Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nasal Air-Conditioning after Partial Turbinectomy: Myths versus Facts

Background Turbinectomy, although a common procedure, is often accused of having a negative impact in all nasal functions. This study is the first in vivo study that evaluates objectively the effect of partial turbinectomy on nasal air-conditioning capacity. Methods In total, 57 patients with prior partial inferior turbinectomy and 28 healthy controls were examined. Intranasal temperature and humidity values were measured at the level of the head of inferior and middle turbinate. Nasal patency was evaluated by means of acoustic rhinometry. The clinical assessment was completed with nasal endoscopy and the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation questionnaire for subjective evaluation of nasal patency. Results Significant changes of temperature were found in both detection sites with 13% reduced heating capacity of the air at the level of the inferior and 19% at the level of the middle turbinate, respectively. No similar results were found for humidity measurements. No correlations were found between air-conditioning values and acoustic rhinometry results for both study groups. Nasal endoscopy revealed normal healing in all patients. No major complications were reported by the patients. Their subjective ratings of nasal obstruction were similar to healthy controls. Conclusion Partial turbinectomy seems to have a negative impact on intranasal air heating but not to humidification. This effect has no impact on clinical condition and subjective perception of surgical outcome.
Quality Award in the Philippines

During the 1990s, many countries revealed their demands to improve quality for the promotion the competitiveness of their companies with others in global market by a national policy for quality. They focused in three areas for developing quality management such as TQM, ISO 9000, and National Quality Awards (NQAs). Most of the government of these countries were interested to have their own quality awards. But before establishing a national quality awards (NQAs), it was very necessary to develop some “standardization activities on a national level by a national standards body”.
Reinfection versus relapse in Lyme disease.

Lyme disease, which is caused by the tickborne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is increasing in frequency; it is spreading to new geographic locations, and it is a particular problem in the northeastern United States.1 Before the discovery of the causative agent, it was learned that natural infection, without antibiotic treatment, often occurred in stages.2 The infection usually began with an expanding skin lesion called erythema migrans, sometimes followed weeks later by neurologic or cardiac involvement, and often followed months later by arthritis. Attacks of arthritis commonly recurred over a period of several years, and occasionally, erythema migrans reappeared faintly before episodes .
Salivary proteome modifications associated with periodontitis in obese patients.

AIM To identify changes in the salivary protein/peptide profiles by differential proteomics in obese patients with or without periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Periodontal examinations and whole saliva samples were obtained from 38 obese patients (mean age: 45.1 ± 7.3 years, mean BMI: 49.3 ± 9 kg/m(2) ) including 13 periodontitis and 25 non-periodontitis subjects, and 19 healthy controls (mean age: 44.2 ± 6.4 years, mean BMI: 21.5 ± 2.1 kg/m(2) ). Surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) was used to compare the whole saliva polypeptide profiles. RESULTS The SELDI-TOF-MS analysis detected eight putative markers. Six of them were increased and identified in obese subjects versus controls (albumin, α and β haemoglobin chains, α-defensins 1, 2 and 3). Alpha-defensins were less abundant in saliva of periodontitis obese patients (36.47 ± 19.84 μA) versus non-periodontitis obese patients (43.44 ± 30.34 μA), whereas α-defensins were more abundant in obese patients (40.99 ± 26.66 μA) versus controls (27.1 ± 23.98 μA). CONCLUSIONS Periodontal status modifies the salivary proteome in obese patients. Alpha-defensins may play a role in gingival inflammation, and be involved in the higher susceptibility of obese patients to periodontal diseases.
Mean platelet volume in patients with slow coronary flow and its relationship with clinical presentation.

OBJECTIVES We investigated mean platelet volume (MPV) in patients with slow coronary flow (SCF) and its possible relationship with clinical presentation. STUDY DESIGN The study included 50 patients with SCF and otherwise normal coronary arteries and 22 patients (control group) with normal coronary arteries. In the SCF group, there were 26 patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP), and 24 patients with unstable angina pectoris (USAP). Coronary blood flow was measured using the TIMI frame count. To determine MPV, blood samples with K3 EDTA were processed after one hour of venipuncture. The relationship between MPV and SCF was sought. RESULTS The mean TIMI frame count was markedly increased in patients with SCF compared to controls (p<0.0001). No significant differences existed between the groups with regard to white blood cell and platelet counts. Patients with SCF had significantly higher MPV values compared to controls (9.4+/-2.3 fl vs 8.1+/-2.0 fl, p=0.014). In subgroup analysis, MPV was significantly increased only in patients presenting with USAP, compared to patients with SAP (p=0.044) and controls (p=0.002). There was a positive correlation between the mean TIMI frame count and MPV in patients with SCF (r=0.32, p=0.01). In multivariate analysis, MPV was the only independent predictor of SCF (p=0.006, odds ratio=1.305, 95% CI=0.985-1.730). CONCLUSION Our findings show that MPV is increased in patients with SCF, and SCF patients presenting with USAP exhibit significantly increased MPV values, suggesting an altered platelet reactivity and aggregation which may require effective anti-platelet therapy in this patient subgroup.
Fintech, the new era of financial services

The research aims to fill the gap in the current academic literature regarding the appearance of innovation-focused financial technology (fintech) companies. The analysis provides a conceptual overview of the key value drivers behind fintechs, including the utilization of resource-based theories, business models, human-centered design and open innovation. The article introduces how fintechs can serve as an enabler of innovation in the incumbent financial sector and can have positive effects on the triple-bottom-line by solving the problems of people who live at the bottom-of-the-pyramid.
Measuring the efficiency of the branches of Aria Sanat Company by DEA method

Todays, there are many different methods to assess and measure the efficiency and the managers of the organizations use a specific one based on their aims and the type of the organization or design their own method by combining several models. One the newest way for measuring the efficiency is data envelopment analysis which is a useful method to assess the efficiency of the several units with the same structure that not only measures the efficiency of the decision-making unit but also can present efficient result to the managers. This method determines the effective branches and introduces them as good pattern to ineffective ones. The purpose of the present article is descriptive-measurement, the process and methods of data collecting is quantitative and its results are functional. The population of the research included 20 representations of the branches of Aria Sanat Company in Iran during 2012-2013 and the entrance criteria included stuffs, salaries, the amount of the investments and total expenses and outputs included debts and outcomes. Two CCR and BCC data envelopment analysis methods with input nature were used then using GAMS software the representations were ranked based output criteria from possible inputs. This study indicated the effectiveness of data envelopment analysis method for measuring the score of the efficiency of branches of the company and determining their rank compared with an effective unit. the were based from possible inputs. Finally, its results indicated the effectiveness of data envelopment analysis method for measuring the score of the efficiency of branches of the company and determining their rank compared with an effective unit.
Augmenting water supply by combined desalination/water recycling methods: an economic assessment

ABSTRACT Dry coastal communities increasingly need to consider non-traditional methods of augmenting their water supply. This study presents a preliminary economic comparison of three alternatives for increasing the water supply by 50% for a hypothetical baseline coastal scenario: increasing desalination (Scenario A), direct potable water reuse (DPWR) (Scenario B), and a novel retrofitted configuration of a hybrid forward osmosis–reverse osmosis (FO–RO) plant (Scenario C). The latter used the dilution of the seawater feed to increase the recovery and overall output water of the original RO step. To account for the time value of money, levelised cost (LC) was used as the primary economic metric. The hybrid FO–RO configuration had a comparable LC to DPWR (0.59 vs. 0.61 $ m−3) and was 12% cheaper than desalination (0.67 $ m−3). Furthermore, hybrid FO–RO was 7% more energy efficient than conventional desalination due to reduced intake and pretreatment flows. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that incremental reductions in LC were possible for increased FO membrane flux, including in pressure-assisted osmosis scenarios with applied pressure ranging from 2 to 6 bar. These findings validate the examination of hybrid FO–RO configurations that deviate from the energy-reduction paradigms typically studied. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Hierarchical Algorithms of Quasi-Linear ARX Neural Networks for Identification of Nonlinear Systems

A quasi-linear ARX neural network model (QARXNN) is a nonlinear model built using neural networks (NN). It has a linear-ARX structure where NN is an embedded system to give the parameters for the regression vector. There are two contributions in this paper, 1) Hierarchical Algorithms is proposed for the training of QARXNN model, 2) an adaptive learning is implemented to update learning rate in NN training to ensure global minima. First, the system is estimated by using LSE algorithm. Second, nonlinear sub-model performed using NN is trained to refine error of LSE algorithm. The linear parameters obtained from LSE algorithm is set as bias vector for the output nodes of NN. Global minima point is reached by adjusting the learning rate based on Lyapunov stability theory to ensure convergence of error. The proposed algorithm is used for the identification and prediction of nonlinear dynamic systems. Finally, the experiments and numerical simulations reveal that the proposed method gives satisfactory results.
Numerical solver for the 3 D stationary nuclear Schrödinger equation

The classification of short hydrogen bonds depends on several factors including the shape and energy spacing between the nuclear eigenstates of the hydrogen. Here, we describe the NuSol program in which three classes of algorithms were implemented to solve the 1D, 2D and 3D time independent nuclear Schrödinger equation. The Schrödinger equation was solved using the finite differences based Numerov’smethodwhichwas extended to higher dimensions, themore accurate pseudo-spectral Chebyshev collocation method and the sinc discrete variable representation by Colbert and Miller. NuSol can be applied to solve the Schrödinger equation for arbitrary analytical or numerical potentials with focus on nuclei bound by the potential of their molecular environment. We validated themethods against literature values for the 2DHenon–Heiles potential, the 3D linearly coupled sextic oscillators and applied them to study hydrogen bonding in the malonaldehyde derivate 4-cyano2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione. With NuSol, the extent of nuclear delocalization in a given molecular potential can directly be calculated without relying on linear reaction coordinates in 3D molecular space.
Threat of Falling High Status and Corporate Bribery: Evidence from the Revealed Accounting Records of Two South Korean Presidents

Research Summary: Social status and its dynamics may be an important predictor of which firms will engage in large‐scale bribery. Prior theory is incomplete, however, and prior studies have lacked comprehensive and reliable data on firm‐level bribery decisions. We offer a new theoretical prediction and a novel data set on high‐level corruption in South Korea, where the accounting records of two presidents in the 1987–1992 era were exposed to after‐the‐fact legal and public scrutiny. We find that, controlling for a range of alternative explanations, the threat of falling high status—that is, the combination of longstanding high social status with current‐period mediocre economic performance relative to that of industry peers—is a statistically and economically meaningful predictor of increases in the amount of large‐scale corporate bribery. Managerial Summary: What leads companies to engage in large‐scale bribery of senior politicians? Our concept of “threat of falling high status” refers to a circumstance where companies that have historically enjoyed high status through their owner families’ elite marriage networks experience mediocre economic performance relative to their peers. We show that this threat of falling high status is a notable determinant of large‐scale corporate bribery of senior politicians, using court data on corporate bribery of two South Korean presidents during 1987–1992. The implication of our study is twofold. Companies can strengthen internal control systems to avoid any large‐scale illegal activities at a higher level. Law enforcement agencies can also implement targeted monitoring programs to preempt illegal activities among companies facing the threat of falling high status.
Smoking during pregnancy and components of stature in offspring

The objective of this study was to examine the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring height and its components. The analysis was based on 6,340 white singletons born in 1991–1992 and enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), who had maternal smoking data recorded for at least one trimester in pregnancy, and who had their height recorded at age 7.5. Smoking at any time in pregnancy was associated with a reduction in offspring height, trunk, and leg length, and the leg‐to‐trunk ratio, after adjustment for age and sex. After additional adjustment for maternal factors, social factors, and breastfeeding, associations with leg length and leg‐to‐trunk ratio remained, with reductions of 0.25 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.05–0.46 cm) in leg length and 0.30% (95% confidence interval, 0.03–0.57%) in leg‐to‐trunk ratio if the mother smoked. Findings were similar when the smoking data were analyzed separately for each trimester. Furthermore, in each trimester, the more a mother smoked, the greater the reduction in offspring height, leg length, and leg‐to‐trunk ratio. These dose‐response relationships remained after adjustment for all potential confounders for leg length and leg‐to‐trunk ratio. Smoking at any time in pregnancy reduces offspring height and its components, and in particular leg length and leg‐to‐trunk ratio at age 7.5. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:502–512, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Sensitivity of Probability Assessments to Time Units and Performer Characteristics

This paper examines the sensitivity of probability judgments pertaining to real-world events (e.g., the chance of getting a speeding ticket) to the events' time horizon (e.g., 1, 2, or 8 weeks) and performer characteristics (e.g., 1, 2, and 8 drivers). Using the participants' multiple responses to different time horizons and number of performers, we assessed the degree of deviance from the normative prescription and potential explanations for such deviance. In Study 1, two questionnaires were administered to a sample of 120 students. In the first questionnaire, in violation of the normative disjunctive model, most participants did not adjust probabilities sufficiently for various time horizons. This pattern cannot be attributed merely to regression to the mean with a fixed error term (Erev et al. 1994). In the second questionnaire, the same bias was replicated in scenarios featuring different numbers of individuals, indicating no time-specific contributing factors. In Study 2, a sample of 140 students responded to a computerized questionnaire in which the items preceding target questions were controlled. The direction of the deviance did not change as a function of previous items. The results are attributed to the “extension neglect” tendency (Kahneman 2003).
Temporal Reliability of Willingness to Pay for Payments for Environmental Services: Lessons from Lombok, Indonesia

Willingness to pay (WTP) for payments for environmental services (PES) can be temporarily reliable if contingent valuation (CV) studies are embedded in an accurate survey population, yield low measurement errors, and are based on a correct assumption of no change in sociodemographic factors affecting buyer preferences. These pre-conditions are assumed in PES schemes applying temporal reliability of WTP. This study tests these conditions in CV-PES studies from 2001, 2003, and 2011 in Lombok, Indonesia, by comparing them with a new CV-PES study in 2015. Our results show that the CV-PES studies would not meet the pre-conditions due to inclusion of non-PES buyers, potential measurement errors implied by a lack of validating information and high WTP estimate, and/or failure to test the condition of no change of socio-economic factors. Results contribute to identifying pragmatic challenges and lessons for applying temporal reliability of WTP to PES implementation.
The Broker Strategies of a Winner Agent in Power TAC

In the light of government’s energy transformation policies, the future electricity grid will encourage new participants such as local producers, storage units and interruptible consumers to the current electricity grid along with the challenge of sustainability. The Power Trading Agent Competition (Power TAC) 1 is a comprehensive simulation platform to enable and verify various smart grid studies from the perspective of sustainability as well as an annual competition in which autonomous agents trade in energy markets and make profits. AgentUDE won the Power TAC 2014 Final as the newest agent of the competition utilizing an adaptive and reactive agent. This paper details the basic retail and wholesale market strategies of AgentUDE as well as tournament results. 1. Introduction
Stability analysis of continuous-time recurrent fuzzy systems

In this paper, we present a new approach for the stability analysis of continuous-time recurrent fuzzy systems (CTRFS). The approach is based on the representation of a CTRFS as a switched polynomial system, for which a Lyapunov function is constructed in a two step procedure. Both steps are based on semidefinite programming. The applicability is shown by an ecological system formulated as a rule based structure.
Conspicuity-based visual scene semantic similarity computing for video

Based on saliency region representation of visual scene, a framework for quantifying the semantic similarity of two video scenes is proposed in this paper. Frame-segment key-frame strategy is used to concisely represent video content in temporal domain. Spatio-temporal conspicuity model for basic visual semantics, a neuromorphic model that simulates human visual system, is used to select dynamic and static spatial salient areas. With pattern classification technique, the basic visual semantics are recognized. Then, the similarity of two visual scenes is calculated according to information theoretic similarity principles and Tversky's set-theoretic similarity. Experiment results demonstrate the framework could compute quantitative semantic similarity of two video scenes.
Wild edge colourings of graphs

Abstract We prove consistent, assuming there is a supercompact cardinal, that there is a singular strong limit cardinal μ, of cofinality ω, such that every μ+-chromatic graph X on μ+ has an edge colouring c of X into μ colours for which every vertex colouring g of X into at most μ many colours has a g-colour class on which c takes every value. The paper also contains some generalisations of the above statement in which μ+ is replaced by other cardinals > μ.
Left–right asymmetry of the gnathostome skull: Its evolutionary, developmental, and functional aspects

Much of the gnathostome (jawed vertebrate) evolutionary radiation was dependent on the ability to sense and interpret the environment and subsequently act upon this information through utilization of a specialized mode of feeding involving the jaws. While the gnathostome skull, reflective of the vertebrate baüplan, typically is bilaterally symmetric with right (dextral) and left (sinistral) halves essentially representing mirror images along the midline, both adaptive and abnormal asymmetries have appeared. Herein we provide a basic primer on studies of the asymmetric development of the gnathostome skull, touching briefly on asymmetry as a field of study, then describing the nature of cranial development and finally underscoring evolutionary and functional aspects of left–right asymmetric cephalic development. genesis 52:515–527, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Neurogenesis in Alzheimer’s disease

It is widely acknowledged that neural stem cells generate new neurons through the process of neurogenesis in the adult brain. In mammals, adult neurogenesis occurs in two areas of the CNS: the subventricular zone and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The newly generated cells display neuronal morphology, generate action potentials and receive functional synaptic inputs, their properties being equivalent to those of mature neurons. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the widespread cause of dementia, and is an age‐related, progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease that results in massive neuronal death and deterioration of cognitive functions. Here, we overview the relations between adult neurogenesis and AD, and try to analyse the controversies in the field. We also summarise recent data obtained in the triple transgenic model of AD that show time‐ and region‐specific impairment of neurogenesis, which may account for the early changes in synaptic plasticity and cognitive impairments that develop prior to gross neurodegenerative alterations and that could underlie new rescue therapies.
High expression of MHC I in the tibialis anterior muscle of a paraplegic patient

A long‐term paraplegic man presented exclusively (>99%) myosin heavy chain I (MHC I) in the tibialis anterior muscle (TA). This was coupled to a slow speed of contraction, a high resistance to fatigue, and a rapid resynthesis of phosphocreatine after an electrically evoked fatiguing contraction when compared with the TA muscles of 9 other paraplegic individuals. In contrast, the MHC composition of his vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles was that expected of a muscle from a spinal cord injured individual. This information may be of clinical importance in terms of the expected morphological and functional adaptations of skeletal muscle to different types of electrical stimulation therapy. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 22: 1731–1737, 1999