Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Stroke and Stroke-Related Disability

Prevalence of Stroke and Stroke-Related Disability To the Editor: Bonita and colleagues 1 provide valuable information on the prevalence of stroke and the proportion with persisting sequelae. Their conclusions, drawn on the basis on an actuarial model, agree well with the results from a population-based survey from Nord-Trøndelag County, Norway. 2 This study comprised 74 977 persons, including permanent nursing home residents; the attendance rate was 88.1%. The raw prevalence rate of stroke was 1850 per 100 000 in the population aged $20 years and 960 per 100 000 when standardized to the entire European population. However, when the sensitivity and specificity of the screening question3 are taken into account, one may have to adjust the prevalence estimate downward to approximately 1100 per 100 000. 4 In the Table, age-specific prevalence estimates from the Nord-Trøndelag and the Auckland studies are compared. The Nord-Trøndelag study 2 provides figures for self-reported motor impairments, whereas the Auckland study 1 reports the prevalence rate of patients with self-reported incomplete recovery and those who need help in activities of daily living. The results of the two studies (for both sexes combined) are summarized in the Table. Despite focusing on different sequelae, the results are similar, especially in the older age groups. In the younger age groups, both studies have low numbers of events and thus less confident estimates. The credibility of such estimates increases when similar results are obtained by two different methods. The prevalence of stroke seems to be considerably higher than reported in older studies with more highly selected populations, 5 and it increases from about 1% at age 50 to about 10% in the age group over 80 years. Approximately one in three of the younger patients and three in four of the older patients have persisting impairments and disabilities from the combined effect of stroke and other chronic diseases. 6
Skill Demands in the Audit Labor Market: Evidence from Job Postings

This study examines how the demand for auditor skill sets has changed over the past decade as well as how these changes relate to audit quality and audit fees. Using a novel dataset that contains the near-universe of online job postings by accounting firms from 2007 to 2017, we find that audit firms have decreased their demand for auditors and increased their demand for IT-related personnel. We also find that audit firms are increasingly demanding expanded skill sets from their auditors—the portion of cognitive, social, and IT-related skills has increased over our sample period whereas financial skills have remained relatively flat. Further, we find substantial variation in the demand for skills not only across audit firms, but also across offices within an audit firm. More importantly, these differences in skill requirements have a significant effect on audit quality—specifically, audit offices that demand more social and cognitive skills are less likely to have clients experience subsequent restatements. Taken together, our findings provide new insights on the changing dynamics of the auditor labor market and their relations to audit quality.
The relationship between corporate governance and stock prices in the GCC financial markets

The study investigates the impact of corporate governance characteristics on stock prices in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) financial markets. It covers the financial markets of four (GCC) countries with a sample of 237 firms for the period of 2013-2017. The study was based on the GCC financial markets’ database, financial statements and ancillary notes which include corporate governance, stock prices by Bloomberg and share location. A multi-regression model was used. The independent variables were four corporate governance characteristics and the dependent variable was the stock price, in addition to using a number of control variables. A positive relationship was found between corporate governance and return on stock. The Gulf companies that have increased levels of corporate governance have increased returns to their shares, indicating that these companies are working to reduce the agency’s cost and eliminate the conflict between shareholders and directors. Few studies have focused on the relationship of corporate governance characteristics on stock prices in the GCC financial markets. The existing study contributes to the financial management literature by providing further evidence on such a relationship, especially in emerging countries. It serves as a guide to investors looking for the best investments in reliable companies in the region
DYNAMIC STATE OF ECOSYSTEM CARRYING CAPACITY UNDER ISLAND URBANIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF PINGTAN ISLAND IN THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF CHINA

The assessment of ecological environment during the large-scale development of islands is a major topic in the study of current coastal islands. Choosing the appropriate assessment method to evaluate the suitability of carrying capacity of islands and making relevant suggestions are significant to the sustainable development of islands. Ecological footprint method is used to analyze the ecological carrying capacity of Pingtan Island (PI) from 2005 to 2016 for promoting the coordinated rational development and construction and ecological environment of the island. Although PI is in rapid urban development and construction, the island maintains secure and stable ecological conditions. PI is used as a research case to analyze the sustainable development of the ecological environment through the carrying capacity of the island ecosystem.
Enhancing Students’ Creative Thinking Skill through Tourism Community Engagement

Students are ‘engaged’ in the community when they play a significant part in the discussions, considerations, decision-making, and implementation of a program that is designed to be closely related to the concerns of both the students and the community. The study describes the implementation of creative thinking skill as a foundation in designing a community engagement project. The project was conducted in a tourism village in Purwakarta, Indonesia and the objective of our study is to employ the creative thinking skill principles to design a familiarizing program for rejuvenating the tourism promotion system in the area. By implementing the creative thinking elements, the students are assigned to analyze the existing system and proposes alternatives for improving the tourism promotion in the area. Also, a grounded study was implemented to analyze and observe the current issues and the potential of the village. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions and secondary data gathering were also conducted as parts of the study. As the results, social capital and professional linkages play a prominent role in familiarizing a tourism object. The reflective paper also argues that by implementing creative thinking principles, the students are able to address the emerging issues and lead to a better understanding to where they focus in improving the
University of Birmingham Ensembles and locality : insight on improving software effort estimation

Context: Ensembles of learning machines and locality are considered two important topics for the next research frontier on Software Effort Estimation (SEE). Objectives: We aim at (1) evaluating whether existing automated ensembles of learning machines gener- ally improve SEEs given by single learning machines and which of them would be more useful; (2) analysing the adequacy of different locality approaches; and getting insight on (3) how to improve SEE and (4) how to evaluate/choose machine learning (ML) models for SEE. Method: A principled experimental framework is used for the analysis and to provide insights that are not based simply on intuition or speculation. A comprehensive experimental study of several automated ensembles, single learning machines and locality approaches, which present features potentially beneﬁ- cial for SEE, is performed. Additionally, an analysis of feature selection and regression trees (RTs), and an investigation of two tailored forms of combining ensembles and locality are performed to provide further insight on improving SEE. Results: Bagging ensembles of RTs show to perform well, being highly ranked in terms of performance across different data sets, being frequently among the best approaches for each data set and rarely performing considerably worse than the best approach for any data set. They are recommended over other learning machines should an organisation have no resources to perform experiments to chose a model. Even though RTs have been shown to be more reliable locality approaches, other approaches such as k -Means and k -Nearest Neighbours can also perform well, in particular for more heterogeneous data sets. Conclusion: Combining the power of automated ensembles and locality can lead to competitive results in SEE. By analysing such approaches, we provide several insights that can be used by future research in the area. 2012 Elsevier B.V. All reserved.
The Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Irish Potato Producers in Santa Subdivision, Cameroon

Irish potato is one of the major staple food and cash crops in Cameroon. Several studies have been conducted on the agronomic aspect of the crop, but very little is known on the technical efficiency of potato producers in the country. This study examines the technical efficiency of smallholder Irish potato producers in the Santa subdivision and the determinants of technical efficiency. Data were collected through surveys of Irish potato producers, and analyses were conducted using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Tobit model. The research findings imply that, in order to reduce the level of technical inefficiencies among smallholder Irish potato producers, appropriate training should be provided to farmers in order to improve their agronomic knowledge with respect to potato production. In addition, emphasis should be placed on policies and programs that promote extension services in order to improve the performance of Irish potato producers in the Santa subdivision. Again, more credit institutions, such as microfinance institutions, should be established by the government in order to help farmers access enough credit for potato production.
NATURE AGAINST THE HUMAN SPECIES: SCIENCE IN THE APOCALYPTIC NOVELS BY JAMES BALLARD AND OLAF STAPLEDON

The paper focuses on the post-apocalyptic novels by J. G. Ballard The Wind from Nowhere (1961) and Last and First Men by Olaf W. Stapledon (1930), by analysing scientific phenomena and discoveries employed in these novels, in which the novum is used as the springboard for the observations about human nature and human futurity. These novels can serve as a warning to mankind and may be seen as allegorical representations of the breakdown of society facing existential threats. Not only do both writers in these novels use the latest achievements in quantum physics and astrophysics, but they also provide profound psychological analysis of the human species doomed to inevitable extinction. Stapledon and Ballard suggest that negative human features such as unquenchable thirst for money and power, egoism, irresponsibility can also lead to wars and ecological catastrophes causing the extinction of the human species. These novels can serve as a warning to the humankind and as a call to combine the great powers of science, common sense, and the best human qualities in order to solve problems threatening the existence of humankind, from the climate change to a supernova explosion.
A New Complex Network Model with Multiweights and Its Synchronization Control

Based on the weighted complex network model, this paper establishes a multiweight complex network model, which possesses several different weights on the one edge. According to the method of network split, the complex network with multiweights is split into several different complex networks with single weight. Some new static characteristics, such as node weight, node degree, node weight strength, node weight distribution, edge weight distribution, and diversity of weight distribution are defined. Then, by using Lyapunov stability theory, the adaptive feedback synchronization controller is designed, and the complete synchronization of the new complex network model is investigated. Two numerical examples of a triweight network model with the same and diverse structure are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control strategies. The synchronization design can achieve good results in the same and diverse structure network models with multiweights, which enrich complex network and control theory, so has certain theoretical and practical significance.
Phosphorus- and Iron-Deficiency Stresses Affect Arsenic Accumulation and Root Exudates in Pteris vittata

Phosphorus (P) and iron (Fe) are important elements for arsenic (As) transportation between plant and As contaminated soil. In the case of As phytoremediation, a better understanding of the roles to the P and Fe in regulating As bioavailability and plant growth will be beneficial to optimize the phytoremediation process. In this study, we demonstrated that both As absorption and translocation from root to shoot of Pteris vittata were enhanced under phosphorus deficiency. In high arsenic concentration treatments, P. vittata assimilated more As under nutrient deficiency. Moreover, As persuaded plants to secrete oxalic acid in sufficient nutrients. Pand Fe-deficiency stimulate more oxalic acid exuded by plants.
Relationship between Emotional Eating and Big Five Personality Characteristics and Mood Disorder Symptoms

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotionally triggered eating behaviour and mood disorder symptoms and personality characteristics. The sample of the research consisted of between 17-25 years old 300 university students. The measurements are a sociodemographic, Emotional Appetite Questionnaire, Mood Disorder Questionnaire, and The Big Five Inventory. Data were analysed performing T-Tests, correlation and regression analysis. Results indicated there is a significant relationship between mood disorder symptoms, some of emotional eating appetite sub-dimensions and some variables of Big Five personality traits of agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extroversion personality. There was no relationship between mood disorders and emotional eating behaviors. Extroversion, openness, and conscientiousness were significant predictor of positive mood appetite, anxiety-based mood appetite, and dysphoric mood appetite respectively.
Augmented Reality Plant & Animal Cells: Design and Evaluation of an Educational Augmented Reality Application

In this paper, we present a usability evaluation of a custom AR educational tool designed to improve students’ understanding of the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. We argue that the design of the Augmented Reality Plant & Animal Cells (ARPAC) tool promotes a self-driven approach to learning by presenting textbook content as interactive, 3D models that can be uncovered by exploring sections of their school textbooks with our app. Furthermore, the design of ARPAC can be mapped easily onto other subjects, providing teachers with additional pedagogical tools to utilize in the classroom. Preliminary results of a usability study support our initial design of a textbook-driven AR application to support learning in science subjects.
The Constitutive Activity of HCMV-encod- ed Chemokine Receptor US28 Stimulates the Progression of Glioblastoma

1Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines and Systems (AIMMS), Division of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1108, 1081 HZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2Neuro-oncology Research Group, Cancer Center Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands 3Ablynx N.V. , Technologiepark 21, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium 4 Department of Medicine Solna, Experimental Cardiovascular Research Unit and Department of Medicine and Neurology, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
QSAR Study of New Compounds Based on 1,2,4-Triazole as Potential Anticancer Agents

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer, usually with poor prognosis, as it is mostly discovered at an advanced stage of development where treatment is challenging. Using principal components analysis (PCA) of variable selection, multiple linear regression (MLR), multiple non-linear regression (MNLR) and the artificial neural network (ANN), 2D-QSAR models for the anti-pancreatic cancer activity are developed from a set of twenty three molecules of 1, 2, 4-triazole derivatives to build the QSAR models. The well generated MLR and MNLR models exhibit the cross validation coefficients Q2 of 0.51 and 0.90, respectively. Moreover, the predictive ability of those models has been evaluated by the external validation using a test set of four compounds with predicted determination coefficients R2test of 0.936 and 0.852, respectively. The artificial neural network (ANN) method has shown a correlation coefficient of 0.896 with an architecture 3-2-1. The obtained results indicate the validation and the good quality of the 2D-QSAR models.
Protecting the urban environment from fecal contamination: Detailed Review of a Recent Publication: High coverage of improved household sanitation is needed in urban areas to reduce environmental fecal contamination

The WaSH Policy Research Digest is issued by The Water Institute at UNC—problem solvers focused on the sustainable management of water for health and human development—and comprises a review of a recent article or report, and a short literature review on a WaSH topic. It provides objective, concise and timely information to advise WaSH policy development. To subscribe, please go to waterinstitute.unc.edu/wash-policy-research-digest. Questions or comments about this publication? Please contact us at waterinstitute@unc.edu. research suggests that it is imperative that the safe containment, separation and management of human excreta are addressed along the entire sanitation chain, not just within private households or domestic compounds. With over half of the world’s population now residing in urban areas, and two-thirds expected to by 2050 (United Nations, 2015), the safe containment and separation of household excreta must be a key priority for protecting public health in urban areas.
The relationship between TFP and innovation performance: evidence from EU regions

Research background: Total factor productivity (TFP) determines how efficiently and intensely the available inputs are used and combined in production process. Improvement of TFP performance requires identification of its determinants, thus enabling policy actions to focus on them. Since the ability to create and absorb innovation is considered as a crucial factor of economic development, the investigation of the impact of the level of regional innovative performance on TFP distribution across EU regions is an important research problem. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly, we attempt to develop a theoretical framework for the analysis of the impact of innovation on TFP. Secondly, we assess TFP levels for regions in the EU and investigate whether innovations account for the observed regional disparities in TFP. Methods: The research sample consists of 202 European Union (EU) regions at NUTS 1 and NUTS 2 level from 22 countries. The regional data on GDP, employment and gross fixed capital formation come from the Eurostat. The source of data on the level of innovativeness of European regions is the Regional Innovation Scoreboard. To calculate TFP, we use the multiplicatively-complete Fare-Primont index. In turn, to examine the impact of innovation on TFP, we employ the spatially-lagged X model. Findings & Value added: Our findings show a high degree of dispersion in TFP across EU regions. We find a positive impact of regional innovation performance on TFP. Although theoretical papers on economic development and regional economics suggest that improvements in TFP are key to regional economic performance, and that innovations are crucial to gain such productivity effects, there is a dearth of empirical studies on the link between innovation and TFP at the regional level. Therefore, our paper attempts to fill this gap by providing the evidence of positive effect of innovation externalities on TFP in European regions.
A new LDL-masked liposomal doxorubicin overcomes drug resistance in osteosarcoma

(FPP) and cholesterol, two key metabolites that were markedly increased in drug resistant sublines. By reducing the FPP levels, atorvastatin decreased the Ras/ERK1/2/HIF-1 a axis and down-regulated Pgp expression. Moreover, by decreasing cholesterol biosynthesis atorvastatin increased the levels of low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), that was also progressively increased in the dox-resistant sublines. Taking advantage of this findings, we treated dox-resistant osteosarcoma with atorvastatin followed by treatment with dox encapsulated in liposomes decorated with an LDLR-binding peptide, hence facilitating binding to, and endocytosis via LDLR. This treatment strategy induced high retention of dox in dox-resistant cells, reduced cell viability in vitro and displayed growth inhibition of dox-resistance in mouse xenograft model. Hence, we propose the combination of statins plus LDL-decorated liposomal dox as a novel treatment strategy for Pgp-expressing multidrug resistant osteosarcomas.
Measuring the Environmental Benefits from Transportation Electrification: Urban Electric Buses∗

We determine the environmental benefit of using electric buses rather than diesel for urban transit. For diesel we calculate air pollution damages using an integrated assessment model (AP3). For electric buses we initially use marginal damage estimates from the literature. The environmental benefit of operating an electric bus fleet (rather than diesel) is about $70 million per year in Los Angeles and above $9 million per year in five other MSA’s. Thirteen MSA’s have benefits which exceed 10/c per mile, and the benefit in Los Angeles exceeds 60/c per mile. We also explore three methods for determining more spatially disaggregated estimates of marginal damages from electricity consumption. Two of the methods use OLS, and one uses a machine learning technique (Lasso). Using data from Texas, which allows for a rich set of controls, we show these methods provide similar estimates for the three largest regions. Moreover, two of the methods may work reasonably well in other parts of the country for which detailed controls have not been available. Preliminary. Please do not cite or quote. JEL Codes: D62, H23, Q53, Q54
Porównanie wydajności trójwymiarowych gier z użyciem silników CryEngine i Unity

This article presents the results of the performance studies of applications created with use of CryEngine and Unity game engines. Presented research was mainly focused on comparison of two applications created on selected engines. Several parameters were selected for the research: frame rate, CPU usage, RAM usage and generation time of 3D objects. Created applications were built with the use of the same graphic resources and similar source code. The hypotheses set in the article – Unity game engine is more efficient than CryEngine – have been verified and partially confirmed: engines are more efficient in different environments.