Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE USE OF IMMUNOCOMPROMISED ANIMALS AS MODELS FOR HUMAN SEPTIC SHOCK

Although it is generally understood that no single animal model truly reflects human sepsis, the study of sepsis in immunocompromised animals is highly relevant to human sepsis research. The majority of patients with severe sepsis have significant underlying diseases that may alter innate immune defenses, disrupt microbial clearance mechanisms, and complicate the pathophysiology of human sepsis. Septic shock itself has significant effects upon the innate and adaptive host immune responses that may contribute to a state of sepsis-induced immune dysregulation. A number of animal models of sepsis displaying an array of immunocompromised states are now available. Most of these systems are small animal models with genetically defined defects of immune defenses or acquired defects from receipt of immunosuppressive or myeloablative agents. Greater emphasis should be placed on preclinical models of immunocompromised animals in the future to assess the potential clinical utility of novel drugs for human septic shock.
Vision of the unseen: Current trends and challenges in digital image and video forensics

Digital images are everywhere—from our cell phones to the pages of our online news sites. How we choose to use digital image processing raises a surprising host of legal and ethical questions that we must address. What are the ramifications of hiding data within an innocent image? Is this an intentional security practice when used legitimately, or intentional deception? Is tampering with an image appropriate in cases where the image might affect public behavior? Does an image represent a crime, or is it simply a representation of a scene that has never existed? Before action can even be taken on the basis of a questionable image, we must detect something about the image itself. Investigators from a diverse set of fields require the best possible tools to tackle the challenges presented by the malicious use of today's digital image processing techniques. In this survey, we introduce the emerging field of digital image forensics, including the main topic areas of source camera identification, forgery detection, and steganalysis. In source camera identification, we seek to identify the particular model of a camera, or the exact camera, that produced an image. Forgery detection's goal is to establish the authenticity of an image, or to expose any potential tampering the image might have undergone. With steganalysis, the detection of hidden data within an image is performed, with a possible attempt to recover any detected data. Each of these components of digital image forensics is described in detail, along with a critical analysis of the state of the art, and recommendations for the direction of future research.
ANNALES DE L’INSTITUT FOURIER

— We introduce notions of Cheeger constants for graphons and graphings. We prove Cheeger and Buser inequalities for these. On the way we prove co-area formulae for graphons and graphings. Résumé. — Nous introduisons des notions de constantes de Cheeger pour les graphons et graphings. Nous prouvons des inégalites de Cheeger et Buser pour celles-ci. Ce faisant, nous prouvons des formules de la co-aire pour les graphons et graphings.
Gas‐aerosol partitioning of ammonia in biomass burning plumes: Implications for the interpretation of spaceborne observations of ammonia and the radiative forcing of ammonium nitrate

Satellite‐derived enhancement ratios of NH3 relative to CO column burden ( ERNH3/CO ) in fires over Alaska, the Amazon, and South Equatorial Africa are 35, 45, and 70% lower than the corresponding ratio of their emissions factors ( EFNH3/CO ) from biomass burning derived from in situ observations. Simulations performed using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory AM3 global chemistry‐climate model show that these regional differences may not entirely stem from an overestimate of NH3 emissions but rather from changes in the gas‐aerosol partitioning of NH3 to NH4+ . Differences between ERNH3/CO and EFNH3/CO are largest in regions where EFNOx/NH3 is high, consistent with the production of NH4NO3. Biomass burning is estimated to contribute 11–23% of the global burden and direct radiative effect (DRE) of NH4NO3 (−15 to −28 mW m−2), despite accounting for less than 6% of the global source of NH3. Production of NH4NO3 is largely concentrated over the Amazon and South Equatorial Africa, where its DRE can reach −1.9 W m−2 during the biomass burning season.
A press database on natural risks and its application in the study of floods in Northeastern Spain

Abstract. The aim of this work is to introduce a systematic press database on natural hazards and climate change in Catalonia (NE of Spain) and to analyze its potential application to social-impact studies. For this reason, a review of the concepts of risk, hazard, vulnerability and social perception is also included. This database has been built for the period 1982–2007 and contains all the news related with those issues published by the oldest still-active newspaper in Catalonia. Some parameters are registered for each article and for each event, including criteria that enable us to determine the importance accorded to it by the newspaper, and a compilation of information about it. This ACCESS data base allows each article to be classified on the basis of the seven defined topics and key words, as well as summary information about the format and structuring of the new itself, the social impact of the event and data about the magnitude or intensity of the event. The coverage given to this type of news has been assessed because of its influence on construction of the social perception of natural risk and climate change, and as a potential source of information about them. The treatment accorded by the press to different risks is also considered. More than 14 000 press articles have been classified. Results show that the largest number of news items for the period 1982–2007 relates to forest fires and droughts, followed by floods and heavy rainfalls, although floods are the major risk in the region of study. Two flood events recorded in 2002 have been analyzed in order to show an example of the role of the press information as indicator of risk perception.
A systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of worksite physical activity and/or nutrition programs.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to appraise and summarize the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of worksite physical activity and/or nutrition programs. METHODS We searched EMBASE, MEDLINE, SportDiscus, PsycInfo, NIOSHTIC-2, NHSEED, HTA, and Econlit for studies published up to 14 January 2011. Additionally, we searched for articles by reviewing references, searching authors' databases, and contacting authors of included studies. Two researchers independently selected articles. Articles had to include a cost-effectiveness and/or cost-utility analysis comparing a worksite physical activity and/or nutrition program to usual care or an abridged version of the program. Data were extracted on study characteristics and results. Two researchers independently assessed the risk of bias using the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria list (CHEC-list). RESULTS Ten studies (18 programs) were included. More than 50% of the studies fulfilled 11 (58%) of the 19 CHEC-list items. From various perspectives, worksite nutrition and worksite physical activity and nutrition programs (N=6) were more costly and more effective in reducing body weight than usual care. When only intervention costs were considered, most worksite nutrition (N=4/5) and worksite physical activity and nutrition programs (N=5/6) were more costly and more effective in reducing cholesterol level and cardiovascular disease risks, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The cost-effectiveness of more costly and more effective programs depends on the "willingness to pay" for their effects. It is unknown how much decision-makers are willing to pay for reductions in body weight, cholesterol level, and cardiovascular disease risks. Therefore, conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of worksite physical activity and/or nutrition programs cannot be made. There is substantial need for improvement of the methodological quality of studies and particular emphasis should be placed on the handling of uncertainty.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Indeterminacy and Forecastability

Recent studies document the deteriorating performance of forecasting models during the Great Moderation. This conversely implies that forecastability is higher in the preceding era, when the economy was unexpectedly volatile. We offer an explanation for this phenomenon in the context of equilibrium indeterminacy in dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models. First, we analytically show that a model under indeterminacy exhibits richer dynamics that can improve forecastability. Then, using a prototypical New Keynesian model, we numerically demonstrate that indeterminacy due to passive monetary policy can yield superior forecastability as long as the degree of uncertainty about sunspot fluctuations is relatively small. We have benefited from discussions with Rochelle Edge and Rhys Mendes. The views in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bank of Japan, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas or the Federal Reserve System.
Paleoearthquakes and Rupture Behavior of the Lenglongling Fault: Implications for Seismic Hazards of the Northeastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

The Lenglongling fault (LLLF) is located along the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau and forms a part of the Tianzhu seismic gap along the Qilian‐Haiyuan fault zone. Little is known about the recurrence of large earthquakes along the LLLF nor the associated seismic hazards of the gap. Here the six most recent surface rupturing paleoearthquakes of the LLLF are revealed by measurement of offset landforms, trench excavations, and radiocarbon dating. They are labeled E1–E6 from youngest to oldest, and their timings are constrained to the following time ranges: 636–498 to present, 2951–1155, 4016–3609, 5325–4476, 7284–6690, and 8483–7989 years BP, respectively. The LLLF displays evidence of fresh, recent surface rupture, and the trench sections reveal that the fault ruptured to the ground surface during the most recent event. Based on this fresh surface rupture and historical earthquake records, the latest event E1 was most likely the 1927 M8.0 Gulang earthquake. In conjunction with previous studies, Gulang earthquake might be a complicated event characterized by the combined rupture of both strike‐slip and thrust faults. The average recurrence interval of the six paleoearthquakes is 1643 ± 568 years, and the coefficient of variation is 0.34, indicating that the LLLF follows a quasiperiodic recurrence model. Based on this new understanding of the last event, the LLLF may not be a part of the Tianzhu seismic gap. However, an earthquake of up to MW7.6 could still rupture the gap sections composed of the Jinqianghe, Maomaoshan, and Laohushan faults.
The role of oxidative stress in degeneration of the neuromuscular junction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by the progressive loss of motoneurons and degradation of the neuromuscular junctions (NMJ). Consistent with the dying-back hypothesis of motoneuron degeneration the decline in synaptic function initiates from the presynaptic terminals in ALS. Oxidative stress is a major contributory factor to ALS pathology and affects the presynaptic transmitter releasing machinery. Indeed, in ALS mouse models nerve terminals are sensitive to reactive oxygen species (ROS) suggesting that oxidative stress, along with compromised mitochondria and increased intracellular Ca2+ amplifies the presynaptic decline in NMJ. This initial dysfunction is followed by a neurodegeneration induced by inflammatory agents and loss of trophic support. To develop effective therapeutic approaches against ALS, it is important to identify the mechanisms underlying the initial pathological events. Given the role of oxidative stress in ALS, targeted antioxidant treatments could be a promising therapeutic approach. However, the complex nature of ALS and failure of monotherapies suggest that an antioxidant therapy should be accompanied by anti-inflammatory interventions to enhance the restoration of the redox balance.
THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

The automotive industry needs to reduce energy consumption to decrease environmental impact from greenhouse gases. This can be achieved by reducing the weight of cars. A promising way to lower the weight of automotive primary structures is to introduce carbon fibre composites, as they have outstanding specific properties. However, current car development relies on virtual environment while composite designs are still based on testing. To introduce composite materials in primary automotive structures, industry needs an efficient design methodology that can be used in virtual development processes. In addition, the automotive industry needs new material systems and production methods to produce composite structures in high volumes and at profitable cost. In this thesis, an efficient and reliable design methodology for automotive composites structures is proposed. The methodology combines numerical models at multiple scales. Firstly, potential hot-spots are identified in a global analysis. In a second operation, these are analysed using high fidelity local models. Both the global and the local models are adapted to consider all prevailing failure modes in the composites of use. A likely material system for use in automotive primary structures is Non-Crimp Fabric (NCF) reinforced composites. In contrast to traditional tape-based Uni-Directional (UD) reinforced composite materials, which are transversely isotropic, NCF composites are not. Instead NCF composites have been found to be orthotropic. Available failure initiation criteria are based on the assumption of transverse isotropy. In this thesis, a new set of criteria for assessing failure initiation of orthotropic NCF reinforced composite materials is proposed. The failure criteria are compared and verified against data from literature and numerical models. The set of criteria have also been implemented into a commercial finite element code and verified against physical experiments.
Budgeting Processes and the Performance of Food and Beverages Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

This study focuses on the determination of the relationship between budgeting processes which are measured by; planning, communication, implementation, participation, control and organizational performance which are predicted by dividend per share, earnings per share, net asset per share and return on investment of food and beverages manufacturing companies as well as ascertaining the effect of budgeting processes on the performance of the industry. Data were collected through the survey of 99 managers comprising top level and middle level managers of five different food and beverages manufacturing companies randomly selected from Lagos State, Nigeria. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the level of association between budgeting processes and organizational performance and it was discovered that there was a significant relationship between planning, communication, implementation, control and performance indicators whereas there was no significant relationship between participation and performance indicators. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effect of budgeting processes on the performance of the industry. The results of regression analysis show that budgeting processes has a significant effect on dividend per share and net asset per share and no significant effect on earnings per share and return on investment. F-test and P-value were used to test the significance at α = 0.05. It is however recommended that, food and beverages manufacturing companies in Nigeria should intensify efforts in following budgeting processes as it improves performance of food and beverages manufacturing companies in Nigeria in terms of shareholders wealth and put in place budget manual for monitoring and control of the process.
Pharmacokinetic optimization of four soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors for use in a murine model of inflammation

Background and purpose: Early soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors (sEHIs) such as 12‐(3‐adamantan‐1‐yl‐ureido)‐dodecanoic acid (AUDA) are effective anti‐hypertensive and anti‐inflammatory agents in various animal models. However, their poor metabolic stability and limited water solubility make them difficult to use pharmacologically. Here we present the evaluation of four sEHIs for improved pharmacokinetic properties and the anti‐inflammatory effects of one sEHI.
ANNALES DE L’INSTITUT FOURIER

— We give an example of a horocycle in the Teichmüller space of the five-times-punctured sphere that does not converge in the Gardiner–Masur compactification, or equivalently in the horofunction compactification of the Te-ichmüller metric. As an intermediate step, we exhibit a simple closed curve whose extremal length is periodic but not constant along the horocycle. The example lifts to any Teichmüller space of complex dimension greater than one via covering constructions. Résumé. — Nous donnons un exemple d’horocycle dand l’espace de Teichmül-ler de la sphère épointée cinq fois qui ne converge pas dans le compactifié de Gardiner–Masur, ou, de façon équivalente, dans le compactifié par horofonctions de la métrique de Teichmüller. Comme étape intermédiaire, nous exhibons une courbe simple fermée dont la longueur extrémale est périodique mais pas constante le long de l’horocycle. L’exemple se relève à tout espace de Teichmüller de dimension complexe supérieure à un par des constructions de revêtement.
Use of the Transposon Ac as a Gene-Searching Engine in the Maize Genome

We show here that, although genes constitute only a small percentage of the maize genome, it is possible to identify them phenotypically as Ac receptor sites. Simple and efficient Ac transposition assays based on the well-studied endosperm markers bz and wx were used to generate a collection of >1300 independent Ac transposants. The majority of transposed Ac elements are linked to either the bz or the wx donor loci on chromosome 9. A few of the insertions produce obvious visible phenotypes, but most of them do not, suggesting that these populations will be more useful for reverse genetics than for forward transposon mutagenesis. An inverse polymerase chain reaction method was adapted for the isolation of DNA adjacent to the transposed Ac elements (tac sites). Most Ac insertions were into unique DNA. By sequencing tac sites and comparing the sequences to existing databases, insertions were identified in a number of putative maize genes. The expression of most of these genes was confirmed by RNA gel blot analysis. We report here the isolation and characterization of the first 46 tac sites from the two insertion libraries.
The paradoxical success of fuzzy logic

Fuzzy logic methods have been used successfully in many real-world applications, but the foundations of fuzzy logic remain under attack. Taken together, these two facts constitute a paradox. A second paradox is that almost all of the successful fuzzy logic applications are embedded controllers, while most of the theoretical papers on fuzzy methods deal with knowledge representation and reasoning. I hope to resolve these paradoxes by identifying which aspects of fuzzy logic render it useful in practice, and which aspects are inessential. My conclusions are based on a mathematical result, on a survey of literature on the use of fuzzy logic in heuristic control and in expert systems, and on practical experience in developing expert systems. <<ETX>>
Neighborhoods and Urban Development

American cities are shifting collections of individual neghborhoods. Thousands of residents move every year within and among neighborhoods; their flows across a city can radically and quickly alter the character of its neighborhoods. What is behind all this fermentthe decline of one area, the revitalization of another? Can the process be made more rational? Can city neighborhoods be stabilized--and older cities thus preserved? This book argues that such flows of residents are not random. Rather, they are closely linked to overall migration into or out of each metropolitan area and to the way U.S. cities develop. Downs contends that both urban development and the social problems it spawns are built upon social arrangements designed to benefit the middle-class majority. Racial segregation divides housing in each metropolitan area into two or more markets. Socioeconomic segregation subdivides neighborhoods within each market into a class hierarchy. The poor live mainly in the oldest neighborhoods, close to the urban center. The affluent live in the newest neighborhoods, mostly at the urban periphery. This separation stems not from pure market forces but from exclusionary laws that make the construction of low-cost housing illegal in most neighborhoods. The resulting pattern determines where housing is built and what housing is left to decay.Downs uses data from U.S. cities to illustrate neighborhood change and to reach conclusions about ways to cope with it. he explores the causes and nature of racial segregation and integration, and he evaluates neighborhood revitalization programs, which in reviving part of a city often displace many poor residents. He presents a timely analysis of the effect of higher energy costs upon urban sprawl, argues the wisdom of reviving older cities rather than helping their residents move elsewhere, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of public and private policies at the federal, state, metropolitan-area, city, and neighborhood levels. "
Timing effects of DDR memory systems in hard real-time multicore architectures

Multicore processors are an effective solution to cope with the performance requirements of real-time embedded systems due to their good performance-per-watt ratio and high performance capabilities. Unfortunately, their use in integrated architectures such as IMA or AUTOSAR is limited by the fact that multicores do not guarantee a time composable behavior for the applications: the WCET of a task depends on inter-task interferences introduced by other tasks running simultaneously. This article focuses on the off-chip memory system: the hardware shared resource with the highest impact on the WCET and hence the main impediment for the use of multicores in integrated architectures. We present an analytical model that computes the worst-case delay, also known as Upper Bound Delay (UBD), that a memory request can suffer due to memory interferences generated by other co-running tasks. By considering the UBD in the WCET analysis, the resulting WCET estimation is independent from the other tasks, hence ensuring the time composability property and enabling the use of multicores in integrated architectures. We propose a memory controller for hard real-time multicores compliant with the analytical model that implements extra hardware features to deal with refresh operations and interferences generated by co-running non hard real-time tasks.