Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
House Prices and Ultra-Low Interest Rates: Exploring the Non-Linear Nexus

The acceleration of house price growth amidst falling interest rates to record-low levels across euro area countries between 2015 and 2021 has sparked renewed interest in the link between the two variables. Asset-pricing theory suggests that real house prices respond to changes in real interest rates in a non-linear fashion. This non-linearity should be especially pronounced at very low real interest rates. Most existing empirical studies estimate models with a constant semi-elasticity, thereby ruling out by design the potential non-linearities between house prices and interest rates. To address this issue, we estimate a panel model for the euro area countries with a constant interest rate elasticity (as opposed to a constant semi-elasticity), which is consistent with asset pricing theory. Our empirical results suggest that, in a low interest rate environment such as the period between 2015 and 2021, non-linearities in the house price response to interest rate changes are important: an increase of real interest rates from ultra-low levels could lead to downward pressure on real house prices three to eight times higher than the literature suggests.
Effect of Calcium Hydroxide on Physicochemical and In Vitro Digestibility Properties of Tartary Buckwheat Starch-Rutin Complex Prepared by Pre-Gelatinization and Co-Gelatinization Methods

This study examined the effect of calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2, 0.6%, w/w) on structural, physicochemical and in vitro digestibility properties of the complexed system of Tartary buckwheat starch (TBS) and rutin (10%, w/w). The pre-gelatinization and co-gelatinization methods were also compared. SEM results showed that the presence of Ca(OH)2 promoted the connection and further strengthened the pore wall of the three-dimensional network structure of the gelatinized and retrograded TBS-rutin complex, indicating the complex possessed a more stable structure with the presence of Ca(OH)2, which were also confirmed by the results of textural analysis and TGA. Additionally, Ca(OH)2 reduced relative crystallinity (RC), degree of order (DO) and enthalpy, inhibiting their increase during storage, thereby retarding the regeneration of the TBS-rutin complex. A higher storage modulus (G′) value was observed in the complexes when Ca(OH)2 was added. Results of in vitro digestion revealed that Ca(OH)2 retarded the hydrolysis of the complex, resulting in an increase in values in slow-digestible starch and resistant starch (RS). Compared with pre-gelatinization, the complex process prepared with the co-gelatinization method presented lower RC, DO, enthalpy, and higher RS. The present work indicates the potential beneficial effect of Ca(OH)2 during the preparation of starch-polyphenol complex and would be helpful to reveal the mechanism of Ca(OH)2 on improving the quality of rutin riched Tartary buckwheat products.
Simplicial objects in algebraic topology

Since it was first published in 1967, Simplicial Objects in Algebraic Topology has been the standard reference for the theory of simplicial sets and their relationship to the homotopy theory of topological spaces. J. Peter May gives a lucid account of the basic homotopy theory of simplicial sets (discrete analogs of topological spaces) which have played a central role in algebraic topology ever since their introduction in the late 1940s. "Simplicial Objects in Algebraic Topology presents much of the elementary material of algebraic topology from the semi-simplicial viewpoint. It should prove very valuable to anyone wishing to learn semi-simplicial topology. [May] has included detailed proofs, and he has succeeded very well in the task of organizing a large body of previously scattered material. "--Mathematical Review
Lie algebras associated with generalized Cartan matrices

2. Preliminaries. In this note, * will always denote a field of characteristic zero. An integral square matrix satisfying M l , M2, and M3 will be called a generalized Cartan matrix, or g.c. m. for short. Z will denote the integers, and in any Lie algebra we will use the symbol [lu h, , In] to denote the product [ • • • [[hh] • • • ]L]. 1 These results were obtained in my dissertation at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor M.J. Wonenburger.
Prolonged Egg Supplement Advances Growing Child’s Growth and Gut Microbiota

Protein-energy malnutrition still impacts children’s growth and development. We investigated the prolonged effects of egg supplementation on growth and microbiota in primary school children. For this study, 8–14-year-old students (51.5% F) in six rural schools in Thailand were randomly assigned into three groups: (1) whole egg (WE), consuming 10 additional eggs/week (n = 238) (n = 238); (2) protein substitute (PS), consuming yolk-free egg substitutes equivalent to 10 eggs/week (n = 200); and (3) control group (C, (n = 197)). The outcomes were measured at week 0, 14, and 35. At the baseline, 17% of the students were underweight, 18% were stunted, and 13% were wasted. At week 35, compared to the C group the weight and height difference increased significantly in the WE group (3.6 ± 23.5 kg, p < 0.001; 5.1 ± 23.2 cm, p < 0.001). No significant differences in weight or height were observed between the PS and C groups. Significant decreases in atherogenic lipoproteins were observed in the WE, but not in PS group. HDL-cholesterol tended to increase in the WE group (0.02 ± 0.59 mmol/L, ns). The bacterial diversity was similar among the groups. The relative abundance of Bifidobacterium increased by 1.28-fold in the WE group compared to the baseline and differential abundance analysis which indicated that Lachnospira increased and Varibaculum decreased significantly. In conclusion, prolonged whole egg supplementation is an effective intervention to improve growth, nutritional biomarkers, and gut microbiota with unaltered adverse effects on blood lipoproteins.
Type-III seesaw mechanism at CERN LHC

Neutrino masses can be generated by fermion triplets with TeV-scale mass, that would manifest at LHC as production of two leptons together with two heavy standard model (SM) vectors or Higgs, giving rise to final states such as 2 +4j (that can violate lepton number and/or lepton flavor) or +4j+E T. We devise cuts to suppress the SM backgrounds to these signatures. Furthermore, for most of the mass range suggested by neutrino data, triplet decays are detectably displaced from the production point, allowing to infer the neutrino mass parameters. We compare with LHC signals of type-I and type-II seesaw. © 2008 The American Physical Society.
Utility of Saline Infusion Sonohysterography in Gynecology: A Review Article

This study aimed to describe the role played by saline infusion sonohysterosalpingography (SIS) in the evaluation of uterine lesions. Saline infusion sonohysterosalpingography provides three-dimensional (3D) images with high resolution, which, in turn, gives a good orientation to clinicians and radiologists, in most cases, about the underlying endometrial and tubal pathologies. Saline infusion sonohysterosalpingography is an underused imaging modality that has some advantages over other conventional imaging modalities. It can be used in the diagnosis of gynecological conditions. Saline infusion sonohysterosalpingography gets an edge over other modalities because of its ease of use, cost efficacy, and non-invasive nature while having comparable or even better accuracy than most imaging modalities used in gynecological conditions. Its cost efficacy and excellent pathological characterization make it an imaging modality beneficial for Indian healthcare setups as a whole, and rural healthcare setups in particular where patients cannot afford expensive investigations. This review covers indications and contraindications, imaging technique, drawbacks in imaging, use of SIS in various uterine pathologies, and, in the end, a comparison of SIS with other imaging modalities. Saline infusion sonohysterosalpingography is indicated in most of the prevalent gynecological diseases in India with the reported post-procedural complications being very few. There are a few contraindications as well which should be kept in mind and these are mentioned later. During the procedure, aseptic precautions should be taken. Comparison between imaging modalities will bring out the better modality for a particular case according to the need of the patient.
Treatment resistant psychosis in children and adolescents and clozapine: Nuances

With proliferation in research on high-risk psychosis spectrum diseases, it is crucial to distinguish a prodrome or psychosis-like episode in children and adolescents from true psychosis. The limited role of psychopharmacology in such circumstances is well-documented, underlining the difficulties in diagnosing treatment resistance. To add to the confusion is emerging data on the head-to-head comparison trials for treatment-resistant and treatment-refractory schizophrenia. Clozapine, the gold-standard drug for resistant schizophrenia and other psychotic psychopathology, lacks FDA or manufacturer guidelines for use in the pediatric population. Possibly due to developmental pharmacokinetic (PK) considerations, clozapine-related side effects are more commonly seen in children than adults. Despite evidence of an increased risk for seizures and hematological problems in children, clozapine is widely used off-label. Clozapine reduces the severity of resistant childhood schizophrenia, aggression, suicidality, and severe non-psychotic illness. There is inconsistent prescribing, administration, and monitoring of clozapine, and limited database evidence-backed guidelines. Despite the overwhelming efficacy, problems remain regarding unambiguous indications of use and risk-benefits assessments. This article reviews the nuances in the diagnosis of treatment resistance psychosis in childhood and adolescents and its management, in particular highlighting the evidence base for clozapine in this population group.
Granularity of knowledge, indiscernibility and rough sets

Granularity of knowledge has attracted attention of many researchers. This paper concerns this issue from the rough set perspective. Granularity is inherently connected with the foundation of rough set theory. The concept of the rough set hinges on classification of objects of interest into similarity classes, which form elementary building blocks (atoms, granules) of knowledge. These granules are employed to define basic concepts of the theory. In the paper basic concepts of rough set theory are defined and their granular structure pointed out. Next the consequences of granularity of knowledge for reasoning about imprecise concepts are discussed.
Development and Analysis of Vibrational based Piezoelectric Micro Energy Harvester for WSN Sensor Node Capturing Abundant Vibration of Suspension Bridge

The technological advances in electronics have enabled the development of low-power devices with micro-sensors that can be used in a wide range of monitoring applications, IoT and WSN. Research into alternative solutions for powering these devices has led to the study of vibration energy harvesters (EH) and in vibrational energy harvesting the piezoelectric micro-cantilevers is of interest. The main challenge is the design of power sources for these microelectronic devices. This paper presents the design of an ultra-low frequency vibration EH using a piezoelectric cantilever beam (PCB) with a multi-branch, which contains one main beam and six branched beams. The PCB harvester captures the vibrational energy of the suspension bridge. The main problem in the design of an EH is to match the resonance frequency of the PCB harvester with that of the suspension bridge which is below 4Hz. For a piezoelectric EH, the characteristics of a cantilever beam with a multi-branch structure were examined using COMSOL Multiphysics solid works and the beam's 3-D geometry was designed. The COMSOL Multiphysics' Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was used to simulate and analyze the PCB with multi-branch. The output power of a PCB harvester depends upon the frequency of vibration. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between the geometry of the PCB harvester and the first 6 Eigen frequencies in COMSOL Multiphysics. In FEA the cantilever beam with branch structure is vibrated by applying force on the fixed end which is equal to 1g (9.8m/s2) acceleration vibration source. As a result, a resonance with a frequency of 2.5Hz occurred in the PCB with multi-branch EH.
Analytical Equilibrium Swirling Inflow Conditions for Computational Fluid Dynamics

T HE specification of swirling inflow conditions is an integral and important part of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of swirling flows, which are complex flows with many practical applications [1], for instance, in turbulent combustion [2]. To specify a swirling velocity profile with a desired swirl number in a traditional CFDanalysis based on aReynolds-averagedNavier–Stokes (RANS) modeling approach is not an easy task, which becomes even more difficult in advanced CFD approaches such as direct numerical simulation (DNS) or large-eddy simulation (LES). DNS or LES of spatially inhomogeneous turbulent flows requires turbulent inflow boundary conditions [3], which may be generated either from an auxiliary simulation, from a proper orthogonal decomposition and linear stochastic estimation [4], from a digital filter reproducing specified statistical data [5], or simply taken as the mean velocity profile with superimposed fluctuations [6], which is essentially a perturbed inflow. With the presence of swirling, inflow conditions are difficult to specify. For RANS-based CFD, an appropriate mean velocity profile is needed. For DNS and LES, apart from the mean velocity profile, information on an appropriate “turbulent” component is needed as well. Pierce and Moin [7] developed a method for generating equilibrium swirling inflow conditions, which represents a logical, idealized starting point for generating swirling velocity profiles. In their method, the swirling inflow is obtained numerically by solving for the flow driven by fictitious axial and azimuthal body forces, where the axial body force represents themean pressure gradient that drives the physical flow. The azimuthal body force is not physically producible and may be thought of as existing only to overcome drag from the walls. This technique was used in LES of a coaxial jet combustor and good agreement with the experimental data was observed [7]. The method can be regarded as an effective and simple means of generating realistic swirling inflow conditions. In this study, efforts have beenmade to derive an analytical formof the equilibrium swirling inflow conditions. The analytical swirling inflow is easy to implement, as it does not require solving for the flow numerically [7]. The particular forms of the analytical equilibrium swirling velocity profiles have been obtained for swirling annular and round jets, which can be directly applied in the specification of swirling inflow conditions for RANS approaches and further explored for the specification of swirling inflow conditions for DNS and LES, regardless of the turbulent component needed in the timedependent simulations. A desired swirl number at the inflow can also be conveniently achieved by adjusting a constant.
Upscaling: a review

Porous media have properties with heterogeneities on several length scales. It is possible to build digital models of such properties. However these can be so detailed that a computing machine of the same power as that used to build the property model is not able to solve the fluid flow equations using standard discretisation methods—storage is needed for workspace, and the discrete equations have to be solved in a reasonable time. This paper reviews averaging techniques, devised to simulate large scale features of solutions without necessarily solving all the fine scale equations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Successful Management of Unilateral Post-traumatic Neuropathic Mastalgia: A Case Report

Stellate ganglion block has been described in the management of postmastectomy neuropathic pain. However, its role in the treatment of posttraumatic neuropathic breast pain has not been reported in the literature. We present a case of a 40-year-old female with a chief complaint of severe debilitating pain in her right breast following trauma, refractory to oral medications including conventional analgesics, amitriptyline, pregabalin, and duloxetine. She was successfully managed after administration of ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion block and pulsed radiofrequency ablation of the stellate ganglion. It resulted in significant and prolonged pain relief leading to improved quality of life.
LUDIC EVALUATION AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING: THE CASE OF THERMODYNAMICS

The subject of Thermodynamics is imparted to students in different engineering programs. Students in Colombia usually take the course between the fourth and fifth semester of their academic programs. The course has historically presented high loss rates due to the difficulty of understanding and appropriation of concepts. Consequently, the professor started a project to help students in the course, by using ludic-evaluation methodology. The article presents the most important results of student perception in self-efficacy, engagement and achievement of learning objectives. The a ludic evaluation methodology was applied prior to the first theoretical evaluation in of Thermodynamics course at Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla-Colombia) in three different cohorts (one in 2015 and two in 2016). The study is structured in four phases and includes the interaction with other academic support offered by academic peers within the same university. The first phase occurs two weeks before the application of the theoretical evaluation, and includes ludic-evaluation with a video game to diagnose the level of achievement of the learning objective. The second phase, includes academic peer support and uses the results of the ludic-evaluation, to carry out improvement actions. The third phase performs the theoretical exam. During the final phase, the professor applies a survey to the students to obtain their perception about the subject, the way they learned and their role as students within the achievement of the learning objective. Results show that students have an open mind to learn and increase their level of engagement to the subject, also improving on the objective results at the end of the course.
Genetic improvements in illumination compensation by the discrete cosine transform and local normalization for face recognition

Face detection and recognition depend strongly on illumination conditions. In this paper, we present improvements in two illumination compensation methods for face recognition. Using genetic algorithms (GA) we select parameters of the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Local Normalization (LN) methods to improve face recognition. In the DCT method all low frequency components within an isosceles triangle, of side Ddis, are eliminated. The best results were reported for Ddis=20. In the LN method it is proposed to normalize the value within a window by the mean and standard deviation. Best results were reported for window sizes of 7x7. In the case of the DCT method, we assigned weights to eliminate the coefficients of the low frequency components using a GA. In the case of the LN method for a fixed window size of 7x7, we selected the normalization method by a GA. We compare results of our proposed method to those with no illumination compensation and to those previously published for DCT and LN methods. We use three internationally available face databases Yale B, CMU PIE and FERET where the first two contain face images with significant changes in illumination conditions. We used Yale B for training and CMU PIE and FERET for testing. Our results show significant improvements in face recognition in the testing database. Our method performs similarly or slightly better than DCT or LN methods in images with non-homogeneous illumination and much better than DCT or LN in images with homogeneous illumination.
Drought correlates with reduced infection complexity and possibly prevalence in a decades-long study of the lizard malaria parasite Plasmodium mexicanum

Microparasites often exist as a collection of genetic ‘clones’ within a single host (termed multi-clonal, or complex, infections). Malaria parasites are no exception, with complex infections playing key roles in parasite ecology. Even so, we know little about what factors govern the distribution and abundance of complex infections in natural settings. Utilizing a natural dataset that spans more than 20 years, we examined the effects of drought conditions on infection complexity and prevalence in the lizard malaria parasite Plasmodium mexicanum and its vertebrate host, the western fence lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis. We analyzed data for 14,011 lizards sampled from ten sites over 34 years with an average infection rate of 16.2%. Infection complexity was assessed for 546 infected lizards sampled during the most recent 20 years. Our data illustrate significant, negative effects of drought-like conditions on infection complexity, with infection complexity expected to increase by a factor of 2.27 from the lowest to highest rainfall years. The relationship between rainfall and parasite prevalence is somewhat more ambiguous; when prevalence is modeled over the full range in years, a 50% increase in prevalence is predicted between the lowest and highest rainfall years, but this trend is not apparent or is reversed when data are analyzed over a shorter timeframe. To our knowledge, this is the first reported evidence for drought affecting the abundance of multi-clonal infections in malaria parasites. It is not yet clear what mechanism might connect drought with infection complexity, but the correlation we observed suggests that additional research on how drought influences parasite features like infection complexity, transmission rates and within-host competition may be worthwhile.
Obscuration and star formation in NGC 253 - H-alpha and near-infrared forbidden S III line imagery

H-alpha (6563 A) and near-infrared forbidden S III line (9532 A) data are presented for the Sc galaxy NGC 253. Anomalous enhancements in the forbidden S III/H-alpha emission ratio throughout the inner disk may indicate the presence of concealed H II regions. Visual extinctions range from 3-7 mag. The results suggest that within the inner 7 kpc of the disk roughly 95 percent of the ionized gas is obscured from view at H-alpha, and that on large scales the massive star formation depends linearly on the available molecular gas. NGC 253 differs from other Sc-type galaxies by the stronger concentration of star-forming activity toward the nucleus, the richer presence of massive star formation, and the higher overall star-forming efficiency. 50 references.