Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurological Effects of Pesticide Use among Farmers in China

The intensive use of pesticides has attracted great attention from the Chinese government. However, current regulations have had limited influence on their safe use. Although the acute neurologic effects of pesticides have been well documented, little is known about their cumulative effects. Knowledge of the impact of pesticides on health may convince farmers to minimize their use. We conducted a cross-sectional study in three provinces of China to evaluate the relationship between pesticide exposure and neurological dysfunction. Crop farmers were divided into two groups depending on their level of pesticide exposure. A total of 236 participants were assessed by questionnaire and neurological examination for symptoms and signs of neuropathy. Characteristics of neurologic dysfunction following cumulative low-level exposure were assessed with logistic regression analysis. Farmers exposed to high-level pesticide use had greater risk of developing sensations of numbness or prickling (odds ratio (OR) 2.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08–6.36). After adjusting for recent exposure, the risk of numbness or prickling symptoms (OR 2.55, 95% CI: 1.04–6.25) remained statistically significant. Loss of muscle strength and decreased deep tendon reflexes had OR > 2, however, this did not reach statistical significance. These findings suggest that overuse of pesticides increased risk of neurologic dysfunction among farmers, with somatosensory small fibers most likely affected. Measures that are more efficient should be taken to curb excessive use of pesticides.
Relation between optical and chemical properties of dust aerosol over Beijing, China

[1] Characteristics of optical and chemical properties of dust aerosol over Beijing and their relation were studied in the spring dust season, 2006 to understand the impact of dust and anthropogenic aerosol on the regional climate. Two dust plumes (DS1 and DS2) were identified with contrasting physicochemical properties. Strong absorbing of aerosol at 439 nm was observed, probably due to the significant proportion of iron oxides in the dust aerosol other than black carbon. The transport pathways of dust, concentrations of pollutant precursors and meteorological conditions were the main factors affecting the mixing extent of pollutants with dust. Aerosol of DS1 was more “polluted” than that of DS2 and even non-dust (ND) days. Pollution elements, i.e., Zn, As, Pb, S, and Cd, were greatly enriched in DS1; SO42−, NO3−, NH4+, and K+ significantly increased in dust storm episode, especially in DS1, indicating the strong heterogeneous chemical reaction occurred on dust and the mixing of dust with various pollutants during the long-range/regional transport of dust plumes. Linear relationship between optical properties and aerosol chemical composition was found. Soluble ions, i.e., SO42−, NO3−, NH4+, and K+, were the major contributors to the light extinction in fine particles, while mineral aerosol contributed more to that in coarse particles. Black carbon, as a strong light absorbing species, was found to contribute to the light extinction in both fine and coarse particles.
Performance of multiphase packed-bed reactors and scrubbers on offshore floating platforms: hydrodynamics, chemical reaction, CFD modeling and simulation

A laboratory-scale packed column was positioned on a 6-degree-of-freedom swell simulation hexapod to emulate the hydrodynamics of packed bed scrubbers/reactors onboard offshore floating systems. The bed was instrumented with wire mesh capacitance sensors to measure liquid saturation and velocity fields, flow regime transition, liquid maldistribution, and tracer radial and axial dispersion patterns while robot was subject to sinusoidal translation (sway, heave) and rotation (roll, roll + pitch, yaw) motions at different frequencies. Three metrics were defined to analyze the deviations induced by the various column motions, namely, coefficient of variation and degree of uniformity for liquid saturation fluctuating fields, and effective Péclet number. Nontilting oscillations led to frequency-independent maldistribution while tilting motions induced swirl/zigzag secondary circulation and prompted non-uniform maldistribution oscillations that deteriorated with decreasing frequencies. Regardless of excited degree of freedom, a qualitative loss of plug-flow character was observed compared to static vertical beds which worsened as frequencies decreased.
Eccrine syringofibroadenoma: a case report with analysis of cytokeratin expression

A 56‐year‐old man presented with a 30‐year history of a slowly enlarging lesion on the sole of his right foot. A biopsy showed an anastomosing network of small cuboidal cells with the formation of occasional sweat ductal lumina and a marked fibrovascular stroma. The histological findings were interpreted as consistent with the diagnosis of an eccrine syringofibroadenoma. Using immunohistochemistry all the tumour cells were positively stained by the pan‐cytokeratin antibody Lu‐5 and an antibody to the cytokeratins 1/5/10/11. In addition the luminal ductal cells expressed cytokeratin 19 and CEA. Tumour cells were negative for cytokeratins 1, 7, 8, 13 and 18 and did not express vimentin and GCDFP‐15. The results indicate that the eccrine syringofibroadenoma is differentiated towards the dermal eccrine duct.
Quality characterization of silicon bricks using photoluminescence imaging and photoconductive decay

Imaging techniques can be applied to multicrystalline silicon solar cells throughout the production process, which includes as early as when the bricks are cut from the cast ingot. Photoluminescence (PL) imaging of the band-to-band radiative recombination is used to characterize silicon quality and defects regions within the brick. PL images of the brick surfaces are compared to minority-carrier lifetimes measured by resonant-coupled photoconductive decay (RCPCD). RCPCD is a transient photoconductive decay technique that monitors the recombination of excess carriers using a frequency of about 420 MHz. Carriers are excited by nanosecond laser pulses of long-wavelength light in the range of 1150 nm. The low frequency and long penetration depth of light promote measurement of carriers away from the surface such that lifetimes of up to 100 μs are measured in upgraded-metallurgical-grade silicon, and up to 200 μs in electronic-grade silicon bricks. PL intensity shows correlation to lifetime in addition to the valuable spatial information from top to bottom of the brick and defect regions throughout the brick.
Contemporary Risk Stratification After Myocardial Infarction in the Community: Performance of Scores and Incremental Value of Soluble Suppression of Tumorigenicity‐2

Background Current American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines recommend the GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) and TIMI (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction) scores to assess myocardial infarction (MI) prognosis. Changes in the epidemiological characteristics of MI and the availability of new biomarkers warrant an assessment of the performance of these scores in contemporary practice. We assessed the following: (1) the performance of GRACE and TIMI to predict 1‐year mortality in a cohort of patients stratified by ST‐segment elevation MI (STEMI) and non‐STEMI (NSTEMI) and (2) the incremental discriminatory power of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity‐2, a myocardial fibrosis biomarker. Methods and Results Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents with incident MI (N=1401) were recruited prospectively from November 1, 2002 to December 31, 2012 (mean age, 67 years; 61% men; 79% with NSTEMI). Baseline data were used to calculate risk scores; soluble suppression of tumorigenicity‐2 was measured in stored plasma samples obtained at index MI. C‐statistics adapted to survival data were used to assess the discriminatory power of the risk scores and the improvement gained by adding other markers. During the first year of follow‐up, 190 patients (14%) died. The discriminatory performance to predict death was reasonable for GRACE and poor for TIMI, and was generally worse in those with NSTEMI versus those with STEMI. In people with NSTEMI, sequential addition of comorbidities and soluble suppression of tumorigenicity‐2 substantially improved the c‐statistic over GRACE (from 0.78 to 0.80 to 0.84) and TIMI (from 0.61 to 0.73 to 0.81), respectively (all P≤0.05). Conclusions Guideline‐recommended scores for risk assessment after MI underperform in contemporary community patients, particularly those with NSTEMI, which now represents most infarcts. Incorporating comorbidities and soluble suppression of tumorigenicity‐2 substantially improves risk prediction, thereby delineating opportunities to improve clinical care.
Should tuberculosis treatment and control be addressed differently in HIV-infected and -uninfected individuals?

Infection with HIV drives the tuberculosis epidemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 75% of individuals with tuberculosis are co-infected with HIV. This article reviews the epidemiological link between the conditions, how tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment differ between HIV-infected versus -uninfected individuals and the span of additional measures required to prevent and control HIV-related tuberculosis. Tuberculosis chemotherapy using standard short-course regimens is highly effective in both groups, and treatment follows the same principles. It differs in certain aspects, such as when antiretroviral treatment should be started in HIV-infected individuals with tuberculosis and consideration of drug–drug interactions between the rifamycins and certain antiretroviral drugs. Control of HIV-related tuberculosis requires, fundamentally, control of HIV transmission. Meanwhile, it is necessary to make concentrated efforts to intensify high-quality tuberculosis services employing the directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) strategy, carry out extensive research towards an evidence-based model for the expanded scope of collaborative tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS interventions, and ensure efficient implementation of the findings and recommended policies. The challenge is gigantic, and both robust within-country and international leadership and competent management capabilities will be required, in addition to substantial human and financial resources.
Holoscopic 3D Micro-Gesture Database for Wearable Device Interaction

With the rapid development of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology, human-computer interaction (HCI) has been greatly improved for gaming interaction of AR and VR control. The finger micro-gesture is a hot research focus due to the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable technologies and recently Google has developed a radar based micro-gesture sensor which is Google Soli. Also, there are a number of finger micro-gesture techniques have been developed using Time of Flight (ToF) imaging sensors for wearable 3D glasses such as Atheer mobile glasses. The principle of holoscopic 3D (H3D) imaging mimics fly's eye technique that captures a true 3D optical model of the scene using a microlens array, however, there is a limited progress of holoscopic 3D systems due to the lack of high quality public available database. In this paper, holoscopic 3D camera is used to capture high quality holoscopic 3D micro-gesture video images and a new unique holoscopic 3D micro-gesture (HoMG) database is produced. HoMG database recorded the image sequence of 3 conventional gestures from 40 participants under different settings and conditions. For the purpose of H3D micro-gesture recognition, HoMG has a video subset of 960 videos and a still image subset with 30635 images. Initial micro-gesture recognition on both subsets has been conducted using the traditional 2D image and video features and popular classifiers and some encouraging performance has been achieved. The database will be available for the research communities and speed up the research in the area of holoscopic 3D micro-gesture.
Conventional versus laparoscopic surgery for acute appendicitis

A total of 155 consecutive patients with suspected acute appendicitis were studied to compare laparoscopic and conventional operations. Patients were not randomized: laparoscopy was performed when a suitably trained surgeon and laparoscopic instruments were available. Laparoscopic appendicectomy was attempted in 51 patients and was successful in 46 (90 per cent); all conversions to open operation were because of marked inflammatory adhesions around the appendix. There were no intraoperative complications. Reintroduction of normal die; and discharge from hospital occurred earlier after laparoscopic than open surgery (P < 0.05). The requirement for analgesia after successful laparoscopic surgery was less than that after conventional appendicectomy, but the difference was not significant. The incidence of wound infection was reduced after the laparoscopic procedure (P = 0.06). It is concluded that laparoscopic appendicectomy is practical and may have advantages over conventional operation, although a randomized study is necessary.
Efficacy of Chloroquine and Sulphadoxine‐Pyrimethamine either alone or in combination before introduction of ACT as first‐line therapy in uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India

Objective In India, till recently, Chloroquine was used as first‐line therapy in areas with Chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium falciparum malaria cases. The National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) has introduced artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) as first‐line option to treat all P. falciparum cases in the country. This study was carried out to ascertain the efficacy of Chloroquine and Sulphadoxine‐Pyrimethamine, either alone or in combination, before the launch of ACT by NVBDCP.
Sox9 regulates cell proliferation and is required for Paneth cell differentiation in the intestinal epithelium

The HMG-box transcription factor Sox9 is expressed in the intestinal epithelium, specifically, in stem/progenitor cells and in Paneth cells. Sox9 expression requires an active β-catenin–Tcf complex, the transcriptional effector of the Wnt pathway. This pathway is critical for numerous aspects of the intestinal epithelium physiopathology, but processes that specify the cell response to such multipotential signals still remain to be identified. We inactivated the Sox9 gene in the intestinal epithelium to analyze its physiological function. Sox9 inactivation affected differentiation throughout the intestinal epithelium, with a disappearance of Paneth cells and a decrease of the goblet cell lineage. Additionally, the morphology of the colon epithelium was severely altered. We detected general hyperplasia and local crypt dysplasia in the intestine, and Wnt pathway target genes were up-regulated. These results highlight the central position of Sox9 as both a transcriptional target and a regulator of the Wnt pathway in the regulation of intestinal epithelium homeostasis.
An Approach for Noise Removal on Depth Images

Image based rendering is a fundamental problem in computer vision and graphics. Modern techniques often rely on depth image for the 3D construction. However for most of the existing depth cameras, the large and unpredictable noises can be problematic, which can cause noticeable artifacts in the rendered results. In this paper, we proposed an efficacious method for depth image noise removal that can be applied for most RGBD systems. The proposed solution will benefit many subsequent vision problems such as 3D reconstruction, novel view rendering, object recognition. Our experimental results demonstrate the efficacy and accuracy.
Feeding problems in young PKU children

Behavioural feeding problems were found to be more prevalent in a group of 15 PKU children aged 1‐5 years when compared to non‐PKU controls. The parents of PKU children identified poorer appetites (p < 0.01), a more limited range of foods consumed (p < 0.03) and more gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and constipation (p < 0.03) than control children. The children were slower to feed (p < 0.03), were more likely to dislike sweet foods and some ate separately from the rest of the family at mealtime (p < 0.03). The effects on normal feeding behaviour should be considered when advocating strict diet therapy for young PKU children.
Gibbs Measures and Phase Transitions on Sparse Random Graphs

Many problems of interest in computer science and information theory can be phrased in terms of a probability distribution over discrete variables associated to the vertices of a large (but finite) sparse graph. In recent years, considerable progress has been achieved by viewing these distributions as Gibbs measures and applying to their study heuristic tools from statistical physics. We review this approach and provide some results towards a rigorous treatment of these problems.
A Comparison of Pedicle and Lateral Mass Screw Construct Stiffnesses at the Cervicothoracic Junction: A Biomechanical Study

Study Design. Biomechanical comparison of five different posterior cervicothoracic junction (C7–T1) fixation constructs in a cadaveric model. Objectives. To determine whether augmenting C7 lateral mass screws with spinous process wires or additional fixation in the C6 lateral mass can create constructs of similar normalized stiffness to that of C7 pedicle screws. Summary of Background Data. Cervical pedicle screws are known to provide excellent fixation but are potentially dangerous and technically demanding to insert. Lateral mass screws are safer and easier to insert but have less pullout strength and must often be short at C7. Methods. Twelve cadaveric cervicothoracic specimens (C5–T2) were randomly assigned to one of three experiments: Experiment A (Part 1 and Part 2), Experiment B, and Experiment C (Part 1 and Part 2) (n = 4 each for each experiment). First, the intact specimens were biomechanically tested according to a seven-part loading protocol. The specimens were then destabilized, and then restabilized with the following constructs in conjunction with bilateral T1 pedicle screws and biomechanically tested again using the same seven-part biomechanical protocol as was applied to the intact specimens. Experiment A: Part 1: lateral mass screw fixation at C7 (C7LM); then Part 2: retested after augmentation with triple wiring (C7LM+W). Experiment B: pedicle screw fixation at C7 (C7PS). Experiment C: Part 1: C6 and C7 lateral mass screws (C6C7LM); then Part 2: retested after augmentation with triple wiring (C6C7LM+W). Thus, five different constructs were biomechanically compared in these three experiments. Results. None of the lateral mass constructs demonstrated a significant increase in normalized stiffness when augmented with wiring in any mode of testing. In axial compression, the C7PS construct showed significantly higher (P < 0.001) normalized stiffness than any of the other four constructs. In extension, there were no significant differences among any of the five constructs. Inflexion, right/left lateral bending and right/left axial torsion, the C7PS construct again showed significantly higher normalized stiffness (P < 0.05) than lateral mass fixation at C7 alone. However, in these five modes of testing, the addition of a secondary point of lateral mass fixation at C6 (C6C7LM) produced a construct with a normalized stiffness similar to that of C7PS with no significant difference (P > 0.05). Conclusion. C7 pedicle screw fixation provides the construct with the highest normalized stiffness for stabilizing the cervicothoracic junction. If C7 pedicle fixation is not possible, then performing two-level lateral mass fixation at C6 and C7 will achieve a construct with similar normalized stiffness except in axial compression. The addition of triple wiring to the spinous processes does not significantly increase lateral mass construct normalized stiffness.
The Dynamical Implications of Multiple Stellar Formation Events in Galactic Globular Clusters

Various Galactic globular clusters display abundance anomalies that affect the morphology of their color-magnitude diagrams. In this paper we consider the possibility of helium enhancement in the anomalous horizontal branch of NGC 2808. We examine the dynamics of a self-enrichment scenario in which an initial generation of stars with a top-heavy initial mass function enriches the interstellar medium with helium via the low-velocity ejecta of its asymptotic giant branch stars. This enriched medium then produces a second generation of stars which are themselves helium-enriched. We use a direct N-body approach to perform five simulations and conclude that such two-generation clusters are both possible and would not differ significantly from their single-generation counterparts on the basis of dynamics. We find, however, that the stellar populations of such clusters would differ from single-generation clusters with a standard initial mass function and in particular would be enhanced in white dwarf stars. We conclude, at least from the standpoint of dynamics, that two-generation globular clusters are feasible.
IT In the Classroom: Researching the Outcomes of Classroom Response Systems

This research in progress is part of a study being submitted for dissertation. The purpose of this study is to determine what types of students will be impacted by Classroom Response Systems (CRS) technology. Additionally, this research explores the nature of the outcomes experienced by students and their perceptions of leading pedagogy and practices for CRS technology in the classroom. An extensive review of the literature on CRS is included. A theoretical model based on TaskTechnology Fit and Kirkpatrick's four-level model of educational outcomes is proposed as a framework to organize the existing CRS technology research and study the impact of CRS technologies.
An ancient shallow slip event on the Mentawai segment of the Sunda megathrust, Sumatra

The outer-arc islands of western Sumatra rise during great megathrust earthquakes, due to large slip on the underlying megathrust. In contrast, the islands subsided up to a few centimeters during the recent tsunamigenic earthquake of October 2010, due to slip far updip, near the trench. Coral microatolls on one of the islands recorded a much larger subsidence, at least 35 cm, during an event in approximately A.D. 1314. We calculate a suite of slip models, slightly deeper and/or larger than the 2010 event, that are consistent with this large amount of subsidence. Sea level records from older coral microatolls suggest that these events occur at least once every millennium, but likely far less frequently than their great downdip neighbors. The revelation that shallow slip events are important contributors to the seismic cycle of the Mentawai segment further complicates our understanding of this subduction megathrust and our assessment of the region's exposure to seismic and tsunami hazards.