Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the impact angle of Hurricane Sandy's New Jersey landfall

Hurricane Sandy's track crossed the New Jersey coastline at an angle closer to perpendicular than any previous hurricane in the historic record, one of the factors contributing to record‐setting peak‐water levels in parts of New Jersey and New York. To estimate the occurrence rate of Sandy‐like tracks, we use a stochastic model built on historical hurricane data from the entire North Atlantic to generate a large sample of synthetic hurricanes. From this synthetic set we calculate that under long‐term average climate conditions, a hurricane of Sandy's intensity or greater (category 1+) makes NJ landfall at an angle at least as close to perpendicular as Sandy's at an average annual rate of 0.0014 yr–1 (95% confidence range 0.0007 to 0.0023); i.e., a return period of 714 years (95% confidence range 435 to 1429).
Absence of sex bias in the referral of patients for cardiac catheterization.

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that women with clinical evidence of coronary artery disease are less often referred for cardiac catheterization than are men. To determine whether there is sex-related bias in referral for cardiac catheterization, we prospectively studied a cohort of 410 symptomatic outpatients (280 men and 130 women) who were being evaluated with exercise testing for possible-coronary artery disease. METHODS Before the patients underwent exercise testing, 15 cardiologists from an academic medical center were asked to predict the probability that the patients they saw in the cardiology clinic would have angiographic evidence of any obstructive coronary disease (stenosis of 75 percent or more); the probability of severe coronary disease (three-vessel or left main coronary artery disease); the probability of left main coronary artery disease; and the probability of survival one, three, and five years after the evaluation. Similar predictions were generated by previously validated statistical models with use of data collected before exercise testing from the history, physical examination, and 12-lead electrocardiography with the patient at rest. RESULTS Overall, women were referred for cardiac catheterization significantly less often than men (18 percent vs. 27 percent, P = 0.03). As compared with men, women had a significantly lower pretest probability of coronary disease (as estimated by their physicians) and a lower rate of positive exercise-test results. After accounting for differences in these two factors, sex was not an independent predictor of referral for catheterization. Comparing physicians' estimates of outcome with those generated by the statistical models revealed no evidence that the physicians were underestimating the risk of coronary disease in women. Furthermore, physicians' predictions did not underestimate the probability of any obstructive coronary disease in men and women who subsequently underwent catheterization. CONCLUSIONS Academic cardiologists made appropriately lower pretest predictions of categories of disease in women with possible coronary artery disease than in men, and these assessments, along with women's lower rate of positive exercise tests, rather than bias based on sex, accounted for the lower rate of catheterization among women.
The Maine Savvy Caregiver Project: Translating an Evidence-Based Dementia Family Caregiver Program Within the RE-AIM Framework

This article presents findings of a 3-year Savvy Caregiver Program translational study designed with the RE-AIM framework to create a statewide sustainable infrastructure and improve dementia family caregiver outcomes in one rural state. The RE-AIM dimensions—reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance—were evaluated using mixed methods. The program reached 770 caregivers and 87.7% (n = 676) participated in the study with 60.5% (n = 409) residing in rural locations. Participants demonstrated improved confidence, fewer depressive symptoms, and better managed their situation. Trainer resources, partnerships, and adequate planning were essential for program adoption and sustainability. Implications for replication are discussed.
High-resolution computed tomography in silicosis : correlation with chest radiography and pulmonary function tests *

Objective: To correlate tomographic findings with pulmonary function findings, as well as to compare chest X-ray findings with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings, in patients with silicosis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 44 non-smoking patients without a history of tuberculosis. Chest X-ray findings were classified according to the International Labour Organization recommendations. Using a semiquantitative system, the following HRCT findings were measured: the full extent of pulmonary involvement; parenchymal opacities; and emphysema. Spirometry and forced oscillation were performed. Pulmonary volumes were evaluated using the helium dilution method, and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide was assessed. Results: Of the 44 patients studied, 41 were male. The mean age was 48.4 years. There were 4 patients who were classified as category 0 based on X-ray findings and as category 1 based on HRCT findings. Using HRCT scans, we identified progressive massive fibrosis in 33 patients, compared with only 23 patients when X-rays were used. Opacity score was found to correlate most closely with airflow, DLCO and compliance. Emphysema score correlated inversely with volume, DLCO and airflow. In this sample of patients presenting a predominance of large opacities (75% of the individuals), the deterioration of pulmonary function was associated with the extent of structural changes. Conclusions: In the early detection of silicosis and the identification of progressive massive fibrosis, HRCT scans are superior to X-rays.
Adaptive blocking artifact reduction using wavelet-based block analysis

In this paper a signal adaptive postprocessing algorithm is presented to remove visually annoying blocking artifacts in BDCT-coded images. The wavelet-based block analysis is adopted to exploit the directional activity of each block, as a systematic approach in decision of the block type. The proposed 1D filters that are applied activity-adaptively alleviate grid noises effectively and a directional 2D filter reduces staircase noises and corner outliers near diagonal edges while preserving original details. Comprehensive experiments indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms a number of deblocking methods in the literature in terms of PSNR and subjective visual quality. Moreover, the proposed algorithm takes less run time than those of the conventional methods, and thus it can be used in real-time applications for moving pictures as well as still images.
The α2 adrenoceptor antagonist idazoxan alleviates l‐DOPA‐induced dyskinesia by reduction of striatal dopamine levels: an in vivo microdialysis study in 6‐hydroxydopamine‐lesioned rats

l‐DOPA‐induced dyskinesia is characterised by debilitating involuntary movement, which limits quality of life in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Here, we investigate effects of the α2 adrenoceptor antagonist idazoxan on l‐DOPA‐induced dyskinesia as well as on alterations of extracellular l‐DOPA and dopamine (DA) levels in the striatum in dyskinetic rats. Male Wistar rats were unilaterally lesioned with 6‐hydroxydopamine and subsequently treated with l‐DOPA/benserazide to induce stable dyskinetic movements. Administration of idazoxan [(9 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)] significantly alleviated l‐DOPA‐induced dyskinesia, whereas idazoxan (3 mg/kg, i.p.) did not affect dyskinetic behaviour. Bilateral in vivo microdialysis revealed that idazoxan 9 mg/kg reduces extracellular peak l‐DOPA levels in the lesioned and intact striatum as well as DA levels in the lesioned striatum. In parallel, the exposure to idazoxan in the striatum was monitored. Furthermore, no idazoxan and l‐DOPA drug–drug interaction was found in plasma, brain tissue and CSF. In conclusion, the decrease of l‐DOPA‐derived extracellular DA levels in the lesioned striatum significantly contributes to the anti‐dyskinetic effect of idazoxan.
The room temperature preservation of filtered environmental DNA samples and assimilation into a phenol–chloroform–isoamyl alcohol DNA extraction

Current research targeting filtered macrobial environmental DNA (eDNA) often relies upon cold ambient temperatures at various stages, including the transport of water samples from the field to the laboratory and the storage of water and/or filtered samples in the laboratory. This poses practical limitations for field collections in locations where refrigeration and frozen storage is difficult or where samples must be transported long distances for further processing and screening. This study demonstrates the successful preservation of eDNA at room temperature (20 °C) in two lysis buffers, CTAB and Longmire's, over a 2‐week period of time. Moreover, the preserved eDNA samples were seamlessly integrated into a phenol–chloroform–isoamyl alcohol (PCI) DNA extraction protocol. The successful application of the eDNA extraction to multiple filter membrane types suggests the methods evaluated here may be broadly applied in future eDNA research. Our results also suggest that for many kinds of studies recently reported on macrobial eDNA, detection probabilities could have been increased, and at a lower cost, by utilizing the Longmire's preservation buffer with a PCI DNA extraction.
Improving semantic SMT via soft semantic role label constraints on ITG alignmens

We show that applying semantic role label constraints to bracketing ITG alignment to train MT systems improves the quality of MT output in comparison to the conventional BITG and GIZAalignments. Moreover, weshowthatapplyingsoftconstraintstoSRL-constrainedBITG alignment leads to a better translation system compared to using hard constraints which appear too harsh to produce meaningful biparses. We leverage previous work demonstrating that BITG alignments are able to fully cover cross-lingual semantic frame alternations, by using semantic role labeling to further narrow BITG constraints, in a soft fashion that avoids losing relevant portions of the search space. SRL-based evaluation metrics like MEANT have shown that tuning towards preserving the shallow semantic structure across translations, robustly improvestranslationperformance. Ourapproachbringsthesameintuitionintothetrainingphase. We show that our new alignment outperforms both conventional Moses and BITG alignment baselines in terms of the adequacy-oriented MEANT scores, while still producing comparable results in terms of edit distance metrics.
Admux: An Adaptive Multiplexer for Haptic–Audio–Visual Data Communication

Research trends in multimedia strive to incorporate multiple modalities, such as audio, video, graphics, and haptics, into multimedia applications to enhance the user's experience. Researchers have made significant progress in advanced multimedia by incorporating virtual reality environments, haptics, and scent into the human computer interaction paradigm. However, the communication of multimedia data over the Internet (particularly the haptic media) remains a real challenge since each media has varying and sometimes conflicting communication requirements. This paper proposes Admux, an adaptive application layer multiplexing framework (including a communication protocol) for multimedia applications incorporating haptic, visual, auditory, and scent data for nondedicated networks. Being an application layer framework, Admux is highly adaptable to the application requirements, the media type (haptic, audio, video, etc.), and the network conditions. To facilitate the application-Admux communication, we used haptic application metalanguage descriptions. Second, Admux enhances the network throughput by adopting statistical multiplexing. Finally, Admux enables media prioritization based on the application events and QoS requirements. By simulating an interpersonal teleconferencing system (named the HugMe system), our results showed that Admux provides dynamic bandwidth allocation based on the network conditions, media type, and application events.
A two-component model of texture for analysis and synthesis

A model of natural texture based on a structural component that uses affine coordinate transformations and a stochastic residual component is presented. It is argued that the selection of an appropriate analysis scale can be formulated in terms of a tradeoff between the rate at which parameters are generated and the distortion resulting from the approximation by the structural component. An efficient algorithm for identifying the parameters of the structural model is described and its utility demonstrated on a number of synthetic and natural textures.
Miltefosine effectively modulates the cytokine milieu in Indian post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND The increasing incidence of unresponsiveness to antimonials in leishmaniasis prompted the use of newer drugs such as miltefosine. Miltefosine influences macrophage effector functions, but its effect on patients with post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) has not been evaluated. METHODOLOGY The immunomodulatory activity of miltefosine was evaluated in patients with PKDL by studying the expression of activation markers (CD14 and CD16) and costimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) on circulating monocytes, levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 6, interleukin 1β, and interleukin 8) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin 10, transforming growth factor β, interleukin 4, and interleukin 13) in serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cell culture supernatants, and serum nitrite and arginase activity. RESULTS Miltefosine on circulating monocytes upregulated expression of CD16 and CD86 and reduced that of CD14. Miltefosine also induced a significant increase in circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines with a concomitant decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines. Its macrophage activating potential was evidenced by its ability to decrease serum arginase activity and increase serum nitrite. CONCLUSIONS Miltefosine increased the proportion of monocytes that have a pro-inflammatory phenotype, which was accompanied by an enhanced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increased levels of serum nitrite. The decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokine levels and serum arginase activity collectively indicated that miltefosine triggered a robust T-helper 1 response that facilitated parasite elimination.
Traumatic stress and long-term recovery : coping with disasters and other negative life events

Introduction. - Traumatic Stress in Overview: Definition, Context Scope, Long-Term Outcomes. - Natural Disasters: On Wildfires and Long-term Recovery of Community-Residing Adults. - On Tornadoes: Storm Exposure, Coping Styles and Resilience. - When Multiple Disasters Strike: Louisiana Fishers in the Aftermath of Hurricanes and the British Petroleum Deep water Horizon Oil Spill. - The Great East Japan Earthquake: Tsunami and Nuclear. - Posttraumatic Stress in the Aftermath of Mass Shootings. - When Man Harms Man: The Interpersonal Ramifications of War Captivity. - Does Extreme Trauma Transfer? The Case of Three Generations of the Holocaust. - Physiological Consequences: Early Hardship and Health Across the Lifespan. - Severe Stress and Anxiety Disorders in Adolescence: The Long-Term Effects of Disasters. - Psychosocial Consequences: Appraisal, Adaptation and Bereavement after Trauma. - When Neighborhoods are Destroyed by Disaster: Relocate or Return and Rebuild. - Loss, Chaos, Survival and Despair: The Storm after the Storms. - Families and Faith-Based Communities after a Disaster: Successes and Failures in the Wakes of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. - Trauma and Ambiguous Loss: The Lingering Presence of the Physically Absent. - Aging with Trauma across the Lifetime and Experiencing Trauma in Old Age: Vulnerability and Resilience Intertwined. - Lost Possible Selves and Personality Development. - Younger and Older Coastal Fishers: Losses and Resilience after Hurricane Katrina. - Trauma, Religion and Spirituality: Pathways to Healing. - Faith and Coping: Spiritual Beliefs and Religious Practices After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. - On Seeing Silver Linings After Catastrophic Loss: Personal Growth, Positive Adaption, and Relationships that Matter. - On Bereavement and Grief: A Therapeutic Approach to Healing. - Triumph Over Tragedy: The Healing Power of Forgiveness.
Higher Order Derivatives in Costa’s Entropy Power Inequality

Let X be an arbitrary continuous random variable and Z be an independent Gaussian random variable with zero mean and unit variance. For t > 0, Costa proved that e<sup>2h(X+√t Z)</sup> is concave in t, where the proof hinged on the first and second order derivatives of h(X + √t Z). In particular, these two derivatives are signed, i.e., (∂/∂t)h(X + √tZ) ≥ 0 and (∂<sup>2</sup>/∂t<sup>2</sup>)h(X + √tZ) ≤ 0. In this paper, we show that the third order derivative of h(X + √tZ) is nonnegative, which implies that the Fisher information J(X + √tZ) is convex in t. We further show that the fourth order derivative of h(X +√tZ) is nonpositive. Following the first four derivatives, we make two conjectures on h(X +√tZ): the first is that (∂n/∂t<sup>n</sup>)h(X +√tZ) is nonnegative in t if n is odd, and nonpositive otherwise; the second is that log J(X + √tZ) is convex in t. The first conjecture can be rephrased in the context of completely monotone functions: J(X + √tZ) is completely monotone in t. The history of the first conjecture may date back to a problem in mathematical physics studied by McKean in 1966. Apart from these results, we provide a geometrical interpretation to the covariance-preserving transformation and study the concavity of h(√t X +√1 - t Z), revealing its connection with Costa's entropy power inequality.
Motor cortical control of internal pallidal activity through glutamatergic and GABAergic inputs in awake monkeys

The internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi) receives motor‐related cortical signals mainly through the striatum, the external segment of the globus pallidus (GPe) and the subthalamic nucleus (STN). The GPi sends its outputs outside the basal ganglia and plays a key role in motor control. Extracellular unit recordings were performed in awake monkeys to explore how glutamatergic STN inputs and GABAergic striatal and GPe inputs control spontaneous activity and how these inputs contribute to motor cortex stimulation‐induced responses of GPi neurons. The typical responses of GPi neurons to cortical stimulation consisted of an early excitation, an inhibition and a late excitation. Local applications of the NMDA receptor antagonist 3‐(2‐carboxypiperazin‐4‐yl)‐propyl‐1‐phosphonic acid and/or the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydro‐6‐nitro‐2,3‐dioxo‐benzo[f]quinoxaline‐7‐sulphonamide in the vicinity of recorded GPi neurons reduced the firing rate, and abolished or attenuated both early and late excitations following cortical stimulation. Local application of the GABAA receptor antagonist gabazine increased the firing rate, induced oscillatory firings and diminished the cortically induced inhibition. Muscimol or gabazine injection into the STN or GPe also altered the firing rate, and attenuated the late excitation of GPi neurons. The gabazine injection into the STN occasionally induced dyskinesia with significantly decreased GPi activity. These data suggest that the early and late excitations are glutamatergic and induced by the cortico‐STN‐GPi and cortico‐striato‐GPe‐STN‐GPi pathways, respectively. The inhibition is GABAergic and induced by the cortico‐striato‐GPi pathway. In addition, these inputs are the main factors governing the spontaneous activity of GPi neurons.
H Soft Handoffs in CDMA Mobile Systems

nent of mobile cellular communication systems. Mobility causes dynamic variations in link quality and interference levels in cellular systems, sometimes requiring that a particular user change its serving base station. This change is known as a handoff. In first-generation cellular systems like the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) [1, 2], handoffs were relatively simple. Second-generation cellular systems like the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the Personal Access Communication System (PACS) [2, 3] are superior to first-generation ones in many ways, including the handoff algorithms used. More sophisticated signal processing and handoff decision procedures have been incorporated in these systems. The control/decision structures have been improved so that in progressing from network-controlled toward mobile-assisted handoffs (MAHO) or mobile-controlled handoffs (MCHO), the handoff decision delay has been substantially reduced. Another idea that has been proposed for improving the handoff process is soft handoff, the subject of this article. Our purpose is to provide an overview of soft handoff, from the point of view of the performance benefits available and the trade-offs involved in selecting system parameters. Recent research on various aspects of soft handoff are reviewed and discussed. It is not the objective of this article to provide comprehensive coverage of every paper referenced, and the interested reader is encouraged to refer to the tables themselves for details. We do present a broad survey of the technical issues involved, with some details of the highlighted issues to assist the reader in developing a good understanding of those issues, and understanding the place of soft handoff in modern cellular systems. This article is organized as follows. In the rest of this introductory section, we will discuss what soft handoffs are and why one might want to implement them in a cellular system. In the second section, we will look at benefits of soft handoff. However, in order to reap the benefits of soft handoff, it is necessary that the handoff parameters be well set. So in the third section we will examine the tradeoffs involved and discuss the setting of soft handoff parameters based on an understanding of the tradeoffs. A general discussion and conclusions will be given in the fourth section. Soft handoff is so called to distinguish it from the more traditional hard handoff process. With hard handoff, a definite decision is made on whether to handoff or not. On a positive decision, the handoff is initiated and executed …
Kinect Depth Inpainting via Graph Laplacian with TV21 Regularization

Depth maps provided by Microsoft Kinect often contain large dark holes around depth boundaries and occasional missing pixels in non-occluded regions, as well as noise, which prevent their further usage in real-world applications. In this paper, we present a graph Laplacian based framework to restore missing pixels based on the strong correlation between color image and depth map. To preserve sharp edges and remove noise, the TV21 (Total Variation) prior of depth maps is then integrated as an additional regularizer to the framework. Finally, an efficient and effective iterative optimization method with a closed-form solution at each iteration is presented to address this issue. Experiments conducted on both real scene images and synthetic images demonstrate that our approach gives better performance than commonly-used depth in painting schemes.