Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Regional Stable Carbon Isotope Dendro-Climatology from the South African Summer Rainfall Area

Carbon isotope analysis of four baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) trees from the Pafuri region of South Africa yielded a 1000-year proxy rainfall record. The Pafuri record age model was based on 17 radiocarbon dates, cross correlation of the climate record, and ring structures that were presumed to be annual for two of the trees. Here we present the analysis of five additional baobabs from the Mapungubwe region, approximately 200km west of Pafuri. The Mapungubwe chronology demonstrates that ring structures are not necessarily annually formed, and accordingly the Pafuri chronology is revised. Changes in intrinsic water-use efficiency indicate an active response by the trees to elevated atmospheric CO2, but this has little effect on the environmental signal. The revised Pafuri record, and the new Mapungubwe record correlate significantly with local rainfall. Both records confirm that the Medieval Warm Period was substantially wetter than present, and the Little Ice Age was the driest period in the last 1000 years. Although Mapungubwe is generally drier than Pafuri, both regions experience elevated rainfall peaking between AD 1570 and AD 1620 after which dry conditions persist in the Mapungubwe area until about AD 1840. Differences between the two records correlate with Agulhas Current sea-surface temperature variations suggesting east/west displacement of the temperate tropical trough system as an underlying mechanism. The Pafuri and Mapungubwe records are combined to provide a regional climate proxy record for the northern summer rainfall area of southern Africa.
A Pedagogy of Abundance

The digitisation of content combined with a global network for delivery and an open system for sharing has seen radical changes in many industries. The economic model which has underpinned many content based industries has been based on an assumption of scarcity. With a digital, open, networked approach we are witnessing a shift to abundance of content, and subsequently new economic models are being developed which have this as an assumption. In this article the role of scarcity in developing higher education practice and pedagogy is explored. The shift to abundant content has as profound implications for education as it has for content industries. The possible contenders for a ‘pedagogy of abundance’ are examined and the necessary requirements for such a pedagogy outlined.
Marital status, depressive episodes, and short-term prognosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome: Greek study of acute coronary syndrome (GREECS)

The association between marital status and short-term prognosis of patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was evaluated. From October 2003 to September 2004, a sample of 6 hospitals located in Greek regions was selected, and almost all survivors after an ACS were enrolled into the study (2172 patients were included in the study; 76% were men). The in-hospital mortality rate was 3.2% in male patients and 5.7% in female patients (p = 0.009). Never-married patients had 2.8-times higher risk of dying during hospitalization compared with married, after adjusting for various confounders (p < 0.01, attributable risk = 64%). Furthermore, never-married had 2.7-times higher risk of dying during the first 30-days following hospitalization compared with married (p < 0.01, attributable risk = 62%). Moderate depressive symptoms 3.26-fold (95% CI 1.40–7.11) the risk of recurrent events, while severe depressive symptoms were associated with 8.2-fold (95% CI 3.98–17.1) higher risk of events. No interaction was observed between marital status and depression on 30-day prognosis of ACS patients (p > 0.5). People who were not-married and depressed at the time of an acute cardiac episode were at higher risk of fatal events than people who were married, irrespective of depression status and other characteristics.
Primary Radiofrequency Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia Early After Myocardial Infarction: Evaluation in an Ovine Model

Background—Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a significant complication of myocardial infarction. Radiofrequency ablation for postinfarct VT is reserved for drug refractory VT or VT storms. Our hypothesis is that radiofrequency ablation in the early postinfarct period could abolish or diminish late recurrences of VT. Methods and Results—Myocardial infarct was induced by balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending artery in 35 sheep. The 25 survivors underwent programmed ventricular stimulation and electroanatomical mapping 8 days postinfarct. Animals with inducible VT (12 out of 25 animals) underwent immediate radiofrequency ablation. Further VT inductions were performed 100 and 200 days postinfarct. At day 8, 3.0±0.9 VT morphologies per animal were inducible. All were successfully ablated with 24±6 applications of radiofrequency energy. All had ablations on the left ventricular endocardium, and 67% had ablations on the right ventricular aspect of the interventricular septum. All targeted arrhythmias were successfully ablated acutely. One animal was euthanized because of hypotension from a serious pericardial effusion. The other 11 survived and remained arrhythmia free on subsequent inductions on the 100th and 200th days (P<0.001). The 13 animals without inducible VT remained noninducible at the subsequent studies. A historical control arm of 9 animals with inducible VT at day 8 remained inducible at day 100. Conclusions—Radiofrequency ablation on the eighth day after infarction abolished inducibility of VT at late induction studies ⩽200 days in an ovine model. Early identification and ablation of VT after infarction may prevent or reduce late ventricular arrhythmias but needs to be validated in clinical studies.
Linear regression MDP scheme for discrete backward stochastic differential equations under general conditions

We design a numerical scheme for solving the Multi step-forward Dynamic Programming (MDP) equation arising from the time-discretization of backward stochastic differential equations. The generator is assumed to be locally Lipschitz, which includes some cases of quadratic drivers. When the large sequence of conditional expectations is computed using empirical least-squares regressions, under general conditions we establish an upper bound error as the average, rather than the sum, of local regression errors only, suggesting that our error estimation is tight. Despite the nested regression problems, the interdependency errors are justified to be at most of the order of the statistical regression errors (up to logarithmic factor). Finally, we optimize the algorithm parameters, depending on the dimension and on the smoothness of value functions, in the limit as the time mesh size goes to zero and compute the complexity needed to achieve a given accuracy. Numerical experiments are presented illustrating theoretical convergence estimates.
Searching for ‘the political’ in environmental politics

Situating the ‘post-ecologist turn’ within the framework of post-politics, we not only investigate why environmental issues are so easily represented in consensual and technocratic terms, but also seek avenues for repoliticisation. We thereby try to avoid the pitfall of a voluntaristic or substantively normative approach to what repoliticisation can mean. By pointing to the subtle polemic on a meta-level which lurks beneath even the most consensual discourse, a potential starting point for repoliticisation is uncovered, which also enables a political rereading of the ‘post-ecologist turn’. Finally, we argue that the same characteristics that make the environmental question liable to depoliticisation can also turn it into a field of politicisation par excellence.
Glycogen Levels in Undiluted Genital Fluid and Their Relationship to Vaginal pH, Estrogen, and Progesterone

Background Colonization of the female lower genital tract with Lactobacillus provides protection against STIs and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Growth of genital Lactobacillus is postulated to depend on epithelial cell-produced glycogen. However, the amount of cell-free glycogen in genital fluid available for utilization by Lactobacillus is not known. Methods Eighty-five genital fluid samples from 7 pre-menopausal women taken over 4–6 weeks were obtained using the Instead SoftCup® (EvoFem, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) by consented donors. Cell-free glycogen and glucose in genital fluids and estrogen and progesterone in blood were quantified. Findings Glycogen ranged from 0.1–32 μg/μl. There were significant differences between women in glycogen over the observation period. There was a strong negative correlation between glycogen and vaginal pH (r = -0.542, p<0.0001). In multivariable analysis, free glycogen levels were significantly negatively associated with both vaginal pH and progesterone (p < 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). Estrogen, glucose, age, sexual intercourse 24 hours prior to visit, and days after the initial visit were not significantly associated with free glycogen levels. Conclusion Cell-free glycogen concentrations can be very high, up to 3% of genital fluid, and are strongly associated with acidic vaginal pH. However, the fluctuations in glycogen levels in individuals and differences between individuals do not appear to be associated with estrogen.
Isscc 2011 / Session 8 / Architectures & Circuits for next Generation Wireline Transceivers / 8.7 8.7 a 1-to-6gb/s Phase-interpolator-based Burst-mode Cdr in 65nm Cmos

Burst-mode clock and data recovery circuits (BMCDR) are widely used in passive optical networks (PON) [1] and as a replacement for conventional CDRs in clock-forwarding links to reduce power [2]. In PON, a single CDR performs the task of clock and data recovery for several burst sequences, each originating from a different source. As a result, the BMCDR is required to lock to an incoming data stream within tens of UIs (for example 40ns in GPON). Previous works use either injection locking [3, 4] or gated VCO [5, 6] to achieve this fast locking. In both cases, the control voltage of the CDR's VCO is generated by a reference PLL with a matching VCO to guarantee accurate frequency locking. However, any component mismatch between the two VCO's results in a frequency offset between the reference PLL frequency and the CDR's VCO frequency, and hence in a reduction of the CDR's tolerance for consecutive identical digits (CID). For example, [7] reports a frequency offset of over 20MHz (2000ppm) for 10Gb/s operation. We present a BMCDR that is based on phase interpolation (PI), eliminating the possibility of local frequency offset between the reference and recovered clock. We demonstrate 1 to 6Gb/s operation in 65nm CMOS with a locking time of less than 1UI. The principle of operation for the proposed PI-based BMCDR is illustrated in Fig. 8.7. 1. Since the main function of a BMCDR is to align the rising edge of the clock with the data transition, we use the data to sample-and-hold (S/H) two quadra-ture clocks (CK I and CK Q) with a pair of dual-edge-triggered S/H circuits. The samples of CK I and CK Q at a data transition, denoted by β and α respectively, are then used to interpolate between CK I and CK Q. This, as shown on Fig. 8.7. 1, produces a recovered clock (CK REC) with a rising edge that is aligned with the data transition. To demonstrate this analytically, assume sin(2πft) and –cos(2πft) represent CK I and CK Q respectively. A data transition at t = t 0 yields the PI coefficients α=CK Q (t 0) = –cos(2πft 0) and β=CK I (t 0) = sin(2πft 0). As a result, CK REC (t) = βCK Q (t) –αCK I (t) = sin(2πf(t-t 0)) which is a clock whose zero crossing coincides with the data transition. In our implementation, CK I and CK Q are provided externally; …
Minimally Supervised Chinese Event Extraction from Multiple Views

Although several semi-supervised learning models have been proposed for English event extraction, there are few successful stories in Chinese due to its special characteristics. In this article, we propose a novel minimally supervised model for Chinese event extraction from multiple views. Besides the traditional pattern similarity view (PSV), a semantic relationship view (SRV) is introduced to capture the relevant event mentions from relevant documents. Moreover, a morphological structure view (MSV) is incorporated to both infer more positive patterns and help filter negative patterns via morphological structure similarity. An evaluation of the ACE 2005 Chinese corpus shows that our minimally supervised model significantly outperforms several strong baselines.
Comparison of optimal positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers during lung-protective mechanical ventilation in patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND In patients with acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the use of alveolar-recruitment maneuvers to improve oxygenation is controversial. There is lack of standardization and lack of clinical studies to compare various recruitment maneuvers. Recruitment maneuvers are closely linked to the selection of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), which is also a subject of debate. METHODS With 12 intubated and mechanically ventilated patients with early ALI/ARDS we conducted a recruitment maneuver (sustained inflation at 40 cm H(2)O for 30 s), then set PEEP at 24 cm H(2)O, and then we reduced PEEP stepwise, by 4 cm H(2)O every 10 min. We kept the fraction of inspired oxygen (F(IO(2))) at 0.8. After each PEEP decrement step we measured P(aO(2)). We defined the "optimal" PEEP as the PEEP step above which P(aO(2)) decreased by > or = 20%. All the patients then underwent a period of ventilation on the same settings: tidal volume 6 mL/kg, PEEP at the level set by the physician before the experiment, plateau pressure < 30 cm H(2)O. Then each patient underwent 3 ventilation strategies, each applied for one hour: optimal PEEP alone; optimal PEEP plus one sustained inflation (40 cm H(2)O for 30 s); and optimal PEEP plus sigh breaths (ie, twice the baseline tidal volume, plateau pressure < 40 cm H(2)O) every 25 breaths. After the application of each PEEP strategy we measured arterial blood gas values and the static compliance of the respiratory system. RESULTS The mean +/- SD optimal PEEP was 12 +/- 4 cm H(2)O. The measurements from the standardization periods were comparable between the 3 PEEP groups. In the optimal-PEEP-plus-sighs group the changes in P(aO(2)) (85 +/- 96%) and static compliance (14 +/- 20%) were significantly greater than in the 2 other groups. CONCLUSIONS Sighs superimposed on lung-protective mechanical ventilation with optimal PEEP improved oxygenation and static compliance in patients with early ALI/ARDS.
Learning the structure of bayesian networks with constraint satisfaction

A Bayesian network is graphical representation of the probabilistic relationships among set of variables and can be used to encode expert knowledge about uncertain domains. The structure of this model represents the set of conditional independencies among the variables in the data. Bayesian networks are widely applicable, having been used to model domains ranging from monitoring patients in an emergency room to predicting the severity of hailstorms. In this thesis, I focus on the problem of learning the structure of Bayesian networks from data. Under certain assumptions, the learned structure of a Bayesian network can represent causal relationships in the data. Constraint-based algorithms for structure learning are designed to accurately identify the structure of the distribution underlying the data and, therefore, the causal relationships. These algorithms use a series of conditional hypothesis tests to learn independence constraints on the structure of the model. When sample size is limited, these hypothesis tests are prone to errors. I present a comprehensive empirical evaluation of constraint-based algorithms and show that existing constraint-based algorithms are prone to many false negative errors in the constraints due to running hypothesis tests with low statistical power. Furthermore, this analysis shows that many statistical solutions fail to reduce the overall errors of constraint-based algorithms. I show that new algorithms inspired by constraint satisfaction are able to produce significant improvements in structural accuracy. These constraint satisfaction algorithms exploit the interaction among the constraints to reduce error. First, I introduce an algorithm based on constraint optimization that is sound in the sample limit, like existing algorithms, but is guaranteed to produce a DAG. This new algorithm learns models with structural accuracy equivalent or better to existing algorithms. Second, I introduce an algorithm based constraint relaxation. Constraint relaxation combines different statistical techniques to identify constraints that are likely to be incorrect, and remove those constraints from consideration. I show that an algorithm combining constraint relaxation with constraint optimization produces Bayesian networks with significantly better structural accuracy when compared to existing structure learning algorithms, demonstrating the effectiveness of constraint satisfaction approaches for learning accurate structure of Bayesian networks.
Revenue-Maximizing Rankings for Online Platforms with Quality-Sensitive Consumers

When a customer searches for a keyword at a classified ads website, at an online retailer, or at a search engine (SE), the platform has exponentially many choices in how to sort the output to the query. The two extremes are (a) to consider a ranking based on relevance only, which attracts more customers in the long run because of perceived quality, and (b) to consider a ranking based on the expected revenue to be generated by immediate conversions, which maximizes short-term revenue. Typically, these two objectives are not perfectly positively correlated and hence the main question is what middle ground between them should be chosen. We introduce stochastic models and propose effective solution methods that can be used to optimize the ranking considering long-term revenues. A key feature of our model is that customers are quality-sensitive and are attracted to the platform or driven away depending on the average relevance of the output. The proposed methods are of crucial importance in e-business and encompass: (i) classified ad websites which can favor paid ads by ranking them higher, (ii) online retailers which can rank products they sell according to buyers' interests and/or the margins these products have, (iii) SEs which can position the content that they serve higher in the output page than third-party content to keep users in their platforms for longer and earn more. This goes in detriment of just offering rankings based on relevance only and is directly linked to the current search neutrality debate.
Visceral Leishmaniasis Outbreak in South Sudan 2009–2012: Epidemiological Assessment and Impact of a Multisectoral Response

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan is dire, with over two million returnees since 2005 and another 300,000 expected to return by the end of 2013. In 2012, 170,000 refugees settled in five camps in Unity and Upper Nile states, endemic areas of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Sudan Humanitarian Update 1st Quarter 2012). VL in South Sudan is endemic in four states, namely Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei, and Eastern Equatoria, where 2.7 million people in 28 counties are considered to be at risk. It is an anthroponosis caused by Leishmania donovani, and the vectors are Phlebotomus orientalis and P. martini. South Sudan is suffering from recurrent epidemics in areas previously considered to be nonendemic [1]. VL in South Sudan was first described in a child from Bahr-el-Ghazal in 1904 [2]. Since then, outbreaks have been reported in several different areas, namely Jonglei state in the 1930s and 60s [3], [4], the former Blue Nile province in the 50s [5], and Unity state (formerly Western Upper Nile) in the 80s, until by the 90s it was claimed that almost one-third of the population had been affected between 1984 and 1994 [6]–[8]. In 1994 and in 2002 there were two further outbreaks in northern Jonglei and Eastern Upper Nile states, resulting in 17,000 cases reported. Since 2002, the number of cases reported has progressively decreased to reach 582 in 2008. From 2004 to 2008, an average of 1,756 cases were reported annually, although the actual number of cases was estimated to be between 7,400 and 14,200 cases [9]. Until 2004, VL treatment services were provided almost exclusively by Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland (MSF-H), after which time part of the VL-treatment activities were handed over to the Southern Sudan Secretariat of Health. In addition to this, the World Health Organization (WHO) supported eight health facilities run by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and in 2009, that network was expanded to 12. Another VL outbreak was declared in 2009 and it is still ongoing. This publication provides a detailed report on the epidemiology of and the response to this outbreak.
An ecological study of child-mother attachments among Japanese sojourners in the United States.

This study examined the effects of life stress and support on parenting and attachment security among 53 Japanese mothers and their preschoolers who were temporarily living in the U.S. Mothers who had been in the U.S. for 6 months or less reported more life stress and less social support than did mothers who had been in the U.S. for more than 6 months. Measures of life stress and support were differently related to measures of parenting stress and security of attachment. When life stress was high, mothers reported more parenting stress if support was not adequate and less parenting stress if support was adequate. High support, particularly high marital support, was associated with lower levels of attachment security. The findings call for further research on family dynamics—particularly on the interplay between the husband-wife and mother-child subsystems —to develop ecological models of Japanese parenting and child development.
Frequency analysis of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias in Japanese patients and clinical characterization of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6

Using a molecular diagnostic approach, we investigated 101 kindreds with autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias (ADCAs) from the central Honshu island of Japan, including spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), Machado‐Joseph disease (MJD), dentatorubral and pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) and spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6). In our unselected series, MJD was the most common type of ADCA, accounting for 33.7% followed by DRPLA (19.8%), SCA2 (5.9%) and SCA6 (5.9%). No SCA1 mutations were identified. We analysed the clinical features of six molecular confirmed SCA6 kindreds: in each family, there was an expanded allele in the αdA‐voltage dependent calcium channel comprising between 23 and 25 CAG repeats. The mean age at onset of symptoms was 43 ± 13 years. The clinical features consisted predominantly of cerebellar ataxia, dysarthria and horizontal nystagmus, which was generally consistent with ADCA type 3. However several new clinical features were found in some patients: dramatic anticipation, rapid disease progression, severe ataxia associated with action tremor or action myoclonus, and very early onset, which are not described as the classical features of ADCA type 3.