Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geophysical characteristics of the continental crust along the Lithoprobe Eastern Canadian Shield Onshore–Offshore Transect (ECSOOT): a review

The Eastern Canadian Shield OnshoreOffshore Transect (ECSOOT) of the Lithoprobe program included 1200 km of normal-incidence seismic profiles and seven wide-angle seismic profiles across Archean and Proterozoic rocks of Labrador, northern Quebec, and the surrounding marine areas. Archean crust is 3344 km thick. P-wave velocity increases downwards from 6.0 to 6.9 km/s. There is moderate crustal reflectivity, but the reflection Moho is unclear. Archean crust that stabilized in the Proterozoic is similar except for greater reflectivity and a well-defined Moho. Proterozoic crust has similar or greater thickness, variable lower crustal velocities, and strong crustal reflectivity. Geodynamic processes of Paleoproterozoic growth of the Canadian Shield are similar to those observed in modern collisional orogens. The suturing of the Archean Core Zone and Superior provinces involved whole-crustal shearing (top to west) in the Core Zone, linked to thin-skinned deformation in the New Quebec Orogen. The Torngat Orog.
Quantifying the P–T–t conditions of north–south Lhasa terrane accretion: new insight into the pre‐Himalayan architecture of the Tibetan plateau

An integrated field, petrological and geochronological study of the Basong Tso region of south‐eastern Tibet has constrained the timing and P–T conditions of north–south Lhasa terrane accretion and provides new insight into the tectonothermal evolution of the Tibetan plateau. Two distinct high‐grade metamorphic belts are recognized in the region: a southern belt (the Basong Tso complex) that consists of sheared schist and orthogneiss; and a northern belt (the Zhala complex) that comprises paragneiss and granite. Combined pseudosection modelling and U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon indicates that the Basong Tso complex records peak metamorphic conditions of 9 ± 0.5 kbar and 690 ± 25 °C at c. 204–201 Ma, whereas the Zhala complex experienced peak metamorphic conditions of 5.0 ± 1.0 kbar and 740 ± 40 °C at c. 198–192 Ma. Microstructural analysis suggests that the two belts share a common early prograde history, after which the Basong Tso complex attained peak conditions following rapid burial, and the Zhala complex approached peak conditions along an isobaric path. Overall it is inferred that the Basong Tso and Zhala complexes represent the lower and upper structural levels of an evolving orogen that underwent Barrovian‐type metamorphism following collision (M1), followed by Buchan‐style overprinting at higher structural levels due to heat advection by syn‐tectonic granites (M2). Mylonitization (sensu lato) of the Basong Tso complex and juxtaposition of the two units occurred after attainment of peak conditions. The dominance of Mesozoic regional metamorphism across most of the Tibetan plateau indicates that Cenozoic crustal thickening processes, where present, are only manifested at depth.
ODISET: On-line Distributed Session Tracing using Agents

When a security incident occurs it is sometimes necessary to identify its causes for legal and cautionary purposes. In an attempt to hide the origin of her connection, a malicious user may have jumped from a source host h8 into a series of hosts h1 € H = {h1,h2,. , hn} before breaking into final target ht. This connection sequence describes a path that makes it difficult to find h8 given ht due, in part, to the prohibitive amount of cooperation and synchronization that is required in practice by administrators. This paper describes a distributed rule-based model that automates this tracing process on-line with a 0(\H\)) worst case scenario. Autonomous agents collaborate on the tracing and detection of the origin of an interactive connection using a loop unwinding technique and incorporating public key cryptography to create ciphered channels that allow them for secure communication. To meet the challenges of minimum system workload and improved robustness, the prototype features lightweight design and implementation as well as a dynamic port-allocation scheme to prevent sniffing and denial of service attempts. We describe the proposed model and present the experimental results obtained with the prototype system ODISET.
Setting up low-risk bone marrow transplantation for children with thalassemia may facilitate pediatric cancer care

Background: In many South Asian countries there is shortage of centers providing care for pediatric malignancies. This report describes the experience of the Cure2Children Foundation (C2C) in supporting, both financially and professionally, the startup of two bone marrow transplant (BMT) centers, one in Pakistan and one in India, for the cure of transfusion-dependent thalassemia. Even though transplantation is generally considered as a more complex and advanced step relatively to basic pediatric cancer care, the authors argue that BMT for low-risk thalassemia patients with a matched sibling is a relatively simple procedure amenable to focused training. Materials and Methods: Since 2008 the C2C, an Italian Nongovernmental Organization (NGO), has supported a BMT network in Pakistan. The primary aim of this project was to assess feasibility, outcomes, and costs of matched-related BMT for thalassemia in young low-risk children employing a well established and quite tolerable strategy employed in Italy. This initiative relied primarily on focused training and task-shift strategies within a structured cooperation program. The initial success of that strategy led to its replication in India with 100 total BMTs performed over the past 4 years, 91 of which were for thalassemia major. Results: Low-risk matched-related BMT in children younger than 5 years could deliver a 92% thalassemia-free survival with 100% performance score and no extensive chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD), for an average cost of 10,000 USD per BMT. Within an existing hospital facility, 50,000 USD were sufficient to renovate and fully equip a 2-3 bedded start up BMT unit capable of performing safe low-risk compatible marrow transplantation. Conclusions: In low resource settings matched-related low-risk BMT for thalassemia can be performed with outcomes comparable to richer countries and with a fraction of the costs. Within structured and intensive cooperation, good outcomes can be obtained from the very beginning. This observation may have important implications to increase access to cure for both nonmalignant and malignant.
A Syntactical Treatment of Simultaneous Fixpoints in the Modal μ-Calculus

We provide a purely syntactical treatment of simultaneous fixpoints in the modal μ-calculus by proving directly in Kozen’s axiomatisation their properties as greatest and least fixpoints, that is, the fixpoint axiom and the induction rule. Further, we apply our result in order to get a completeness result for characteristic formulae of finite pointed transition systems.
HERV-K Hypomethylation in Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma Is Associated With a Poor Prognosis and Platinum Resistance

Introduction: In general, ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) has a history of poor response to standard platinum-based chemotherapy regimens, and advanced cases have short survival periods. Therefore, the discovery of a biomarker for the pretreatment prediction of OCCC is crucial. Loss of methylation of a retrotransposable sequence, such as long interspersed repetitive sequence 1 (LINE-1), frequently occurs in cancers, including ovarian cancer, and it has been proven to be associated with poor survival. The expressions of human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) K and E were found to be increased in tissues from patients with OCCC. Here, we propose that methylation levels of HERV are associated with treatment response and prognosis of OCCC. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with OCCC were enrolled. Methylation levels of HERV-K, HERV-E, and LINE-1 were measured from microdissected cancer and normal ovarian tissues. The methylation levels were correlated with stage, treatment response, and prognosis. Results: Methylation levels of HERV-K, HERV-E, and LINE-1 were decreased in tissues from patients with advanced stage cancer (P = 0.0179, P = 0.0021, and P = 0.0307, respectively). Human endogenous retrovirus K demonstrated significantly lower methylation levels in the platinum-resistant group (P = 0.0004). Patients with lower levels of methylated (hypomethylated) HERV-K had a shorter mean overall survival (P = 0.006). In advanced OCCC cases, patients with hypomethylated HERV-K had shorter mean progression-free survival (P = 0.018) and mean overall survival (P = 0.018) than did patients with higher methylation levels of HERV-K. Conclusions: Methylation levels of HERV-K, HERV-E, and LINE-1 are decreased during OCCC multistep carcinogenesis. Moreover, HERV-K hypomethylation is a promising biomarker for predicting OCCC treatment response and prognosis.
Physiological increases in lactate inhibit intracellular calcium transients, acidify myocytes and decrease force in term pregnant rat myometrium

Lactate is increased in myometrial capillary blood from women in slow or non‐progressive labour (dystocia), suggesting that it is detrimental to uterine contractions. There are no studies of the effect of lactate on the myometrium. In the present study, we have investigated its effects and mechanism of action on myometrial strips from term pregnant rats. We show that lactate significantly decreased spontaneous contractility. Lactatedecreased pHi and inhibited Ca2+ transients. Nulling the decrease in pHi abolished the effects of lactate effects. If Ca2+ entry was enhanced, the effects of lactate were abolished. The present study suggests that the accumulation of extracellular lactate could contribute to labour dystocia.
Stereo matching with superpixels

The purpose of a short-baseline stereo matching algorithm is calculation of the disparity map for a given rectified stereo pair. Most stereo algorithms presented in the literature achieve this goal by searching all possible disparities for all pixels. This may be extremely costly if an image size and search range are large. In this paper an efficient method of computing a disparity map for the whole image, by searching disparities for only a selected subset of pixels, is presented. It is shown how to select good initial set of pixels for matching given the over-segmentation of the input images. It is also presented that such a limited set of pixels is sufficient to obtain a rough estimate of the disparity map. Next, it is described how this disparity map can be improved. The results indicate that despite searching only a fraction of possible disparities for just a subset of input image pixels, a computed disparity maps are of quality comparable to those obtained with a full search algorithm. Moreover, the method is general enough to be used with almost any local stereo matching algorithm.
Inevitable losses of phosphorus in pigs, estimated from balance data using diets deficient in phosphorus.

Faecal losses of phosphorus (P) were determined in 66 growing pigs weighing between 30 and 70 kg on a semi-purified diet containing less than 1.3 g P/kg DM. Regression analysis showed that the coefficient of absorption of P from this diet was 82.5% and that inevitable faecal P excretion of pigs fed this diet was, on average, 5.9 mg/kg BW.d-1 with no statistically significant effect of body weight on faecal P excretion within the range of body weight studied. Semi-purified diets almost identical in composition were also fed to 5 piglets weighing about 20 kg and to 4 heavy pigs of about 150 kg BW. Inevitable daily faecal losses of P were calculated to be 6.2 mg/kg BW in piglets and 6.8 mg/kg BW in the heavy pigs. It is concluded that inevitable faecal losses of P do depend on body weight and that the variation faecal P excretion was too great to allow detecting this effect within the limited range between 30 and 70 kg BW. Further diets were obtained by blending various ingredients into the semi-purified diet. From a total of 262 balances measured under the condition of suboptimal P supply it is concluded that daily inevitable urinary losses of P depend on body weight and, on average, amount to 0.35 mg/kg BW. It is concluded that under the conditions of suboptimal P supply the utilisation of digestible P is almost complete.
Timing of Large Earthquakes since A.D. 800 on the Mission Creek Strand of the San Andreas Fault Zone at Thousand Palms Oasis, near Palm Springs, California

Paleoseismic investigations across the Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas fault at Thousand Palms Oasis indicate that four and probably five surface-rupturing earthquakes occurred during the past 1200 years. Calendar age estimates for these earthquakes are based on a chronological model that incorporates radiocarbon dates from 18 in situ burn layers and stratigraphic ordering constraints. These five earthquakes occurred in about A.D. 825 (770–890) (mean, 95% range), A.D. 982 (840–1150), A.D. 1231 (1170–1290), A.D. 1502 (1450–1555), and after a date in the range of A.D. 1520–1680. The most recent surface-rupturing earthquake at Thousand Palms is likely the same as the A.D. 1676 ± 35 event at Indio reported by Sieh and Williams (1990). Each of the past five earthquakes recorded on the San Andreas fault in the Coachella Valley strongly overlaps in time with an event at the Wrightwood paleoseismic site, about 120 km northwest of Thousand Palms Oasis. Correlation of events between these two sites suggests that at least the southernmost 200 km of the San Andreas fault zone may have ruptured in each earthquake. The average repeat time for surface-rupturing earthquakes on the San Andreas fault in the Coachella Valley is 215 ± 25 years, whereas the elapsed time since the most recent event is 326 ± 35 years. This suggests the southernmost San Andreas fault zone likely is very near failure. The Thousand Palms Oasis site is underlain by a series of six channels cut and filled since about A.D. 800 that cross the fault at high angles. A channel margin about 900 years old is offset right laterally 2.0 ± 0.5 m, indicating a slip rate of 4 ± 2 mm/yr. This slip rate is low relative to geodetic and other geologic slip rate estimates (26 ± 2 mm/yr and about 23–35 mm/yr, respectively) on the southernmost San Andreas fault zone, possibly because (1) the site is located in a small step-over in the fault trace and so the rate is not be representative of the Mission Creek fault, (2) slip is partitioned northward from the San Andreas fault and into the eastern California shear zone, and/or (3) slip is partitioned onto the Banning strand of the San Andreas fault zone.
Determination of the Relationship of Serum Hyaluronic Acid Levels to the Degree of Liver Fibrosis in Biopsies of Patients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis B and C

Background and Aims Determining the stage of liver fibrosis and the grade of necroinflammation is important in predicting the prognosis and treatment response of patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Liver biopsy is associated with several technical problems and complications; therefore, its repetitive performance as a procedure in evaluating treatment response and in following up patients is not recommended. This study was performed to determine the correlation of serum hyaluronic acid (HA) levels with the stage and grade of histopathologic liver changes in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C. Methods This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 69 patients with chronic hepatitis B or C in Mashhad, Iran, who were referred to our clinic and underwent liver biopsy and blood sampling simultaneously in 2006-2007. None of the patients were on medication that would affect the serum levels of (HA) and patients with signs of arthropathy were excluded from the study. Results Out of the 69 patients i this study, 48 (69.6%) were male and 21 (30.4%) were female. The causative virus in 29 patients (42%) was hepatitis C and in the rest (n = 40, 58%) hepatitis B. The severity of liver fibrosis (stage) had a direct correlation (r = 0.25, P = 0.042) with the levels of (HA) and an inverse correlation with the platelet level (r = 0.37, P = 0.002). The degree of liver necroinflammation (grade) did not have a significant correlation with the levels of (HA) and alanine transaminase (r = -0.01, P = 0.9; r = 0.21, P = 0.09 respectively); instead, there was an inverse correlation with platelet levels (r = 0.36, P = 0.003). Conclusions Our study results correspond with those of other international studies; thus suggesting that the (HA) serum level is a useful marker in determining the severity of fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. To form a definite conclusion, further studies on large groups should be performed.
Calculating the Extra Costs and the Bottom-Line Hourly Cost of Offshoring

Offshoring software development activities to a remote site in another country continues to be one of the key strategies to save development cost. However, the assumed economic benefits of offshoring are often questionable, due to a large number of hidden costs and too simple cost calculations. This study is a continuation of our work on calculating the true hourly cost that includes the extra direct and indirect costs on top of the salary-based hourly rates. We collected data from an empirical case study conducted in a large international corporation. This corporation develops software-intensive systems and has offshored its ongoing product development from Sweden to a recently on-boarded captive company site in India. In this paper, we report a number of extra costs and their impact on the resulting hourly cost as well as the bottom-line cost per work unit. Our analysis includes quantitative data from corporate archives, and expert-based estimates gathered through focus groups and workshops with company representatives from both the onshore and the offshore sites. Our findings show that there is additional cost that can be directly or at least strongly attributed to the transfer of work, working on a distance, and immaturity of the offshore site. Consideration of extra costs increases the hourly cost several times, while the performance gaps between the mature sites and the immature site leads to an even higher difference. As a result, two years after on-boarding of the offshore teams, the mature teams in high-cost locations continue to be "cheaper" despite the big salary differences, and the most positive hypothetical scenario, in which the company could break even, is unrealistic. The implications of our findings are twofold. First, offshoring of complex ongoing products does not seem to lead to short-term bottom-line economic gains, and may not even reach breakeven within five years. Second, offshoring in the studied case can be justified but merely when initiated for other reasons than cost.
Prevention and Management of Acute Kidney Injury

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is common, expensive to manage, prolongs hospitalization and is associated with increased mortality. In 2009 the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) published a report into the care of patients who died with a diagnosis of AKI1. Only 50% of patients were deemed to have had a ‘good” standard of care. The NCEPOD report identified inadequate assessment of patients at risk of AKI and deemed 60% of post-admission AKI was predictable and 21% was avoidable. Two thirds of patients had a significant level of AKI before a diagnosis was made and there was inadequate senior review of these patients. More severe AKI is associated with higher mortality. The in-hospital mortality rate for AKI has been reported at 24% and increases with more severe AKI2. In Northern Ireland, an audit of patients with severe AKI requiring dialysis demonstrated a 90 day mortality rate of up to 40% (personal communication) In 2013, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on AKI3. NICE have calculated that if AKI was recognized and treated with attention to hydration and medication, 100,000 cases could be prevented and up to 42,000 deaths avoided annually. The National Clinical Director for Kidney4 care has stated that management of AKI can provide a barometer by which we can measure and improve the care of the acutely unwell patient whatever the underlying cause. There is clearly a need for all clinicians to be competent in managing this common condition. The aim of this Grand Rounds article is to provide practical information on prevention and management of AKI.
The putaminal abnormalities on 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging: can they separate parkinsonism-predominant multiple system atrophy from Parkinson's disease?

Background The putaminal abnormalities detected on 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), such as putaminal atrophy, slit-like hyperintense rim, and hypointensity in the putamen on T2-weighted (T2W) imaging are important signs on differentiating multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism (MSA-P) from Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the putaminal abnormalities may have different manifestations on 3.0 T from those on 1.5 T. Purpose To investigate the diagnostic value of putaminal abnormalities on 3.0 T MRI for differentiating MSA-P from PD. Material and Methods The study included a MSA-P group (9 men, 9 women), a PD group (12 men, 14 women), and a control group (11 men, 13 women). All subjects were examined with 3.0 T MRI using the conventional protocol. Putaminal atrophy, T2-hypointensity in the dorsolateral putamenat, and a slit-like hyperintense rim on the lateral putamen were evaluated in each subject. Results There were no significant differences in the slit-like hyperintense rim (P = 0.782) or T2-hypointensity in the dorsolateral putamen (P = 0.338) among the three groups. Bilateral putaminal atrophy was found in 44.4% (8 of 18) of the MSA-P patients, in only 7.7% (2 of 26) of the PD patients, and in none of the controls. The proportion of subjects with putaminal atrophy was significantly higher in the MAS-P group (P = 0.008) and control group (P < 0.001). The specificity and sensitivity of putaminal atrophy for distinguishing MSA-P from PD was 92.3% and 44.4%, respectively. Conclusion The signal changes in the putamen on T2W imaging on 3.0 T MRI, including slit-like hyperintense rim and putaminal hypointensity, are not specific signs for MSA-P. Putaminal atrophy is highly specific for differentiating MSA-P from PD and healthy controls, but its insufficient sensitivity limits its diagnostic value.
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE Original Studies Predictors of Long-Term Outcomes after Bypass Grafting Versus Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation for Left Main or Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease

Background: We assessed predictors of long-term outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) versus those after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) in 3,230 patients with left main or multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results: Data were pooled from the BEST, PRECOMBAT, and SYNTAX trials. Age, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, left ventricular dysfunction, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) were common predictors of all-cause mortality. Diabetes mellitus, previous myocardial infarction (MI), and SYNTAX score were independent predictors of all-cause mortality in the PCI group, but not in the CABG group. In the CABG group, age was the only risk factor for MI; left ventricular dysfunction, hypertension, and PAD were risk factors for stroke. On the other hand, in the PCI group, incomplete revascularization and previous MI were risk factors for MI; age and previous stroke for stroke. In addition, chronic kidney disease significantly correlated with a composite outcome of death, MI, or stroke in the CABG group, and incomplete revascularization and previous MI in the PCI group. Conclusions: Simple clinical variables and SYNTAX score differentially predict long-term outcomes after CABG versus those after PCI with DES for left main or multivessel CAD. Those predictors might help to guide the choice of revascularization strategy. VC 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.