Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small-scale spatial variability of selected soil biological properties

A strategy for sampling soil from intact monolith lysimeters was established based on measurements of spatial heterogeneity within the lysimeter area. This was part of an ongoing study to determine relationships between soil microbial diversity and nutrient loss by leaching. The sampling protocol had to allow for collection of soil on a regular basis (as opposed to destructive sampling) and ensure high spatial independence of subsamples. On each of two sites (one developed under organic crop management, the other under conventional crop management), ten 15-cm soil cores (sampling points) were taken from three areas (replicates) of 50-cm-diameter (lysimeter surface area) and separately analysed for biotic (microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen; arginine deaminase activity) and abiotic (total carbon and nitrogen) soil properties. The data was tested for variability, expressed as coefficient of variance (biotic and abiotic), and spatial heterogeneity using geostatistics (biotic properties). The biotic soil properties showed significant differences among sampling points, whereas the abiotic parameters were useful in differentiating on a larger scale, i.e. between sites. For all soil properties tested, the differences among the replicates were smaller than those between sites or among points indicating that, in the main experiment, all treatments can be sampled following the same pattern.Geostatistical analysis and fitting of an exponential model showed that a spatial structure exists in the biotic soil properties and that the samples are independent beyond separation distances of 25-30 cm. A revised sampling pattern consisting of 11 samples per lysimeter is described.
Digital Systolic Pressures in the Lower Limb in Arterial Disease

Systolic pressures were measured by using pneumatic cuffs on the second toe, ankle, and arm. In the absence of clinically evident peripheral vascular disease, digital pressure expressed as a percentage of the brachial pressure averaged 87% and was not significantly different in older normal persons, patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or coronary artery disease from that in young normal subjects. Digital pressures were decreased in patients with arteriosclerosis and thromboangiitis obliterans, or Raynaud's phenomena. Mean digital pressures correlated well with clinical and angiographic findings. In arteriosclerosis obliterans digital pressures in the limbs with claudication averaged 43% of the brachial pressure, and in patients with rest pain or skin lesions, or both, 21%. The ankle-to-toe pressure difference was increased in the majority of patients with thromboangiitis obliterans and in some diabetics with arteriosclerosis obliterans. The results indicate that digital pressure expressed as percentage of brachial pressure is a good index of the severity of the overall occlusive process, whereas the ankle-to-toe pressure difference may provide a useful index of the disease in the small distal arteries.
Analysis of the role of the low threshold currents IT and Ih in intrinsic delta oscillations of thalamocortical neurons

Thalamocortical neurons are involved in the generation and maintenance of brain rhythms associated with global functional states. The repetitive burst firing of TC neurons at delta frequencies (1–4 Hz) has been linked to the oscillations recorded during deep sleep and during episodes of absence seizures. To get insight into the biophysical properties that are the basis for intrinsic delta oscillations in these neurons, we performed a bifurcation analysis of a minimal conductance-based thalamocortical neuron model including only the IT channel and the sodium and potassium leak channels. This analysis unveils the dynamics of repetitive burst firing of TC neurons, and describes how the interplay between the amplifying variable mT and the recovering variable hT of the calcium channel IT is sufficient to generate low threshold oscillations in the delta band. We also explored the role of the hyperpolarization activated cationic current Ih in this reduced model and determine that, albeit not required, Ih amplifies and stabilizes the oscillation.
Classification algorithms using adaptive partitioning

Algorithms for binary classification based on adaptive tree partitioning are formulated and analyzed for both their risk performance and their friendliness to numerical implementation. The algorithms can be viewed as generating a set approximation to the Bayes set and thus fall into the general category of set estimators. In contrast with the most studied tree-based algorithms, which utilize piecewise constant approximation on the generated partition [IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 52 (2006) 1335-1353; Mach. Learn. 66 (2007) 209-242], we consider decorated trees, which allow us to derive higher order methods. Convergence rates for these methods are derived in terms the parameter $\alpha$ of margin conditions and a rate $s$ of best approximation of the Bayes set by decorated adaptive partitions. They can also be expressed in terms of the Besov smoothness $\beta$ of the regression function that governs its approximability by piecewise polynomials on adaptive partition. The execution of the algorithms does not require knowledge of the smoothness or margin conditions. Besov smoothness conditions are weaker than the commonly used Holder conditions, which govern approximation by nonadaptive partitions, and therefore for a given regression function can result in a higher rate of convergence. This in turn mitigates the compatibility conflict between smoothness and margin parameters.
A Deep Non-linear Feature Mapping for Large-Margin kNN Classification

KNN is one of the most popular data mining methods for classification, but it often fails to work well with inappropriate choice of distance metric or due to the presence of numerous class-irrelevant features. Linear feature transformation methods have been widely applied to extract class-relevant information to improve kNN classification, which is very limited in many applications. Kernels have also been used to learn powerful non-linear feature transformations, but these methods fail to scale to large datasets. In this paper, we present a scalable non-linear feature mapping method based on a deep neural network pretrained with Restricted Boltzmann Machines for improving kNN classification in a large-margin framework, which we call DNet-kNN. DNet-kNN can be used for both classification and for supervised dimensionality reduction. The experimental results on two benchmark handwritten digit datasets and one newsgroup text dataset show that DNet-kNN has much better performance than large-margin kNN using a linear mapping and kNN based on a deep autoencoder pretrained with Restricted Boltzmann Machines.
Intermittent versus continuous renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury patients admitted to the intensive care unit: results of a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND There is uncertainty on the effect of different dialysis modalities for the treatment of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). This controlled clinical trial performed in the framework of the multicentre SHARF 4 study (Stuivenberg Hospital Acute Renal Failure) aimed to investigate the outcome in patients with AKI, stratified according to severity of disease and randomized to different treatment options. METHODS This was a multicentre prospective randomized controlled trial with stratification according to severity of disease expressed by the SHARF score. ICU patients were eligible for inclusion when serum creatinine was >2 mg/dL, and RRT was initiated. The selected patients were randomized to intermittent (IRRT) or continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). RESULTS A total of 316 AKI patients were randomly assigned to IRRT (n = 144) or CRRT (n = 172). The mean age was 66 (range 18-96); 59% were male. Intention-to-treat analysis revealed a mortality of 62.5% in IRRT compared to 58.1% in CRRT (P = 0.430). No difference between IRRT and CRRT could be observed in the duration of ICU stay or hospital stay. In survivors, renal recovery at hospital discharge was comparable between both groups. Multivariate analysis, including the SHARF score, APACHE II and SOFA scores for correction of disease severity, showed no difference in mortality between both treatment modalities. This result was confirmed in pre-specified subgroup analysis (elderly, patients with sepsis, heart failure, ventilation) and after exclusion of possible confounders (early mortality, delayed ICU admission). CONCLUSIONS Modality of RRT, either CRRT or IRRT, had no impact on the outcome in ICU patients with AKI. Both modalities need to be considered as complementary in the treatment of AKI (Clinical Trial: SHARF 4, NCT00322933, http://ClinicalTrials.gov).
Association of Adolescent Obesity with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Related Risk Factors in Xi ’ an , China

Introduction and aim. To investigate the association of adolescent obesity with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and related risk factors in Xi 'an, China. Material and methods. A total of 4141 adolescents (2,061 girls and 2,080 boys, mean age: 18.62 ± 0.66 years, age range 15-22 years) were enrolled in this investigation. Anthropometric index was measured, and liver ultrasonography and liver function biochemical test were performed in all the subjects. T test, χ2 test and logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analyses. Results. The total rates of obesity was 7.9% (08/4,141). The prevalence rate of NAFLD was 8.1% (335/4141) with a declining trend from obesity, overweight to normal BMI. NAFLD prevalence rate in obese boys was significantly higher than in girls (χ2 = 56.5, P < 0.01). BMI, body weight, ALT, and AST in NAFLD group were higher than in non-NAFLD group (P < 0.05). The tangent point of ALT was 36 U/L using Youden index in boys, and 33 U/L in girls. Conclusion. The prevalence of obesity and NAFLD in adolescents is higher in Xi'an than anticipated. Body weight and BMI may be the associated independent risk factors of NAFLD.
Betulinic acid suppresses constitutive and TNFα‐induced NF‐κB activation and induces apoptosis in human prostate carcinoma PC‐3 cells

Development of chemoresistance in androgen‐refractory prostate cancer cells is partly due to constitutive activation of Rel/NF‐κB transcription factors that regulate several cell survival and anti‐apoptotic genes. In this study we examined whether betulinic acid (BetA), a pentacyclic triterpene from the bark of white birch, is effective in inhibiting NF‐κB expression in androgen‐refractory human prostate cancer cells exhibiting high constitutive NF‐κB expression. Treatment of PC‐3 cells with BetA inhibited DNA binding and reduced nuclear levels of the NF‐κB/p65. BetA‐mediated NF‐κB inhibition involved decreased IKK activity and phosphorylation of IκBα at serine 32/36 followed by its degradation. Reporter assays revealed that NF‐κB inhibition by BetA is transcriptionally active. These effects were found to correlate with a shift in Bax/Bcl‐2 ratio and cleavage of poly(ADP)ribose polymerase more towards apoptosis. BetA also inhibited TNFα‐induced activation of NF‐κB via the IκBα pathway, thereby sensitizing the cells to TNFα‐induced apoptosis. Our studies demonstrate that BetA effectively inhibits constitutive NF‐κB activation and supports the rationale for targeting NF‐κB through combination protocols with BetA in androgen‐refractory prostate cancer. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Long-term albumin infusion improves survival in patients with cirrhosis and ascites: an unblinded randomized trial.

AIM To investigate the effects of long-term albumin administration on survival, recurrence of ascites and onset of other complications. METHODS One hundred consecutive patients admitted for first-onset ascites were randomized to receive diuretics plus human albumin 25 g/wk in the first year and 25 g every two wk thereafter (group 1) or diuretics alone (group 2). The primary endpoint was survival without liver transplantation. Secondary endpoints were recurrence of ascites and occurrence of other complications. RESULTS Median follow-up was 84 (2-120) mo. Albumin-treated patients had significantly greater cumulative survival rate (Breslow test=7.05, P=0.0078) and lower probability of ascites recurrence (51% versus 94%, P<0.0001). Chronic albumin infusion resulted in a mean increase in survival of 16 mo. CONCLUSION Long-term albumin administration after first-onset ascites significantly improves patients' survival and decreases the risk of ascites recurrence.
Arginine methylation analysis of the splicing-associated SR protein SFRS9/SRP30C

The human SFRS9/SRp30c belongs to the SR family of splicing regulators. Despite evidence that members of this protein family may be targeted by arginine methylation, this has yet to be experimentally addressed. In this study, we found that SFRS9 is a target for PRMT1-mediated arginine methylation in vitro, and that it is immunoprecipitated from HEK-293 lysates by antibodies that recognize both mono- and dimethylated arginines. We further observed that upon treatment with the methylation inhibitor Adox, the fluorescent EGFP-SFRS9 re-localizes to dot-like structures in the cell nucleus. In subsequent confocal analyses, we found that EGFP-SFRS9 localizes to nucleoli in Adox-treated cells. Our findings indicate the importance of arginine methylation for the subnuclear localization of SFRS9.
Climate Finance

This chapter focuses on the evolution of the concept of climate finance in India, reviews India’s current efforts at mobilizing finance for mitigation and adaptation from various sources, analyses the major drivers behind the flow of such funds, and discusses institutional arrangements around climate finance and their implications. The chapter also discusses the difficulties in estimating India’s climate finance flow and needs, driven in part by lack of clarity on what counts as climate finance. Although India has been able to leverage funds from a variety of sources, the quantum of funds is inadequate, given the large requirements. The key challenge will be to coordinate these multiple actors and channels of climate finance, and enable them to integrate with larger policy processes in order to secure and deliver climate finance that serves India’s interests and is truly transformational in its impact.
Masculinity and Femininity Predict Optimal Mental Health: A Belated Test of the Androgyny Hypothesis

In this study, we examined the relationship between psychological androgyny and optimal mental health in a sample of adults seeking career consultation (N = 154). Most earlier research on the subject employed self-report measures of well-being or adjustment. In this study, we employed an "observer-by-proxy" measure of optimal mental health that, although based on self report data, provides an empirically based estimate of ratings that clinicians would make using the California Q-set (Block, 1961/1978). High levels of both masculinity and femininity are associated with higher levels of optimal mental health. These findings represent a rare example of support for the additive androgyny hypothesis and argue for its further study. We also discuss the construct validity of the masculinity and femininity scales we used, and we argue for further study of our mental health measure.
FOSLL∗ Method for the Eddy Current Problem with Three-Dimensional Edge Singularities

In the case that the domain has reentrant edges, the standard finite element method loses its global accuracy because of singularities on the boundary. To overcome this difficulty, FOSLLa is applied in this paper. FOSLLa is a methodology for solving PDEs using the dual operator. Here, a modified FOSLLa method is developed that employs a partially weighted functional and allows the use of a standard finite element scheme without losing global accuracy.
On the Role of the Patella, ACL and Joint Contact Forces in the Extension of the Knee

Traditional descriptions of the knee suggest that the function of the patella is to facilitate knee extension by increasing the moment arm of the quadriceps muscles. Through modelling and evidence from the literature it is shown in this paper that the presence of the patella makes the ability of the quadriceps to rotate the thigh greater than their ability to rotate the tibia. Furthermore, this difference increases as the knee is flexed, thus demonstrating a pattern that is consistent with many human movements. This paper also shows that the anterior cruciate ligament plays a previously unheralded role in extending the shank and that translation at the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints is important in improving the capacity for thigh rotation when the knee is flexed. This study provides new insights as to how the structure of the knee is adapted to its purpose and illustrates how the functional anatomy of the knee contributes to its extension function.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) with Erythroid Predominance Exhibits Clinical and Molecular Characteristics that Differ from Other Types of AML

The clinical importance of erythroid predominance in bone marrow of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is controversial. These cases represent a heterogeneous group of diseases that historically have been classified into different categories. We studied 313 AML patients and specifically compared the clinical, cytogenetic, and molecular features of cases of AML with erythroid predominance, arbitrarily defined as ≥50% erythroid precursors, to AML cases without erythroid predominance. We also assessed 51 patients with a high-grade myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB). All neoplasms were classified according to the World Health Organization classification. With the exception of therapy-related AML/MDS, the presence of erythroid predominance in variously classified categories of AML was associated with a survival advantage. In addition, AML with erythroid predominance had a lower frequency of cytogenetic abnormalities as well as a lower frequency of mutations involving NPM1, NRAS and FLT3 as compared with AML without erythroid predominance. We conclude that the clinical, cytogenetic, and molecular features of AML with erythroid predominance in the non-therapy-related setting are much closer to those of a high-grade myelodysplastic syndrome than they are to other types of AML.
Intercomparison of Himawari-8 AHI-FSA with MODIS and VIIRS active fire products

ABSTRACT The AHI-FSA (Advanced Himawari Imager - Fire Surveillance Algorithm) is a recently developed algorithm designed to support wildfire surveillance and mapping using the geostationary Himawari-8 satellite. At present, the AHI-FSA algorithm has only been tested on a number of case study fires in Western Australia. Initial results demonstrate potential as a wildfire surveillance algorithm providing high frequency (every 10 minutes), multi-resolution fire-line detections. This paper intercompares AHI-FSA across the Northern Territory of Australia (1.4 million km2) over a ten-day period with the well-established fire products from LEO (Low Earth Orbiting) satellites: MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite). This paper also discusses the difficulties and solutions when comparing high temporal frequency fire products with existing low temporal resolution LEO satellite products. The results indicate that the multi-resolution approach developed for AHI-FSA is successful in mapping fire activity at 500 m. When compared to the MODIS, daily AHI-FSA omission error was only 7%. High temporal frequency data also results in AHI-FSA observing fires, at times, three hours before the MODIS overpass with much-enhanced detail on fire movement.
Quantal components of the end‐plate potential

In this paper a further study is made of the spontaneous synaptic potentials in frog muscle (Fatt & Katz, 1952a), and their relation to the end-plate response. It has been suggested that the end-plate potential (e.p.p.) at a single nerve-muscle junction is built up statistically of small all-or-none units which are identical in size with the spontaneous 'miniature e.p.p.'s'. The latter, therefore, could be regarded as the least unit, or the 'quantum', of end-plate response. A convenient picture of how hundreds of such quanta, each capable of producing a miniature potential of 0 5-1 0 mV, can build up an e.p.p. of, say, 70-80 mV is provided by the hypothesis that separate parcels of acetylcholine (ACh), released from discrete spots of the nerve endings, short-circuit the muscle membrane. The unit changes of membrane conductance produced at many parallel spots summate and lead to an intense depolarization of the muscle fibre. Although this is a plausible view, there is no direct proof that the normal e.p.p. is made up in this quantal fashion. The evidence comes from experiments in which the 'quantum content' of the e.p.p. had been reduced to a small number by lowering the external calcium concentration (Fatt & Katz, 1952 a). It was then found that the size of the end-plate response approached that of the spontaneous potential and at the same time exhibited large random fluctuations, apparently involving steps of unit size. Similar observations were made by Castillo & Engbaek (1954) on muscles treated with Mg-rich solutions. The statistical behaviour of the end-plate response under these conditions has been investigated in more detail and subjected to a quantitative analysis.
A method to reduce the decoding complexity of the binary (89, 45, 17) quadratic residue code

In order to use Berlekamp-Massey algorithm to decode the (89, 45, 17) binary quadratic residue code, one needs to determine two primary unknown syndromes. In this paper, the authors give some syndrome matrices, so as to calculate one primary unknown syndrome efficiently. This results in a reduction of decoding complexity in terms of CPU time by 35% at least versus the decoder proposed by Truong et al.
Factors predicting change in hospital safety climate and capability in a multi-site patient safety collaborative: a longitudinal survey study

Objective The study had two specific objectives: (1) To analyse change in a survey measure of organisational patient safety climate and capability (SCC) resulting from participation in the UK Safer Patients Initiative and (2) To investigate the role of a range of programme and contextual factors in predicting change in SCC scores. Design Single group longitudinal design with repeated measurement at 12-month follow-up. Setting Multiple service areas within NHS hospital sites across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Participants Stratified sample of 284 respondents representing programme teams at 19 hospital sites. Intervention A complex intervention comprising a multi-component quality improvement collaborative focused upon patient safety and designed to impact upon hospital leadership, communication, organisation and safety climate. Measures A survey including a 31-item SCC scale was administered at two time-points. Results Modest but significant positive movement in SCC score was observed between the study time-points. Individual programme responsibility, availability of early adopters, multi-professional collaboration and extent of process measurement were significant predictors of change in SCC. Hospital type and size, along with a range of programme preconditions, were not found to be significant. Conclusion A range of social, cultural and organisational factors may be sensitive to this type of intervention but the measurable effect is small. Supporting critical local programme implementation factors may be an effective strategy in achieving development in organisational patient SCC, regardless of contextual factors and organisational preconditions.