Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climatology of aerosol optical properties at ACRF sites in the tropical warm pool region

The long‐term multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer measurements at three Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Climate Research Facility sites of Darwin, Nauru, and Manus have been processed to develop the climatology of aerosols in the tropical warm pool region at the interannual, seasonal, and diurnal temporal scales. Due to their unique geolocations and associated large‐scale circulation patterns, aerosols at the Nauru site exhibit background oceanic characteristics (strongly correlated with the sea surface wind), aerosols at the Darwin site show strong influences by biomass‐burning aerosols, particularly in the dry season, and aerosols at the Manus site have climatologic characteristics in between the Darwin and Nauru sites. There are no obvious trends of aerosol loading for past decades at all three sites. El Niño/Southern Oscillation has its impacts on aerosol optical depth, as well as particle size and composition, at all three sites. Madden‐Julian Oscillation modulates aerosol optical depth at the Manus and Nauru sites along the equator but has no apparent impact at the Darwin site. The annual or seasonal variation of aerosols is closely linked with Indo‐Australian monsoons, exhibiting wet and dry season differences. The aerosol loading is significant lower with relatively larger particles in the wet season than in the dry season. There are significant diurnal cycles in both aerosol optical depth and Angstrom exponent at the Darwin site: low values of aerosol optical depth and Angstrom exponent in the midday and the two peaks in the early morning and late afternoon. There are noticeable changes between the dry and wet seasons. The amplitude of diurnal variation during La Niña periods is greater than that during El Niño periods. However, there are no significant diurnal variations of aerosol loading at the Manus and Nauru sites.
Contribution of exercising legs to the slow component of oxygen uptake kinetics in humans.

Rates of performing work that engender a sustained lactic acidosis evidence a slow component of pulmonary O2 uptake (VO2) kinetics. This slow component delays or obviates the attainment of a stable VO2 and elevates VO2 above that predicted from considerations of work rate. The mechanistic basis for this slow component is obscure. Competing hypotheses depend on its origin within either the exercising limbs or the rest of the body. To resolve this question, six healthy males performed light nonfatiguing [approximately 50% maximal O2 uptake (VO2max)] and severe fatiguing cycle ergometry, and simultaneous measurements were made of pulmonary VO2 and leg blood flow by thermodilution. Blood was sampled 1) from the femoral vein for O2 and CO2 pressures and O2 content, lactate, pH, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and potassium concentrations, and temperature and 2) from the radial artery for O2 and CO2 pressures, O2 content, lactate concentration, and pH. Two-leg VO2 was thus calculated as the product of 2 X blood flow and arteriovenous O2 difference. Blood pressure was measured in the radial artery and femoral vein. During light exercise, both pulmonary and leg VO2 remained stable from minute 3 to the end of exercise (26 min). In contrast, during severe exercise [295 +/- 10 (SE) W], pulmonary VO2 increased 19.8 +/- 2.4% (P less than 0.05) from minute 3 to fatigue (occurring on average at 20.8 min). Over the same period, leg VO2 increased by 24.2 +/- 5.2% (P less than 0.05). Increases of leg and pulmonary VO2 were highly correlated (r = 0.911), and augmented leg VO2 could account for 86% of the rise in pulmonary VO2. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The PRIME eddy

An intrathermocline lens with strong anticyclonic circulation and cold surface temperature anomaly (- 1°C) is reported in the Iceland Basin at 59.1N 20W. The lens is 1000 m thick, 120 km wide and centered on the 27.45 σ 0 isopycnal at 700 m. Its influence, through distortion of density surfaces, is felt throughout the 2800 m water column. At the surface this leads to a shallower mixed layer within the eddy which will have an impact on the local planktonic ecology. At a depth of 700 m and a radius of 40 km the eddy circulation has an azimuthal velocity of ∼40 cm s -1 . This flow has a strong barotropic component. Potential temperature (7.8°C) and salinity (35.18) are homogeneous throughout the core-though there is evidence for a three-layer composition-which, together with a high oxygen content (6.4 ml 1 -1 ) and low Brunt Vaisala frequency (∼2 X 10 -4 s -1 ), suggest that the eddy is formed from mode water created by deep winter mixing. Sea-Surface Temperature (SST) satellite images, displaying the cold surface signature of the eddy, reveal two similar features also in the region. None of the eddies moves appreciably in the five months of satellite coverage, the three forming a line northwest of, and parallel to, the Hatton Bank. This suggests that they may be produced by the North Atlantic Current (NAC) rounding the southern end of the bank. If common, estimates suggest that such features may be transporting significant amounts of salt and heat, from eastern mode waters, westward across the easternmost front of the NAC.
Data‐driven modelling of shortwave radiation transfer to snow through boreal birch and conifer canopies

Hydrological and land surface models require simple but accurate methods to predict the solar radiation transmitted through vegetation to snow, backed up by direct comparisons to data. Twenty shortwave pyranometers were deployed in forest plots of varying canopy structures and densities in sparse birch forest near Abisko, Sweden, in spring 2011 and mixed conifer forest near Sodankylä, Finland, in spring 2012. Above‐canopy global and diffuse shortwave irradiances were also measured. These data were used to test a model that uses hemispherical photographs to explicitly estimate both diffuse radiation and direct beam transmission, as well as two models that apply bulk canopy parameters and versions of Beers Law. All three models predict canopy shortwave transmission similarly well for leafless birch forest, but for conifers, the bulk methods perform poorly. In addition, an existing model of multiple reflections between canopy and snow was found to be suitable for birch, but not conifers. A new bulk approach based on empirical relationships with hemisphere‐averaged sky view fraction showed improved performance for both sites; this suggests benefits of avoiding the use of plant area index calculated from optical methods, which can introduce errors. Furthermore, tests using common empirical diffuse radiation models were shown to underestimate shortwave transmission by up to 7% relative to using the data, suggesting that new diffuse models are required for high latitudes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clinical Ophthalmology Dovepress Association between Optic Nerve Blood Flow and Objective Examinations in Glaucoma Patients with Generalized Enlargement Disc Type

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations between microcirculation in the optic disc, average peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness cupping parameters, and visual field defects in glaucoma patients with the generalized enlargement disc type. Methods: A total of 38 eyes from 38 glaucoma patients with the generalized enlargement disc type were included. The microcirculation of the optic nerve head was examined with laser speckle flow graphy, and the mean blur rate in all areas, in vessel area, and in tissue area were calculated using the laser speckle flow graphy analyzer software. Average peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was measured using Stratus optical coherence tomography, and cupping parameters were accessed using the Heidelberg retina tomograph. The mean deviation in the Humphrey field analyzer (30-2 SITA standard) was analyzed. The correlation between these parameters was evaluated using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Results: The correlation coefficient of mean blur rate in all optic disc area to the average peri-papillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, vertical C/D, and mean deviation were r = 0.7546 Conclusion: We found that the mean blur rate in the optic disc was significantly correlated with the average peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, vertical C/D, and mean deviation in patients with the generalized enlargement disc type of glaucoma. In particular, the mean blur rate in tissue area was more highly correlated than the vessel area with other results of examination in glaucoma patients with the generalized enlargement disc type.
Dependency Tree-based Sentiment Classification using CRFs with Hidden Variables

In this paper, we present a dependency tree-based method for sentiment classification of Japanese and English subjective sentences using conditional random fields with hidden variables. Subjective sentences often contain words which reverse the sentiment polarities of other words. Therefore, interactions between words need to be considered in sentiment classification, which is difficult to be handled with simple bag-of-words approaches, and the syntactic dependency structures of subjective sentences are exploited in our method. In the method, the sentiment polarity of each dependency subtree in a sentence, which is not observable in training data, is represented by a hidden variable. The polarity of the whole sentence is calculated in consideration of interactions between the hidden variables. Sum-product belief propagation is used for inference. Experimental results of sentiment classification for Japanese and English subjective sentences showed that the method performs better than other methods based on bag-of-features.
In search of influence of stratospheric Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation on tropical cyclones tracks over the Bay of Bengal region

The ability of the stratospheric Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation (QBO) to modulate tropospheric circulation allows it to modulate tracks of tropical cyclones (TCs). This possibility is examined using data on the cyclone tracks over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) during the period 1948–2010. TC tracks (excluding the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation years) when stratified as per the phases of QBO show the evidence of influence of stratospheric QBO on tracks. In pre‐monsoon and post‐monsoon seasons, during easterly phase of QBO, cyclones move westward/northwestward while during westerly phase they move northward/northeastward. The evidence of influence of QBO on modulation of TC tracks is reported for the first time during pre‐satellite period (1948–1978) and satellite period (1979–2010) over the BOB. The QBO influence is observed to be significantly stronger during easterly phase as compared to that in the westerly phase. Numbers of cyclones are more during easterly phase (during pre‐monsoon and post‐monsoon) than during the westerly phase. A mechanism is proposed whereby QBO of the zonal winds in the stratosphere influences the movement of cyclone tracks in the BOB by redistributing deep convection associated with cyclones by modulating steering winds. The possible interaction between QBO and cyclone activity is investigated through the variation of tropopause height, geo‐potential height and Outgoing Longwave Radiations. © 2013 Royal Meteorological Society
The effects of discharge and slope on hyporheic flow in step‐pool morphologies

This paper focuses on surface–subsurface water exchange in a steep coarse‐bedded stream with a step‐pool morphology. We use both flume experiments and numerical modelling to investigate the influence of stream discharge, channel slope and sediment hydraulic conductivity on hyporheic exchange. The model step‐pool reach, whose topography is scaled from a natural river, consists of three step‐pool units with 0.1‐m step heights, discharges ranging between base and over‐bankfull flows (scaled values of 0.3–4.5 l/s) and slopes of 4% and 8%. Results indicate that the deepest hyporheic flow occurs with the steeper slope and at moderate discharges and that downwelling fluxes at the base of steps are highest at the largest stream discharges. In contrast to findings in a pool‐riffle morphology, those in this study show that steep slopes cause deeper surface–subsurface exchanges than gentle slopes. Numerical simulation results show that the portion of the hyporheic zone influenced by surface water temperature increases with sediment hydraulic conductivity. These experiments and numerical simulations emphasize the importance of topography, sediment permeability and roughness elements along the channel surface in governing the locations and magnitude of downwelling fluxes and hyporheic exchange. Our results show that hyporheic zones in these steep streams are thicker than previously expected by extending the results from streams with pool‐riffle bed forms. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Relation of Serum Myeloperoxidase to Disease Progression and Mortality in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Myeloperoxidase is a strong oxidant stored in primary granules of neutrophils with potent antibacterial and proatherogenic properties. Myeloperoxidase has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the relationship of myeloperoxidase to health outcomes in COPD is not well known. We measured serum myeloperoxidase levels from 4,677 subjects with mild to moderate airflow limitation in the Lung Health Study. Using a Cox proportional hazards model, we determined the relationship of serum myeloperoxidase concentration to the risk of all-cause and disease specific causes of mortality. We found that serum myeloperoxidase concentrations were significantly related to accelerated decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) over 11 years of follow-up (p<0.0001), and this association persisted after adjustments for age, sex, race, baseline FEV1, and smoking status (p = 0.048). Serum myeloperoxidase concentrations were also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality (p = 0.036). Individuals in the highest quintile of myeloperoxidase had a hazard ratio of cardiovascular mortality of 1.90 (95% confidence interval 1.00–3.58; p = 0.049) compared with those in the lowest quintile, which was particularly notable in patients who continued to smoke (adjusted p-value of 0.0396). However, serum myeloperoxidase concentration was not related to total mortality, respiratory mortality, or deaths from malignancies. In conclusion, increased serum myeloperoxidase levels are associated with rapid lung function decline and poor cardiovascular outcomes in COPD patients, which support the emerging role of myeloperoxidase in the pathogenesis of COPD progression and cardiovascular disease.
Olsalazine is not superior to placebo in maintaining remission of inactive Crohn's colitis and ileocolitis: a double blind, parallel, randomised, multicentre study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The benefit of 5-aminosalicylic acid therapy for maintenance of remission in Crohn's disease is controversial. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the prophylactic properties of olsalazine in comparison with placebo for maintenance of remission in quiescent Crohn's colitis and/or ileocolitis. METHODS In this randomised, double blind, parallel group study of olsalazine versus placebo, 328 patients with quiescent Crohn's colitis and/or ileocolitis were recruited. Treatment consisted of olsalazine 2.0 g daily or placebo for 52 weeks. The primary end point of efficacy was relapse, as defined by the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) and by clinical relapse. Laboratory and clinical disease activity indicators were also measured. Safety analysis consisted of documentation of adverse events and laboratory values. RESULTS No differences in the frequency of termination due to relapse or time to termination due to relapse were noted between the two treatment groups (olsalazine 48.5% v placebo 45%) for either colitis or ileocolitis. The failure rate, defined as not completing the study, was significantly higher in olsalazine treated patients compared with placebo treated patients for the overall population (colitis and/or ileocolitis: olsalazine 65.4% v 53.9%; p=0.038). Similar failure rates were seen for patients with colitis. A significantly higher percentage of olsalazine treated patients experienced adverse gastrointestinal events. Drug attributed adverse events were reported more frequently in the olsalazine treated group with gastrointestinal symptoms being causally related to olsalazine treatment (olsalazine 40.7% v placebo 26.9%; p=0.010). Back pain was reported significantly more often by the placebo treated group. However, serious medical events did not differ between the two groups. Adverse events led to more early withdrawals in the olsalazine treated group than in the placebo treated group; thus average time in the study for patients in the olsalazine treatment group was significantly shorter than that of patients in the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS Patients treated with olsalazine were more likely to terminate their participation in the trial than those taking placebo. This difference was not related to relapse of disease, as measured by CDAI and clinical measures, but rather was due to the development of intolerable adverse medical events of a non-serious nature related to the gastrointestinal tract. The gastrointestinal related events in the olsalazine treated group may be due to the difference in gastrointestinal status at baseline which favoured the placebo treatment group.
Quantum error correction

This tutorial deals with quantum error correction as presented by Julian Brown on pages 274-278 in The Quest for the Quantum Computer. Brown's three-qubit example includes an input qubit and two ancillary qubits in the initial state |Ψ00>. This state is encoded and subsequently decoded, with the possibility that in between it acquires an error. The quantum circuit demonstrates how correction occurs if a qubit is flipped due to decoherence at the intermediate state.
Heidelberg retina tomograph measurements of the optic disc and parapapillary retina for detecting glaucoma analyzed by machine learning classifiers.

PURPOSE To determine whether topographical measurements of the parapapillary region analyzed by machine learning classifiers can detect early to moderate glaucoma better than similarly processed measurements obtained within the disc margin and to improve methods for optimization of machine learning classifier feature selection. METHODS One eye of each of 95 patients with early to moderate glaucomatous visual field damage and of each of 135 normal subjects older than 40 years participating in the longitudinal Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS) were included. Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT; Heidelberg Engineering, Dossenheim, Germany) mean height contour was measured in 36 equal sectors, both along the disc margin and in the parapapillary region (at a mean contour line radius of 1.7 mm). Each sector was evaluated individually and in combination with other sectors. Gaussian support vector machine (SVM) learning classifiers were used to interpret HRT sector measurements along the disc margin and in the parapapillary region, to differentiate between eyes with normal and glaucomatous visual fields and to compare the results with global and regional HRT parameter measurements. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to measure diagnostic performance of the HRT parameters and to evaluate the cross-validation strategies and forward selection and backward elimination optimization techniques that were used to generate the reduced feature sets. RESULTS The area under the ROC curve for mean height contour of the 36 sectors along the disc margin was larger than that for the mean height contour in the parapapillary region (0.97 and 0.85, respectively). Of the 36 individual sectors along the disc margin, those in the inferior region between 240 degrees and 300 degrees, had the largest area under the ROC curve (0.85-0.91). With SVM Gaussian techniques, the regional parameters showed the best ability to discriminate between normal eyes and eyes with glaucomatous visual field damage, followed by the global parameters, mean height contour measures along the disc margin, and mean height contour measures in the parapapillary region. The area under the ROC curve was 0.98, 0.94, 0.93, and 0.85, respectively. Cross-validation and optimization techniques demonstrated that good discrimination (99% of peak area under the ROC curve) can be obtained with a reduced number of HRT parameters. CONCLUSIONS Mean height contour measurements along the disc margin discriminated between normal and glaucomatous eyes better than measurements obtained in the parapapillary region.
Therapy of early poststroke depression with venlafaxine: safety, tolerability, and efficacy as determined in an open, uncontrolled clinical trial.

To the Editor: The development of persistent depressive symptoms is a severe and frequent complication of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.1 The etiology of poststroke depression is not well understood. Only few placebo-controlled, double-blind studies have been carried out, all reporting various degrees of superiority of standard antidepressants over placebos.1 2 On the other hand, serious side effects have been reported.3 4 In most of these studies, patients were examined whose stroke had occurred several weeks to several months before the antidepressive therapy was started. Antidepressive therapy in the first weeks after stroke has not yet been attempted in studies. Drug-induced improvement of neurotransmission, in particular adrenergic transmission, facilitates recovery in animal brain trauma and stroke models.5 Antidepressants enhance neurotransmission by blockade of serotonergic and/or adrenergic reuptake transporters, by blocking the enzymatic degradation of monoamines or by other mechanisms, such as the blockade of presynaptic adrenergic receptors. Therefore, the treatment with antidepressants might in some cases exert a favorable effect on functional recovery independent of the psychopathological state.6 We report data on the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of venlafaxine in patients suffering from acute poststroke depression. Venlafaxine was chosen because of its relatively good tolerability compared …
Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients in Lviv (Ukraine)

Abstract Background and Objectives Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) research has long been impeded by the vague definition of this disabling complication of liver failure. This article provides an overview of the etiology and impact of HE on neuromuscular functions as well as its role in the development of infections and anemia. Materials and Methods This was a descriptive study conducted in 36 patients with HE. Close monitoring of these patients was done by checking on several parameters. Results The etiological distribution: alcohol (67%), hepatitis C virus (HCV; 17%), HCV and alcohol (8%), hepatitis B virus (HBV; 3%), HBV and alcohol (3%), HBV and HCV (6%), and cryptogenic (3%). The laboratory results indicated an elevation of De Ritis level in 69% of cases and in 92% of total bilirubin values. The Halstead-Reitan (H-R) test score with regards to gender indicated that more than half of the patients had a score of 2, while only few cases received the scores 3 and 4. The frequency of H-R score with regards to Child-Pugh score showed the significant preponderance of Child-Pugh score of 7–9 (B): 58.3% compared to others groups of results, and these results indicated patients’ poor prognosis. Conclusion Findings showed the preponderance of female patients towards developing HE and the poor survival rate of patients older than 65 years. Alcohol and hepatitis C were the main causes associated with the development of HE. The neurological assessment marked the preponderance of Child-Pugh grades B and C and also the prevalence in female patients with neuropsychological disabilities through the assessment of H-R test.