Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Sliding Friction on Wet and Dry Sand

We show experimentally that the sliding friction on sand is greatly reduced by the addition of some — but not too much — water. The formation of capillary water bridges increases the shear modulus of the sand, which facilitates the sliding. Too much water, on the other hand, makes the capillary bridges coalesce, resulting in a decrease of the modulus; in this case, we observe that the friction coefficient increases again. Our results, therefore, show that the friction coefficient is directly related to the shear modulus; this has important repercussions for the transport of granular materials. In addition, the polydispersity of the sand is shown to also have a large effect on the friction coefficient.
The Effect of Enteral Feeding Tubes ' Insertion Sites and Preterm Infants ' Positions on Aspirated Gastric Residuals .

Preterm infants born before 37 weeks are not mature enough to coordinate sucking, breathing and swallowing. As they get stronger, they can start to get milk through a tube goes into the stomach through the nose or mouths.Infant body position after feeding has been considered an important factor affecting gastric emptying. Our study aims to assess the effect of enteral feeding tubes' insertion sites and preterm infants' position on feeding tolerance. This quasi-experimental design was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit at Bilques Central Hospital between May 2016 &January 2017. A convenient sample of 98 simple preterm infants were divided randomly into control and experimental groups. The results of this study revealed that there was a positive relation between age on initiation of minimal enteral feeding and duration to reach full enteral feeding. Number of non-significant aspirated gastric residuals were more in preterm infants in the control group than those in the experimental group with a positive relation between amount of aspirated gastric residuals and gestational age for infants in the experimental group. Hence, assigning preterm infant in the right side position could reduce feeding intolerance regardless of the tube insertion site.
LF Wh-Movement and its Locality Constraints in Child Japanese

In natural languages, the mapping from surface form to meaning is often quite complex, and hence the acquisition of the phenomena at the boundary between syntax and semantics has been one of the central issues in current acquisition research. This study addresses the issue of whether children have adult-like knowledge of LF wh-movement and its locality constraints. The results of my experiment demonstrate that knowledge of these properties is already in the grammar of Japanese-speaking preschool children. These results corroborate the findings of previous acquisition research on overt wh-movement that even preschool children conform to locality conditions on movement. This finding supports the continuity hypothesis (e.g., Crain & Thornton 1998) from a new perspective, in that the relevant movement occurs in the LF component and hence is invisible in the input children receive.
PAPER SERIES IZA DP No . 11665 Narratives , Imperatives , and Moral Reasoning JULY 2018

IZA DP No. 11665 JULY 2018 Narratives, Imperatives, and Moral Reasoning* By downplaying externalities, magnifying the cost of moral behavior, or suggesting not being pivotal, exculpatory narratives can allow individuals to maintain a positive image when in fact acting in a morally questionable way. Conversely, responsibilizing narratives can help sustain better social norms. We investigate when narratives emerge from a principal or the actor himself, how they are interpreted and transmitted by others, and when they spread virally. We then turn to how narratives compete with imperatives (general moral rules or precepts) as alternative modes of communication to persuade agents to behave in desirable ways. JEL Classification: D62, D64, D78, D83, D85, D91, H41, K42, L14, Z13
M and A performance improvement : A non-traditional view

Mergers and acquisitions are important phenomena yet many fail (Vermeulen, 2008). Much research has been undertaken to identify reasons for failure with a view towards providing practitioners with suggestions and normative guidelines about how to avoid buying unattractive candidates (Arthur D. Little, Inc, n.d). Acquisition performance could also be improved by increasing the number of attractive candidates that are acquired. Yet there is evidence to suggest that some opportunities are not exploited. Myriad factors might result in the failure of a firm to pursue an attractive candidate after negotiations begin or a public announcement of the intent to acquire it is made. Some of these, like negative reactions of regulatory authorities or the financial community, may be difficult to anticipate or plan for. Other decisions to pursue seemingly attractive candidates, however, are reversed before public announcements of intent are made or negotiations begin as a result of the intervention of factors that may be subject to managerial control. This paper suggests what some of these factors might be. And, it is the position of the paper that they deserve attention during acquisition planning since better management of them might lead to an increase in the number of truly attractive candidates that are acquired and in so doing improve acquisition performance.
A framework for detection of linear gradient filled regions and their reconstruction for vector graphics

Linear gradients are commonly applied in non-photographic art-work for shading and other artistic effects. It is sometimes necessary to generate a vector graphics form of raster images comprising such art-work with the expectation to obtain a simple output that is further editable, say, using any popular vector editing software. Further, this vectorization process should be automatic with minimal user intervention. We present a simple image vectorization algorithm that meets these requirements by detecting linear gradient filled regions and reconstructing the vector definition using that information. It uses a novel interval gradient optimization scheme to derive large regions of uniform gradient. We also demonstrate the technique on noisy images.
Macroeconomic Effects of Debt Relief: Consumer Bankruptcy Protections in the Great Recession

This paper argues that the debt forgiveness provided by the U.S. consumer bankruptcy system helped stabilize employment levels during the Great Recession. We document that over this period, states with more generous bankruptcy exemptions had significantly smaller declines in non-tradable employment and larger increases in unsecured debt write-downs compared to states with less generous exemptions. We interpret these reduced form estimates as the relative effect of debt relief across states, and develop a general equilibrium model to recover the aggregate employment effect. The model yields three key results. First, substantial nominal rigidities are required to rationalize our reduced form estimates. Second, with monetary policy at the zero lower bound, traded good demand spillovers across states boosted employment everywhere. Finally, the ex-post debt forgiveness provided by the consumer bankruptcy system during the Great Recession increased aggregate employment by almost two percent.
Financial manipulation in seasoned equity offerings: evidence from Turkey

Purpose- This study aims to search whether financial manipulation practices was performed on Seasoned Equity Offerings (seos) by 41 firms in Borsa Istanbul for the 2010-2015 period. Methodology- Probit analysis and Beneish (1999) model were used in the study. 9 financial ratios were used as independent variables in the probit model in order to find out wheter the firms make manipulation through these ratios. For the purpose of estimating sample firms’ tendency for manipulation clustering analysis was also used. Manipulation possibilities were calculated for each firms. Finally based on average index values, firms were grouped as a having high and low manipulation tendency. Findings- In the model, based on an event study conducted via the bulletins and reports of BIST and SPK, 20 firms were considered as manipulator while the remaining considered as control firms. It was observed that most of manipulation techniques (%89) were made in order to increase period profit. Conclusion- It has been confirmed that firms that conducted seos applied the financial manipulation techniques during the analysis period. 3 independent variables include Asset Quality Index, Inventories / Net Sales Index and Total Accruals / Total Assets index were found to be statistically significant in determining whether firms apply financial manipulation. Based on the robustness test, the model’s estimating power was calculated as %70.23. According to the model’s reliability test, 11 firms were found as a having high manipulation tendency. This finding refers success rate for estimating manipulator firms in our model is % 55 (11/20).
Intellectual Property , Prior Knowledge & the Survival of New Firms

Some empirical studies find that patents and copyrights create value for firms, while others suggest they confer little benefit. This discrepancy is puzzling. We suggest that specific knowledge enables some firms to leverage their intellectual property better than others. Using panel microdata from the Kauffman Firm Survey, we examine how intellectual property protection affects firm survival---alone and in conjunction with three types of prior knowledge possessed by a firm’s founder. We find that intellectual property alone does not improve a firm’s survival prospects, but the type of prior knowledge a firm founder possesses may be critical. Prior entrepreneurial experience alone confers no direct survival benefit on young firms, nor does it enhance survival benefits derived from intellectual property protection. Prior industry experience confers direct survival benefits on young firms and enhances survival benefits from intellectual property protection. Prior entrepreneurial experience in the same industry confers no direct survival benefit, but dramatically enhances the survival benefits that young high-tech firms derive from intellectual property protection. These findings suggest that specific forms of prior knowledge may allow founders to better deploy a firm’s intellectual property to improve firm performance.
Prognostic Significance of Pretreatment Plasma D-dimer Levels in EGFR-Positive Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Osimertinib: A Multicentre Retrospective Study

Purpose This study examined the association between plasma D-dimer levels and overall survival (OS) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with osimertinib. Methods In this multicenter study, 88 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and receiving osimertinib were enrolled. The target independent and dependent variables were the D-dimer levels before osimertinib treatment and OS time, respectively. The t-test or chi-square test was utilized to analyze the variances among various groups. The predictive significance of D-dimer for overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results The selected patients had an average age of 58.01±10.72 years, with females comprising 54.55%. Based on their D-dimer levels, the patients were categorized into three groups: low-level (< 0.6 mg/L), middle-level (0.6 ~ 2 mg/L), and high-level (≥ 2 mg/L). After accounting for possible confounding variables, the Cox proportional hazard model showed that increased D-dimer levels were linked to a greater likelihood of death (HR 2.28, 95% CI = 1.09 ~ 4.76, p = 0.029). Importantly, there was a significant trend indicating that as D-dimer levels rose, the risk of mortality also increased (p for trend, HR 1.15, 95% CI = 1.03 ~ 1.28, p = 0.012). Consistently comparable outcomes were noted in the majority of subcategories. Patients with low-middle and high D dimer levels had a median OS of 28.6 and 17 months, respectively (p =0.014). Conclusion In conclusion, elevated levels of D-dimer in the bloodstream were found to have a significant negative correlation with the overall survival (OS) of patients with EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent treatment with osimertinib.
Selected Topics : Critical Care ATRIAL TACHYCARDIA MIMICKING ATRIOVENTRICULAR NODAL REENTRY TACHYCARDIA

, Abstract—Background: The term supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is used to describe tachydysrhythmias that require atrial or atrioventricular nodal tissue for their initiation and maintenance. SVT can be used to describe atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia, atrioventricular reentry tachycardia, and atrial tachycardia (AT). AT is the least common of these SVT subtypes, accounting for only 10% of cases. Although the suggested initial management of each SVT subtype is different, they all can present with similar symptoms and electrocardiographic findings. Objective: Discuss the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of AT as compared with other types of SVT. Case Report: We report a 56-year-old woman with symptoms and electrocardiographic findings consistent with SVT. Although standard treatment with intravenous adenosine failed to convert the SVT, it revealed AT as the cause of the tachydysrhythmia. The AT was successfully terminated with beta-blockade and the patient eventually underwent successful radioablation of three separate AT foci. Conclusions: AT frequently mimics other more common forms of SVT. AT might be recognized only when standard treatment of SVT has failed. Identification of AT in this setting is crucial to allow for more definitive therapy. 2013 Elsevier Inc.
Moyamoya Disease: Clinical and Radiological Characteristics in Adult Greek Patients

Background and purpose: The aim of our study is to present, for the first time, the clinical, radiological, and neurocognitive characteristics of Greek adult patients with Moyamoya disease (MMD). Methods: We analyzed prospectively collected data of 12 patients referred to our department from 2004 to 2019. All patients underwent a thorough diagnostic work up, including extensive clinical, neuroradiological, and neurocognitive assessment. Results: Our study population consisted of 7 females and the median age at the time of the diagnosis was 43.5 years. No patient had a positive family history of the disease and roughly 50% were hypertensives. Ten patients presented with transient or permanent cerebrovascular ischemia and two patients suffered from hemorrhagic complications. The median NIHSS was 7.5 (0–23) and clinical status remained stable during follow-up with conservative treatment in most of the patients. The majority (83.3%) had bilateral disease confirmed by DSA. All lesions exclusively affected the anterior circulation, with 50% of patients presenting with stenoocclusive changes. No aneurysm or AVM were revealed. The most common neurocognitive deficits were in the executive and language domains. Conclusions: Our MMD patients had a later onset of the disease and an absence of familial occurrence. The most common manifestation was ischemia, transient or permanent, and all lesions affected the anterior circulation, whereas no vascular malformations (AVM, aneurysms) were demonstrated in brain imaging. These findings in Greek patients imply a probable different, Mediterranean phenotype.
Mycobacterium avium Subspecies paratuberculosis Infection in Cases of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Comparison with Crohn ’ s Disease and Johne ’ s Disease : Common Neural and Immune Pathogenicities

Published Ahead of Print 3 October 2007. 10.1128/JCM.01371-07. 2007, 45(12):3883. DOI: J. Clin. Microbiol. Zanetti and John Hermon-Taylor Sanderson, Leonardo A. Sechi, Giuseppe Dettori, Stefania Antonio M. Scanu, Tim J. Bull, Sara Cannas, Jeremy D. Pathogenicities Common Neural and Immune with Crohn's Disease and Johne's Disease: Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Comparison Infection in Cases of paratuberculosis Subspecies Mycobacterium avium
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Visualization , Search and Analysis of Hierarchical Translation Equivalence in Machine Translation Data

Translation equivalence constitutes the basis of all Machine Translation systems including the recent hierarchical and syntax-based systems. For hierarchical MT research it is important to have a tool that supports the qualitative and quantitative analysis of hierarchical translation equivalence relations extracted from word alignments in data. In this paper we present such a toolkit and exemplify some of its uses. The main challenges taken up in designing this tool are the efficient and compact, yet complete, representation of hierarchical translation equivalence coupled with an intuitive visualization of these hierarchical relations. We exploit a new hierarchical representation, called Hierarchical Alignment Trees (HATs), which is based on an extension of the algorithms used for factorizing n-ary branching SCFG rules into their minimally-branching equivalents. Our toolkit further provides a search capability based on hierarchically relevant properties of word alignments and/or translation equivalence relations. Finally, the tool allows detailed statistical analysis of word alignments, thereby providing a breakdown of alignment statistics according to the complexity of translation equivalence units or reordering phenomena. We illustrate this with an empirical study of the coverage of inversion-transduction grammars for a number of corpora enriched with manual or automatic word alignments, followed by a breakdown of corpus statistics to reordering complexity.
How can African agriculture adapt to climate change: Assessing Household Vulnerability to Climate Change: The Case of Farmers in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia

Ethiopia remains one of the least-developed countries in the world: 50 percent of the population lives in abject poverty, and average life expectancy is only 43 years. Agriculture-the main sector of the Ethiopian economy-employs about 80 percent of the population and is dominated by small-scale, mixed crop and livestock production with very low productivity, which can be attributed to obsolete farming techniques; soil degradation caused by overgrazing and deforestation; poor complementary services, such as extension, credit, markets, and infrastructure; and frequent droughts and floods.
BAG: Bi-directional Attention Entity Graph Convolutional Network for Multi-hop Reasoning Question Answering

Multi-hop reasoning question answering requires deep comprehension of relationships between various documents and queries. We propose a Bi-directional Attention Entity Graph Convolutional Network (BAG), leveraging relationships between nodes in an entity graph and attention information between a query and the entity graph, to solve this task. Graph convolutional networks are used to obtain a relation-aware representation of nodes for entity graphs built from documents with multi-level features. Bidirectional attention is then applied on graphs and queries to generate a query-aware nodes representation, which will be used for the final prediction. Experimental evaluation shows BAG achieves state-of-the-art accuracy performance on the QAngaroo WIKIHOP dataset.
Privacy preservation in continuous-time average consensus algorithm via deterministic additive perturbation signals

Author(s): Rezazadeh, Navid; Kia, Solmaz S | Abstract: This paper considers the problem of privacy preservation against passive internal and external malicious agents in the continuous-time Laplacian average consensus algorithm over strongly connected and weight-balanced digraphs. For this problem, we evaluate the effectiveness of use of additive perturbation signals as a privacy preservation measure against malicious agents that know the graph topology. Our results include (a) identifying the necessary and sufficient conditions on admissible additive perturbation signals that do not perturb the convergence point of the algorithm from the average of initial values of the agents; (b) obtaining the necessary and sufficient condition on the knowledge set of a malicious agent that enables it to identify the initial value of another agent; (c) designing observers that internal and external malicious agents can use to identify the initial conditions of another agent when their knowledge set on that agent enables them to do so. We demonstrate our results through a numerical example.
Environmental Changes and the Dynamics of Musical Identity

Musical tastes reflect our unique values and experiences, our relationships with others, and the places where we live. But as each of these things changes, do our tastes also change to reflect the present, or remain fixed, reflecting our past? Here, we investigate how where a person lives shapes their musical preferences, using geographic relocation to construct quasi-natural experiments that measure short- and long-term effects. Analyzing comprehensive data on over 16 million users on Spotify, we show that relocation within the United States has only a small impact on individuals’ tastes, which remain more similar to those of their past environments. We then show that the age gap between a person and the music they consume indicates that adolescence, and likely their environment during these years, shapes their lifelong musical tastes. Our results demonstrate the robustness of individuals’ musical identity, and shed new light on the development of preferences.
Immersion visuelle réaliste: proposition d'un modèle d'évaluation. (Ralistic visual immersion: Proposal of an evaluation model)

La these « Immersion visuelle hyper-realiste et multi-sensorielle 3D » a ete realisee dans le cadre d’un contrat CIFRE etabli entre les Arts et Metiers d’une part et Renault SAS d’autre part. Elle propose un modele de score permettant d’evaluer objectivement de la capacite d’un systeme d’affichage immersif a reproduire le bon niveau de stimulation sensorielle pour un utilisateur, par rapport a ce qu’il recevrait dans la realite et a la modelisation du systeme visuel humain.Dans un premier temps nous nous sommes interesse a poser les bases du modele : celui-ci est compose de douze criteres, repartis equitablement en une somme d’indices de vision et d’indices d’immersion. Chaque critere se voit attribuer, dans la mesure du possible, une note de 0 a 100. La note de 0 represente l’incapacite du systeme visuel a percevoir ou a utiliser les informations visuelles, tandis que la note de 100 incarne la capacite maximale.Une note de 80 est egalement assignee pour la performance standard. Chaque critere se voit assigner une ponderation en fonction de la tâche realisee en environnement virtuel. Nous realisons dans un second temps une serie d’experimentations afin de completer les informations disponibles dans la litterature, pour l’etablissement des criteres. On s’interesse plus particulierement au contraste et a la latence. La premiere experimentation consiste en la transposition et la validation d’un modele de performance visuelle en Realite Virtuelle. Dans la seconde, on compare les effets de la latence sur une tâche donnee, entre un simulateur de type CAVE et un casque de Realite Virtuelle.La these propose un certain nombre de resultats tant theoriques et methodologiques qu’experimentaux. En condition d’immersion virtuelle, les criteres de contraste et de luminance sont importants pour la perception visuelle. Les experiences realisees montrent qu’un modele adapte aux conditions d’immersion virtuelle est necessaire. Par ailleurs, on montre que des seuils d’influence de la latence sur la performance semblent exister. On verifie egalement la pertinence de correlations entre performance, presence et mal du simulateur, en fonction de la latence et du systeme immersif.