and cerebrovascular disorders. Modulation of GIPR signaling offers an unprecedented approach for disease modification by arresting neuronal viability decline, enabling neuronal regeneration, and reducing neuroinflammation. Growth-promoting effects of GIP signaling and broad-based neuroprotection highlight the therapeutic potential of GIPR agonists. Areas covered: This review focuses on the role of GIPR-mediated signaling in the central nervous system in neurophysiological and neuropathological conditions. In context of neurodegeneration, the article summarizes potential of targeting GIPR signaling for neurodegenerative conditions such as AD, PD, traumatic brain injury, and cerebrovascular disorders. Expert opinion: GIPR represents a validated therapeutic target for neurodegenerative disorders. GIPR agonists impart symptomatic improvements, slowed neurodegeneration, and enhanced neuronal regenerative capacity in preclinical models. Modulation of GIPR signaling is potentially a viable therapeutic approach for disease modification in neurodegenerative disorders.
Real-Time Online Tracking via a Convolution-Based Complementary Model

Several object tracking convolution networks have been proposed in recent years. Despite their favorable performance, the balancing of tracking accuracy and efficiency remains challenging. In this paper, we propose a real-time online tracking method based on complementary tracking models: the convolution-based discriminative model (CDM) that can predict the center location of an object and the convolution-based generative model (CGM) that estimates the scale of the target. In the CDM model, we leverage a simple convolution operation to model the correlation between the apparent features (gradient and color features) of the object and its background. Then, the center location is predicted by maximizing the response value of the convolution. In the CGM model, a two-layer convolution network is proposed to learn geometric structural information, and the target scale is estimated by selecting the best candidate extracted from the foreground of the target through the observation model. Moreover, online updating and the fast Fourier transform are adopted for fast learning and detection. Despite its surprisingly lightweight structure, the proposed tracker performs favorably against the state-of-the-art methods in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and robustness on the CVPR2013 tracking benchmark data set.
Logic Synthesis for RRAM-Based In-Memory Computing

Design of nonvolatile in-memory computing devices has attracted high attention to resistive random access memories (RRAMs). We present a comprehensive approach for the synthesis of resistive in-memory computing circuits using binary decision diagrams, and-inverter graphs, and the recently proposed majority-inverter graphs for logic representation and manipulation. The proposed approach allows to perform parallel computing on a multirow crossbar architecture for the logic representations of the given Boolean functions throughout a level-by-level implementation methodology. It also provides alternative implementations utilizing two different logic operations for each representation, and optimizes them with respect to the number of RRAM devices and operations, addressing area, and delay, respectively. Experiments show that upper bounds of the aforementioned cost metrics for the implementations obtained by our synthesis approach are considerably improved in comparison with the corresponding existing methods in both area and especially latency.
Learning Front-end Filter-bank Parameters using Convolutional Neural Networks for Abnormal Heart Sound Detection

Automatic heart sound abnormality detection can play a vital role in the early diagnosis of heart diseases, particularly in low-resource settings. The state-of-the-art algorithms for this task utilize a set of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) band-pass filters as a front-end followed by a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model. In this work, we propound a novel CNN architecture that integrates the front-end band-pass filters within the network using time-convolution (tConv) layers, which enables the FIR filter-bank parameters to become learnable. Different initialization strategies for the learnable filters, including random parameters and a set of predefined FIR filter-bank coefficients, are examined. Using the proposed tConv layers, we add constraints to the learnable FIR filters to ensure linear and zero phase responses. Experimental evaluations are performed on a balanced 4-fold cross-validation task prepared using the PhysioNet/CinC 2016 dataset. Results demonstrate that the proposed models yield superior performance compared to the state-of-the-art system, while the linear phase FIR filter-bank method provides an absolute improvement of 9.54% over the baseline in terms of an overall accuracy metric.
Nutritional aspects of exercise-induced fatigue

Fatigue during exercise is a common experience irrespective of the level of activity and it is manifest as a decrease in exercise tolerance. This decreased exercise tolerance is most dramatically illustrated during various athletic competitions. For example, the runner who completes a marathon race is not only moving much more slowly than earlier in the race, but also crosses the finishing line with only the minimum of physical coordination. The onset of fatigue is even more dramatically illustrated by sprinters who as they fatigue towards the end of their race make their fellow athletes, who are also slowing down but less rapidly, appear to accelerate past them towards the finishing line. In sports which require skills of coordination, such as tennis, cricket or football, as fatigue develops so skill disappears and thus, what to the unfatigued spectators is still an ‘easy shot, move, pass or catch’ is not recognized as such by the participant. Fatigue is then readily recognized and experienced at the whole-body level. However, the physiological explanations for fatigue are not so readily available because of the complexity of the phenomena. In this presentation therefore, the metabolic aspects of fatigue in skeletal muscles during exercise will be the focus of attention rather than, for example, the contributions to fatigue, from interactions within the central nervous system. Apart from exercise which demands maximum exertion over a few seconds, fatigue may be regarded as having metabolic origins in the sense that it may be simply described as a mismatching of the rates of ATP utilization and resynthesis in skeletal muscles. This imbalance between the rates of demand and supply of ATP is redressed by decreasing the demand for ATP, i.e. by slowing down, which has various levels of acceptability depending on the urgency with which the activity has to be completed.
Guanophilic Fungi of Mouse-Tailed Bats

| Bats utilize a wide range of structures as their roosting sites and occupy various food niches. The guanophilic fungi of insectivorous bats such as Rhinopoma hardwickii and R. microphyllum were isolated and identified morphologically using phase contrast and scanning electron microscopes. The fungal culture was carried out using potato dextrose agar (PDA) and species such as Aspergillus versicolar gr. , A. flavus, A. niger, Aspergillus sp. , Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium sp. , Absidia corymbifera, Cladosporium cladosporiodes, C. resinae, Chrysosporium tropicum, Paecilomyces varitii, Malbranchea sp. , Trichoderma sp. , Mucor sp. and yeast were isolated and characterized. Chrysosporium tropicum plays a vital role in degrading the insectivorous bat guano which has rich contents of keratin, while C. resinae decomposes the hydrocarbons available in the guano. Many other fungi isolated in this study are opportunistic and some are medically and environmentally important.
Dual-task during gait between elderly with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer: systematic review

Introduction: Studies report that mobility changes could be present in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or even in previous stages, such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The use of motor tests, involving dual task, could facilitate screening and differentiation between elderly with AD and MCI. Objective: to verify if gait tests associated with secondary tasks could differentiate elderly with AD and MCI. Methods: We conducted a systematic review in Pubmed, Web of Science, Medline and Scielo databases. Of the articles included, we collected information about year of the study, characteristics of the sample and the dual task test studied. Results: The databases were accessed during November 2014 and August 2015 and a total of 198 scientific papers was obtained. After reading first the summaries and then the full texts, five studies were inserted in the review. Elderly with AD presented a reduction of gait speed and stride length, using executive functions and countdown as secondary cognitive tasks. The type of MCI appears to influence the differentiation with AD. Conclusion: The review showed that some gait tests associated with a secondary task differentiate elderly with AD and MCI. It emphasizes the need of new studies involving this issue in order to obtain cut-off points and facilitate prevention, early diagnosis and observation of cognitive impairment’s evolution in clinical practice of elderly.
On the Performance of Hybrid Carrier System Based on WFRFT With Power Allocation

A unified framework for bridging the power allocation (PA) strategies of single carrier (SC) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is proposed through the hybrid carrier (HC) scheme based on weighted-type fractional Fourier transform (WFRFT). The performance analyses of multiple indicators are easily achieved in the proposed framework, and the expected performances could be obtained according to the flexible WFRFT order. The closed BER expressions of arbitrary PA strategies in the HC scheme are derived and verified by the simulations, where the equal gain PA and minimum mean square error (mmse) PA are given as the examples. Compared with the OFDM and SC systems, the tradeoff between BER, achievable rate, and peak-to-average power ratio is achieved in the HC system. In addition, an approximate minimum bit error rate method through joining the PA and subcarrier allocation is investigated in the HC scheme as a generalization of the proposed framework. Considering the novel structure, the dynamic threshold could be established in the HC scheme, and thus the tradeoff between BER and complexity is obtained in comparison with the OFDM and SC systems. In order to illustrate the anti-interference characteristics of the proposed HC framework with PA, the BER performance with insufficient cyclic prefix is investigated. The better BER performance is captured in the HC system with the proposed mmse PA strategy.
Is Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for Asian Super Obese a Safe and Effective Procedure?

INTRODUCTION Outcomes of bariatric surgery for super obese Asians are not well reported. We aimed to compare short-term outcomes of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in Asian patients with body mass index (BMI) <47.5 kg/m2 to those with BMI  ≥47.5 kg/m2. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 272 patients from Singapore university hospital who underwent LSG from 2008 to 2015 with a follow-up of at least 6 months were included in the study. Primary endpoint was weight loss at 1-year and 3-years. Morbid obesity (Group 1, G1) was defined as BMI <47.5 kg/m2 and super obesity (Group2, G2) was defined as BMI ≥47.5 kg/m2. RESULTS There were 215 patients in G1 and 57 patients in G2 (mean preoperative weight: 107.3 kg and 146.8 kg; mean follow-up: 27.9 and 26.8 months, respectively). Mean total weight loss at 3-year of 41.9 kg for G2 was significantly higher (P = 0.003) than 27.2 kg for G1. Mean percentage excess weight loss (EWL) did not differ at 3-years. There was no difference in operating time, blood loss, length of stay, 30-day morbidity and readmission. There were no conversions and mortality in both groups. Remission of herpertension (P - 0.001) and dyslipidaemia (P = 0.038) were significantly associated with achieving EWL percentage (%EWL) >50 in G1. CONCLUSION LSG is an equally safe and effective operation in Asians with BMI ≥47.5 kg/m2 when compare to patients with BMI <47.5 kg/m2 in achieving significant weight loss and improvement in comorbidities. Super obese lose more weight but have lower %EWL.
Prototype of KIOSK Data Downloading System at 300 GHz: Design, Technical Feasibility, and Results

Recent advances in semiconductor device technologies and the ever growing worldwide traffic explosion have focused great attention on THz frequencies, which had long been considered a forbidden region in the electromagnetic spectrum. The huge bandwidth, perhaps much larger than the total bandwidth used on Earth for all wireless systems, is now believed to be the only way to handle incredibly large amounts of data instantaneously by wireless means. In this article, we describe the development of a KIOSK data downloading system prototype designed for "touch-and-go" use. Implementation of the 300 GHz THz front-end components and the performance are briefly summarized. A preliminary investigation of the LoS channel responses and a simple comparison of the forward error correction algorithms in the given THz channel are presented as well. Finally, an experimental demonstration of instant data transfer with the prototype is described to confirm the feasibility of using the THz wave band for future wireless applications.
Robust Hybrid Transceiver Design for AF Relaying in Millimeter Wave Systems Under Imperfect CSI

In this paper, we present a robust hybrid transceiver design for millimeter-wave communication systems operating in amplify-and-forward multiple-input multiple-output relay channels. Unlike most of current works that assume the perfect or partial channel state information (CSI) at the transceivers in the design, the CSI uncertainty is taken into consideration to design a robust transceiver. To achieve that end, the average received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is adopted as the objective function. To produce a tractable expression, an accurate approximation of the average received SNR is derived and used as the design criterion. An alternating maximization algorithm is proposed to optimize the design criterion, in which an orthogonal matching pursuit-based algorithm is utilized to design the transceiver at the relay. Simulations show that the algorithm takes a few iterations to produce converged transceivers for the source, relay, and destination nodes. Numerical results demonstrate the substantial performance gains of the proposed scheme, compared with the existing non-robust designs.
Descriptors of Insomnia among Patients with Heart Failure.

Objective Explore the characteristics of insomnia in persons with heart failure and identify the predictive factors of insomnia in patients with heart failure. Marital and Method A predictive correlational research design was used. Three hundred forty heart failure patients followed-up at heart clinics, outpatient departments of 10 tertiary hospitals from all regions in Thailand, were selected by multi-stage random sampling. Data were collected between July 2009 and January 2010. Research instrument included demographic questionnaire, state-trait anxiety inventory questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, dyspnea questionnaire, Berlin Questionnaire, hygiene awareness and practice scale, and dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep and insomnia severity index. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistic, Chi-square test, and logistic regression. Results Thirty-two percent of heart failure patients had insomnia. Eighty-one patients had moderate insomnia (23.8%), and 28 patients had severe insomnia (8.2%). Most heart failure patients had insomnia of mixed types (73.40%), including difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and waking up too early. Correlated factors of insomnia included the predisposing factors, anxiety and depression, the precipitating factors, marital status, dyspnea, sleep disorder breathing, and the perpetuating factors, sleep hygiene and dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep. After using logistic regression analysis, the predictive factors of insomnia were anxiety, depression, marital status (separated, divorced, and widowed), dyspnea, and dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep with a 95% confidence level (α = 0.05). However, age, gender,sleep disorder breathing, and sleep hygiene were not significant predictors of insomnia. Conclusion Insomnia is a significant problem in heart failures patients. Therefore, healthcare providers need to pay attention to this sensitive outcome. Several factors should be considered for further management.