Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating 4 years of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) over Europe using IASI satellite observations and LOTOS‐EUROS model results

Monitoring ammonia (NH3) concentrations on a global to regional scale is a challenge. Due to the limited availability of reliable ground‐based measurements, the determination of NH3 distributions generally relies on model calculations. Novel remotely sensed NH3burdens provide valuable insights to complement traditional assessments for clear‐sky conditions. This paper presents a first quantitative comparison between Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite observations and LOTOS‐EUROS model results over Europe and Western Russia. A methodology to account for the variable retrieval sensitivity of the measurements is described. Four years of data (2008–2011) highlight three main agricultural hot spot areas in Europe: the Po Valley, the continental part of Northwestern Europe, and the Ebro Valley. The spatial comparison reveals a good overall agreement of the NH3 distributions not only in these source regions but also over remote areas and over sea when transport is observed. On average, the measured columns exceed the modeled ones, except for a few cases. Large discrepancies over several industrial areas in Eastern Europe and Russia point to underestimated emissions in the underlying inventories. The temporal analysis over the three hot spot areas reveals that the seasonality is well captured by the model when the lower sensitivity of the satellite measurements in the colder months is taken into account. Comparison of the daily time series indicates possible misrepresentations of the timing and magnitude of the emissions. Finally, specific attention to biomass burning events shows that modeled plumes are less spread out than the observed ones. This is confirmed for the 2010 Russian fires with a comparison using in situ observations.
Uniform hyperbolicity of the curve graphs

We show that there is a universal constant, k, such that the curve graph associated to any compact orientable surface is k-hyperbolic. Independent proofs of this have been given by Aougab, by Hensel, Przytycki and Webb, and by Clay, Rafi and Schleimer.
Spatial and Temporal Relationships between Invasive American Mink and Native European Polecats in the Southern United Kingdom

Abstract The spatial organization of a species on a landscape is influenced, at least in part, by the presence of sympatric competitors. Interspecific relationships can thus have direct effects on the carrying capacity of the landscape and have important implications for conservation. We investigated the spatial relationships and activity patterns of 2 similarly sized mustelids: the invasive American mink (Neovison vison) and the native European polecat (Mustela putorius) in lowlands in the United Kingdom. By radiotracking mink (n = 11) and polecats (n = 7) in autumn when individuals of both species hold stable home ranges, we found that individuals tended to have overlapping home ranges, both within and between species; and the size of overlap areas was similar, but generally small, within and between species (mean approximately 20%, although overlaps were higher among mink of opposite sexes). Mink shared their home ranges with 0.3–1.17 other mink (of both sexes) and 0.83–1.3 polecats; polecats shared their home ranges with 0.6–1.0 polecats (of the opposite sex) and 1.6–2.0 mink. Neighbors avoided simultaneous use of overlap areas; polecats were nocturnal and mink were predominantly diurnal. Our results are consistent with interspecific territoriality although we cannot distinguish between interspecific territoriality and niche differentiation. We suggest that there is habitat partitioning between the 2 species, but that this is incomplete and that temporal partitioning enables avoidance of interspecific neighbors within overlap areas. Niche partitioning by distance from water and time of day when active probably facilitates coexistence in the short term, but it is unclear whether coexistence is stable year-round or in the long term.
Contribution of Obesity and Abdominal Fat Mass to Risk of Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attacks

Background and Purpose— Waist circumference has been shown to be a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than body mass index (BMI). Our case-control study aimed to evaluate the contribution of obesity and abdominal fat mass to the risk of stroke and transient ischemic attacks (TIA). Methods— We recruited 1137 participants: 379 cases with stroke/TIA and 758 regional controls matched for age and sex. Associations between different markers of obesity (BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference and waist-to-stature ratio) and risk of stroke/TIA were assessed by using conditional logistic regression adjusted for other risk factors. Results— BMI showed a positive association with cerebrovascular risk which became nonsignificant after adjustment for physical inactivity, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes (odds ratio 1.18; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.79, top tertile versus bottom tertile). Markers of abdominal adiposity were strongly associated with the risk of stroke/TIA. For the waist-to-hip ratio, adjusted odds ratios for every successive tertile were greater than that of the previous one (2nd tertile: 2.78, 1.57 to 4.91; 3rd tertile: 7.69, 4.53 to 13.03). Significant associations with the risk of stroke/TIA were also found for waist circumference and waist-to-stature ratio (odds ratio 4.25, 2.65 to 6.84 and odds ratio 4.67, 2.82 to 7.73, top versus bottom tertile after risk adjustment, respectively). Conclusions— Markers of abdominal adiposity showed a graded and significant association with risk of stroke/TIA, independent of other vascular risk factors. Waist circumference and related ratios can better predict cerebrovascular events than BMI.
Subcutaneous fat alterations resulting from an upper-body resistance training program.

PURPOSE It is believed spot reduction, the exercise-induced localized loss of subcutaneous fat, does not occur as a result of an exercise program; however, evidence as a whole has been inconsistent. To reexamine this concept, we compared subcutaneous fat measurements before and after resistance training among 104 subjects (45 men, 59 women). METHODS Subjects participated in 12 wk of supervised resistance training of their nondominant arm. Magnetic resonance imaging and skinfold calipers examined subcutaneous fat in the nondominant (trained) and dominant (untrained) arms before and after resistance training. Repeated-measures ANCOVA tested for subcutaneous fat differences within and between arms before, after, and from before to after resistance training by gender and measurement technique, with BMI and age as covariates. Simple linear regression compared subcutaneous fat changes before and after resistance training as assessed by MRI and skinfold. RESULTS Subcutaneous fat, measured by skinfold, decreased in the trained arm and not the untrained arm in the men (P < 0.01); it was similar in the total sample and in the women (P > 0.05). MRI determinations of subcutaneous fat changes were not different between arms in the total sample and by gender (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION Subcutaneous fat changes resulting from resistance training varied by gender and assessment technique. Skinfold findings indicate that spot reduction occurred in men but not in women. In contrast, MRI found a generalized subcutaneous fat loss independent of gender, supporting the notion that spot reduction does not occur as a result of resistance training. MRI, sensitive to changes along the entire upper arm, detected greater variation in resistance training responses, preventing significant differences between trained and untrained arms. Variation in upper-arm resistance training response was not evident from a single skinfold measurement at the belly of the muscle.
In vitro and in vivo characterization of the antimalarial lead compound SSJ-183 in Plasmodium models

The objective of this work was to characterize the in vitro (Plasmodium falciparum) and in vivo (Plasmodium berghei) activity profile of the recently discovered lead compound SSJ-183. The molecule showed in vitro a fast and strong inhibitory effect on growth of all P. falciparum blood stages, with a tendency to a more pronounced stage-specific action on ring forms at low concentrations. Furthermore, the compound appeared to be equally efficacious on drug-resistant and drug-sensitive parasite strains. In vivo, SSJ-183 showed a rapid onset of action, comparable to that seen for the antimalarial drug artesunate. SSJ-183 exhibited a half-life of about 10 hours and no significant differences in absorption or exposure between noninfected and infected mice. SSJ-183 appears to be a promising new lead compound with an attractive antimalarial profile.
An OS interface for active routers

This paper describes an operating system (OS) interface for active routers. This interface allows code loaded into active routers to access the router's memory, communication, and computational resources on behalf of different packet flows. In addition to motivating and describing the interface, the paper also reports our experiences implementing the interface in three different OS environments: Scout, the OSKit, and the esokernel.
The psychological sequelae of therapeutic abortion--denied and completed.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to review the available literature on the psychological sequelae of therapeutic abortion, addressing both the issue of the effects of the abortion on the woman involved and the effects on the woman and on the child born when abortion is denied. METHOD Papers reviewed were initially selected by using a Medline search. This procedure resulted in 225 papers being reviewed, which were further selected by limiting the papers to those reporting original research. Finally, studies were assessed as to whether or not they used control groups or objective, validated symptom measures. RESULTS Adverse sequelae occur in a minority of women, and when such symptoms occur, they usually seem to be the continuation of symptoms that appeared before the abortion and are on the wane immediately after the abortion. Many women denied abortion show ongoing resentment that may last for years, while children born when the abortion is denied have numerous, broadly based difficulties in social, interpersonal, and occupational functions that last at least into early adulthood. CONCLUSIONS With increasing pressure on access to abortion services in North America, nonpsychiatrist physicians and mental health professionals need to keep in mind the effects of both performing and denying therapeutic abortion. Increased research into these areas, focusing in particular on why some women are adversely affected by the procedure and clarifying the relationship issues involved, continues to be important.
Using GOCI to detect the diffusion of pollution after the TianJin harbour explosion

ABSTRACT The Tianjin harbour explosion has become the most serious man-made disaster in China in the last 20 years. Chemical materials and dust were cast into the air after explosion. In this research, Geostationary Ocean Colour Imager (GOCI) was used for detecting the transportation of pollution that was composed of brown carbon, nitrogen oxides, dust, etc. It is considered to be an efficient and effective approach to monitor infectant using GOCI-Rayleigh corrected reflectance Rrc (865 nm)/Rrc (412 nm). Images of pollutant index Rrc (865 nm)/Rrc (412 nm) and forward trajectories show that pollutant index exceeded 20 in the morning and then dropped to 1 at 07:28 (UTC) on 13 August 2015. Combined with the prediction model of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forward trajectory, this research shows that the diffusion of infectant, originated at the northern part of the Bohai Sea water near Tangshan and Qinhuangdao, eventually spread to the south of the Bohai Sea (Yellow River Estuary). The vertical distribution of the pollutant was identified in the air, 1000–2000 m above sea level, and pollutant migrated to the south, which finally dissipated at the south of Bohai Bay. Since GOCI aerosol optical thickness of infectant is less than 1, and Rrc (865 nm)/Rrc (412 nm) pollutant index of infectant is more than 1, the type of explosive pollutant is preliminarily distinguished by the characteristic of spectrum and GOCI-Rrc image. The main pollutants were carbonaceous aerosol (caused by combustion explosion, main brown carbon), nitrogen oxides (which were adsorbed and adhered to particulate matter), dust, and other substances. This research provides an effective method to detect explosive pollution by GOCI in the future.
Exploiting biomechanical degrees of freedom for fast and accurate changes in movement direction: coordination underlying quick bow reversals during continuous cello bowing

Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that accurate and efficient motor performance may be achieved by task-specific exploitation of biomechanical degrees of freedom. We investigate coordination of the right arm in a task requiring a sudden yet precisely controlled reversal of movement direction: bow reversals during continuous (“legato”) tone production on a stringed instrument. Ten advanced or professional cello players (at least 10 years of practice) and ten age-matched novice players took part in the study. Kinematic data from the bow and the right arm were analyzed in terms of velocity and acceleration profiles, as well as temporal coordination along the arm. As expected, experts' bow velocity and acceleration profiles differed markedly from those of novice participants, with higher peak accelerations and quicker direction changes. Importantly, experts achieved the change in movement direction with a single acceleration peak while novices tended to use multiple smaller acceleration peaks. Experts moreover showed a proximal-distal gradient in timing and amplitudes of acceleration peaks, with earlier and lower-amplitude reversals at more proximal joints. We suggest that this coordination pattern allows generating high accelerations at the end effector while reducing the required joint torques at the proximal joints. This may underlie experts' ability to produce fast bow reversals efficiently and with high spatiotemporal accuracy. The findings are discussed in terms of motor control theory as well as potential implications for musicians' performance and health.
Phylogenetic relationship of Pucrasia (Aves: Galliformes) based on complete mitochondrial genome sequences

Abstract The taxonomic status of the avian genus Pucrasia is controversial and unstable. To demonstrate the phylogenetic relationships of Pucrasia, the complete mitochondrial genome of 19 genera in Phasianidae were analyzed. The genetic distance between Pucrasia and other genus ranged from 0.124 (Tetraophasis) to 0.170 (Arborophila). Maximum likelihood method, neighbor-joining method and minimum-evolution method were used to construct molecular phylogenetic trees. The phylogenetic trees grouped all the genera into a monophyletic cluster. Pucrasia, Tragopan, Tetraophasis and Lophophorus were closely related genera, which were consistent with the shape and behavior. Calibrated rates of molecular evolution suggested that their divergent time was late Pliocene between Pucrasia and other genus. Pucrasia was shown to be pheasant genus based on morphological traits and complete mitochondrial genome. The origin of Pucrasia might have been influenced by the uplift of Himalayan and Pleistocene climate fluctuations.
Tyrosine phosphatase MEG2 modulates murine development and platelet and lymphocyte activation through secretory vesicle function

MEG2, a protein tyrosine phosphatase with a unique NH2-terminal lipid-binding domain, binds to and is modulated by the polyphosphoinositides PI(4,5)P2 and PI(3,4,5)P3. Recent data implicate MEG2 in vesicle fusion events in leukocytes. Through the genesis of Meg2-deficient mice, we demonstrate that Meg2−/−embryos manifest hemorrhages, neural tube defects including exencephaly and meningomyeloceles, cerebral infarctions, abnormal bone development, and >90% late embryonic lethality. T lymphocytes and platelets isolated from recombination activating gene 2−/− mice transplanted with Meg2−/− embryonic liver–derived hematopoietic progenitor cells showed profound defects in activation that, in T lymphocytes, was attributable to impaired interleukin 2 secretion. Ultrastructural analysis of these lymphocytes revealed near complete absence of mature secretory vesicles. Taken together, these observations suggest that MEG2-mediated modulation of secretory vesicle genesis and function plays an essential role in neural tube, vascular, and bone development as well as activation of mature platelets and lymphocytes.
Impact of Climate Change on Siberian High and Wintertime Air Pollution in China in Past Two Decades

China has suffered severe air pollutions during wintertime as national industrialization and urbanization have been increasingly developed in the past decades. Recent studies suggest that climate change has important impacts on extreme haze events in northern China. This study uses reanalysis datasets to analyze the trend and variability of Siberian High (SiH) intensity, and its relationship with the Arctic temperature and sea ice cover (SIC) in past two decades. The results show that Arctic is warming accompanied by a rapid decline of SIC, while Eurasia is cooling and SiH intensity is gradually enhancing. The statistics illustrates that the SiH has a significantly positive correlation to the temperature (R = 0.70), and a significant anticorrelation to the SIC (R = −0.69), and this is because the warming Arctic and the reducing SIC enhanced the SiH. The enhanced SiH leads to strengthened northerly winds in the North China Plain (NCP). The WRF‐Chem model calculation reveals the strengthened northerly winds during the stronger SiH period in January 2016 produce a significant decrease in PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm) concentrations by 100–200 µg m−3 than that during the weaker one in January 2013. A sensitivity calculation figures out the reduction of PM2.5 concentrations due to a decrease of 50% in emissions is comparable to changes from the weak SiH condition to the strong SiH condition, suggesting that extreme climate variability in the past few years could have an equivalent impact as a consequence of a large emission reduction on wintertime air pollution in the NCP.
Teaching emotion expressions to a human companion robot using deep neural architectures

Human companion robots need to be sociable and responsive towards emotions to better interact with the human environment they are expected to operate in. This paper is based on the Neuro-Inspired COmpanion robot (NICO) and investigates a hybrid, deep neural network model to teach the NICO to associate perceived emotions with expression representations using its on-board capabilities. The proposed model consists of a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a Self-organising Map (SOM) to perceive the emotions expressed by a human user towards NICO and trains two parallel Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) networks to learn general as well as person-specific associations between perceived emotions and the robot's facial expressions.
Persistent viral pathogens and cognitive impairment across the life course in the third national health and nutrition examination survey.

BACKGROUND Herpesviruses have been linked to cognitive impairment in older individuals but little is known about the association in the general US population. METHODS We determined whether cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) seropositivity were associated with cognitive impairment among children (aged 6-16 years) and adults aged 20-59 or ≥60 years, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III. Linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between pathogen seropositivity and cognitive impairment. RESULTS Among children, HSV-1 seropositivity was associated with lower reading and spatial reasoning test scores (β, -0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.18 to -.21 and β, -0.82; 95% CI, -1.29 to -.36, respectively). Among middle-aged adults, HSV-1 and CMV seropositivity were associated with impaired coding speed (odds ratio [OR], 1.54; 95% CI, 1.13-2.11, and OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.09-1.82, respectively). CMV seropositivity was also associated with impaired learning and recall (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.14-1.80). Among older adults, HSV-1 seropositivity was associated with immediate memory impairment (OR, 3.26; 95% CI, 1.68-6.32). CONCLUSIONS Future studies examining the biological pathways by which herpesviruses influence cognitive impairment across the life course are warranted.
Model clone detection in practice

Cloned code is considered harmful for two reasons: (1) multiple, possibly unnecessary, duplicates of code increase maintenance costs and, (2) inconsistent changes to cloned code can create faults and, hence, lead to incorrect program behavior. Likewise, duplicated parts of models are problematic in model-based development. Recently, we and other authors proposed multiple approaches to automatically identify duplicates in graphical models. While it has been demonstrated that these approaches work in principal, a number of challenges remain for application in industrial practice. Based on an industrial case study undertaken with the BMW Group, this paper details on these challenges and presents solutions to the most pressing ones, namely scalability and relevance of the results. Moreover, we present tool support that eases the evaluation of detection results and thereby helps to make clone detection a standard technique in model-based quality assurance.
Cardiac-Restricted Expression of VCP/TER94 RNAi or Disease Alleles Perturbs Drosophila Heart Structure and Impairs Function

Valosin-containing protein (VCP) is a highly conserved mechanoenzyme that helps maintain protein homeostasis in all cells and serves specialized functions in distinct cell types. In skeletal muscle, it is critical for myofibrillogenesis and atrophy. However, little is known about VCP’s role(s) in the heart. Its functional diversity is determined by differential binding of distinct cofactors/adapters, which is likely disrupted during disease. VCP mutations cause multisystem proteinopathy (MSP), a pleiotropic degenerative disorder that involves inclusion body myopathy. MSP patients display progressive muscle weakness. They also exhibit cardiomyopathy and die from cardiac and respiratory failure, which are consistent with critical myocardial roles for the enzyme. Nonetheless, efficient models to interrogate VCP in cardiac muscle remain underdeveloped and poorly studied. Here, we investigated the significance of VCP and mutant VCP in the Drosophila heart. Cardiac-restricted RNAi-mediated knockdown of TER94, the Drosophila VCP homolog, severely perturbed myofibrillar organization and heart function in adult flies. Furthermore, expression of MSP disease-causing alleles engendered cardiomyopathy in adults and structural defects in embryonic hearts. Drosophila may therefore serve as a valuable model for examining role(s) of VCP in cardiogenesis and for identifying novel heart-specific VCP interactions, which when disrupted via mutation, contribute to or elicit cardiac pathology.
Laboratory markers predict bone loss in Crohn's disease: relationship to blood mononuclear cell function and nutritional status

Background : Crohn's disease is associated with reduced bone density. The power of simple markers of systemic inflammation to identify higher rates of bone loss, in Crohn's disease, is uncertain. This relationship and the role of circulating (peripheral blood) mononuclear cells were investigated in a case–control study.