Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sea Urchins Predation Facilitates Coral Invasion in a Marine Reserve

Macroalgae is the dominant trophic group on Mediterranean infralittoral rocky bottoms, whereas zooxanthellate corals are extremely rare. However, in recent years, the invasive coral Oculina patagonica appears to be increasing its abundance through unknown means. Here we examine the pattern of variation of this species at a marine reserve between 2002 and 2010 and contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms that allow its current increase. Because indirect interactions between species can play a relevant role in the establishment of species, a parallel assessment of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, the main herbivorous invertebrate in this habitat and thus a key species, was conducted. O. patagonica has shown a 3-fold increase in abundance over the last 8 years and has become the most abundant invertebrate in the shallow waters of the marine reserve, matching some dominant erect macroalgae in abundance. High recruitment played an important role in this increasing coral abundance. The results from this study provide compelling evidence that the increase in sea urchin abundance may be one of the main drivers of the observed increase in coral abundance. Sea urchins overgraze macroalgae and create barren patches in the space-limited macroalgal community that subsequently facilitate coral recruitment. This study indicates that trophic interactions contributed to the success of an invasive coral in the Mediterranean because sea urchins grazing activity indirectly facilitated expansion of the coral. Current coral abundance at the marine reserve has ended the monopolization of algae in rocky infralittoral assemblages, an event that could greatly modify both the underwater seascape and the sources of primary production in the ecosystem.
Optimization of Acoustic Source Strength in the Problems of Active Noise Control

We consider a problem of eliminating the unwanted time-harmonic noise on a pre- determined region of interest. The desired objective is achieved by active means, i.e., by introducing additional sources of sound called control sources, which generate the appropriate annihilating acous- tic signal (antisound). A general solution for the control sources has been obtained previously in both continuous and discrete formulation of the problem. In the current paper, we focus on optimizing the overall absolute acoustic source strength of the control sources. Mathematically, this amounts to the minimization of multivariable complex-valued functions in the sense of L1 with conical constraints, which are only "marginally" convex. The corresponding numerical optimization problem appears very challenging even for the most sophisticated state-of-the-art methodologies, and even when the dimension of the grid is small and the waves are long. Our central result is that the global L1-optimal solution can, in fact, be obtained without solving the numerical optimization problem. This solution is given by a special layer of monopole sources on the perimeter of the protected region. We provide a rigorous proof of global L1 minimality for both continuous and discrete optimization problems in the one-dimensional case. We also provide numerical evidence that corroborates our result in the two-dimensional case, when the protected domain is a cylinder. Even though we cannot fully justify it, we believe that the same result holds in the general case, i.e., for multidimensional settings and domains of arbitrary shape. We formulate this notion as a conjecture at the end of the paper.
9‐nitro‐camptothecin delays growth of U‐937 leukemia tumors in nude mice and is cytotoxic or cytostatic for human myelomonocytic leukemia lines in vitro

Abstract: The camptothecin derivatives 9‐nitro‐camptothecin (9NC) and 9‐amino‐camptothecin (9AC) inhibit similarly growth of HL‐60, KG‐1, and U‐937 cells in vitro, whereas growth of THP‐1 cells is inhibited by 9AC, but not by 9NC. Growth inhibition is accompanied by enlargement of cells which contain one (HL‐60, THP‐1) or more (KG‐1, U‐937) nuclei. Flow cytometry studies showed that 9NC‐treated HL‐60 and U‐937 cells accumulate in the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle; then they die by apoptosis, with the HL‐60 cells being more sensitive than U‐937 cells to 9NC. In contrast, 9NC‐treated KG‐1 and THP‐1 cells accumulate in S and G2 phases, but resist death by apoptosis. Of the cell lines tested, only U‐937 cells xenografted in nude mice generated subcutaneous myeloid tumors, which exhibited a delayed growth in the presence of 9NC. Further, 9NC‐treated advanced U‐937 tumors regressed temporarily, indicating that U‐937 cells consist of 9NC‐sensitive and 9NC‐resistant populations.
Role of hormonal therapy for prostate cancer: perspective from Japanese experiences

Hormonal therapy has been playing an important role in the treatment of prostate cancer. However, it has recently been the subject of criticism that it shows minimal effectiveness, it may reduce patients’ quality of life, and induce adverse effects. On the other hand, next-generation hormonal drugs have provided new strategies for hormonal therapy to overcome advanced prostate cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to accumulate further clinical evidence concerning the efficacy and adverse effects of hormonal therapy. And, what is important for the treatment of prostate cancer is how we use hormonal therapy most effectively. This article presents a review of the possible roles of hormonal therapy for prostate cancer based upon experience in Japan.
Acute Reversal of Endothelial Dysfunction in the Elderly After Antioxidant Consumption

Aging is associated with a pro-oxidant state and a decline in endothelial function. Whether acute, enteral antioxidant treatment can reverse this decrement in vascular function is not well known. Flow-mediated vasodilation and reactive hyperemia were evaluated after consumption of either placebo or an oral antioxidant cocktail (vitamin C, 1000 mg; vitamin E, 600 IU; &agr;-lipoic acid, 600 mg) in 87 healthy volunteers (42 young: 25±1 years; 45 older: 71±1 years) using a double-blind, crossover design. Blood velocity and brachial artery diameter (ultrasound Doppler) were assessed before and after 5-minute forearm circulatory arrest. Serum markers of lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant capacity, endogenous antioxidant activity, and vitamin C were assayed, and plasma nitrate, nitrite, and 3-nitrotyrosine were determined. In the placebo trial, an age-related reduction in brachial artery vasodilation was evident (young: 7.4±0.6%; older: 5.2±0.4%). After antioxidant consumption, flow-mediated vasodilation improved in older subjects (placebo: 5.2±0.4%; antioxidant: 8.2±0.6%) but declined in the young (placebo: 7.4±0.6%; antioxidant: 5.8±0.6%). Reactive hyperemia was reduced with age, but antioxidant administration did not alter the response in either group. Together, these data demonstrate that antioxidant consumption acutely restores endothelial function in the elderly while disrupting normal endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the young and suggest that this age-related impairment is attributed, at least in part, to free radicals.
Edge effect aware crosstalk avoidance technique for 3D integration

3D integration is one of the most promising solutions for the scaling of future integrated circuits (ICs). Nevertheless, the 2D metal wires and 3D through silicon vias (TSVs) are frequently performance bottlenecks of 3D ICs, due to their high capacitive crosstalk, which can be reduced by a coding approach. In this work we show that existing TSV crosstalk avoidance codes (CACs) are impractical for real applications due to the edge effects in TSV arrays. Additionally, these 3D CACs do not reduce the metal wire crosstalk. This work presents a crosstalk avoidance approach for 3D ICs which overcomes both limitations. The method remaps the bits of existing 2D CACs onto a TSV array in a way that results in the minimum possible TSV crosstalk. Experimental results, obtained by circuit simulations in combination with an electromagnetic field solver, show that the presented technique can reduce the crosstalk of TSVs and metal wires by about 30 % and 50 %, respectively. In comparison, with higher hardware costs, existing 3D CACs only reduce the TSV crosstalk by a maximum of 11.45 %, while providing no optimization of the metal wire crosstalk.
ProxiScientia: Toward real-time visualization of task and developer dependencies in collaborating software development teams

This paper introduces ProxiScientia, a visualization tool that provides awareness support to developers, as they engage in collaborative software development activities. ProxiScientia leverages streams of fine-grained events that are generated by team members as they interact with software artifacts in their development environments. The main goal of the tool is to make each developer aware of coordination needs and opportunities as they arise, by depicting ego-centered views of the developers and tasks that most closely impact their work, and showing how they change in real time. In this paper, we illustrate the conceptualization of ProxiScientia and discuss its initial evaluation.
What You Lose When You Snooze

In opportunistic networks, putting devices in energy-saving mode is crucial to preserve their battery, and hence to increase the lifetime of the network and foster user participation. A popular strategy for energy saving is duty cycling. However, when in energy-saving mode, users cannot communicate with each other. The side effects of duty cycling are twofold. On the one hand, duty cycling may reduce the number of usable contacts for delivering messages, increasing intercontact times, and delays. On the other hand, duty cycling may break long contacts into smaller contacts, thus also reducing the capacity of the opportunistic network. Despite the potential serious effects, the role played by duty cycling in opportunistic networks has been often neglected in the literature. In order to fill this gap, in this article, we propose a general model for deriving the pairwise contact and intercontact times measured when a duty cycling policy is superimposed on the original encounter process determined only by node mobility. The model we propose is general, i.e., not bound to a specific distribution of contact and intercontact times, and very accurate, as we show exploiting two traces of real human mobility for validation. Using this model, we derive several interesting results about the properties of measured contact and intercontact times with duty cycling: their distribution, how their coefficient of variation changes depending on the duty cycle value, and how the duty cycling affects the capacity and delay of an opportunistic network. The applicability of these results is broad, ranging from performance models for opportunistic networks that factor in the duty cycling effect, to the optimisation of the duty cycle to meet a certain target performance.
Detection of β-Thalassemia Mutations Using a Multiplex Amplification Refractory Mutation System Assay

We developed two sets of a multiplex amplification refractory mutation system (M-ARMS) assay to identify specific β-thalassemia (β-thal) mutations that are common in Thailand. The first one was for the detection of mutants with codon 17 (A>T), IV S-I-1 (G >T)), codons 41/42 (−TCT T) and codons 71/72 (+A), while the second one was for the −87 (C>A), −28 (A>G) and IVS-II-654 (C>T). Application of the proposed assay to 282 persons with β-thal trait revealed a positive result in 276 cases (97.8%). There were 258 cases (91.5%) positive for the set 1 M-ARMS assay and 18 cases (6.4%) were positive for set 2. Six cases (2.2%) were negative for both sets 1 and 2, and were further characterized by DNA sequencing. The mutations detected by the set 1 M-ARMS assay were 113 cases (40.1%) of codons 41/42, 95 (33.7%) of codon 17, 41 (14.5%) of IVS-I-1 and nine cases (3.2%) of codons 71/72, while by set 2 there were 12 cases (4.2%) of −28, four cases(1.4%) of −87 and two cases (0.7%) of IVS-II-654. Mutations undetectable by M-ARMS assay were two cases of codons 27/28 (+C), one case of codon 35 (C>A), one of codon 43 (G>T), one of −31 (A>G) and one of IVS-I-5 (C>G). The M-ARMS assay proved to be a valuable tool for the analysis of β-thal mutations. The method is robust, accurate, simple, speedy and cost-effective. The application of this assay will facilitate genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for severe thalassemia in high-risk pregnancies.
Model-Based Evaluation of Signal-to-Clutter Ratio for Landmine Detection Using Ground-Penetrating Radar

A regression model is developed in order to estimate in real time the signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR) for landmine detection using ground-penetrating radar. Artificial neural networks are employed in order to express SCR with respect to the soil's properties, the depth of the target, and the central frequency of the pulse. The SCR is synthetically evaluated for a wide range of diverse and controlled scenarios using the finite-difference time-domain method. Fractals are used to describe the geometry of the soil's heterogeneities as well as the roughness of the surface. The dispersive dielectric properties of the soil are expressed with respect to traditionally used soil parameters, namely, sand fraction, clay fraction, water fraction, bulk density, and particle density. Through this approach, a coherent and uniformly distributed training set is created. The overall performance of the resulting nonlinear function is evaluated using scenarios which are not included in the training process. The calculated and the predicted SCR are in good agreement, indicating the validity and the generalization capabilities of the suggested framework.
Evolutionary algorithms and gradient search: similarities and differences

Classical gradient methods and evolutionary algorithms represent two very different classes of optimization techniques that seem to have very different properties. This paper discusses some aspects of some "obvious" differences and explores to what extent a hybrid method, the evolutionary-gradient-search procedure, can be used beneficially in the field of continuous parameter optimization. Simulation experiments show that on some test functions, the hybrid method yields faster convergence than pure evolution strategies, but that on other test functions, the procedure exhibits the same deficiencies as steepest-descent methods.
Reduced percolation thresholds of immiscible conductive blends

The DC conductivity of polymer blends composed of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) and high density polyethylene (HDPE), where a conductive carbon black (CB) had been preferentially blended into the HDPE, were investigated to establish the percolation characteristics. The blends exhibited reduced percolation thresholds and enhanced conductivities above that of the individually carbon filled HDPE and EVA. The percolation threshold of the EVA/HDPE/CB composites was between 3.6 and 4.2 wt % carbon black, where the volume resistivity changed by 8 orders of magnitude. This threshold is at a significantly lower carbon content than the individually filled HDPE or EVA. At a carbon black loading of 4.8 wt %, the EVA/HDPE/CB composite exhibits a volume resistivity which is approximately 14 and 11 orders of magnitude lower than the HDPE/CB and EVA/CB systems, respectively, at the same level of incorporated carbon black. The dielectric response of the ternary composites, at a temperature of 23°C and frequency of 1 kHz, exhibited an abrupt increase of ca. 252% at a carbon concentration of 4.8 wt %, suggesting that the percolation threshold is somewhat higher than the range predicted from DC conductivity measurements. Percolating composites with increasing levels of carbon black exhibit significantly greater relative permittivity and dielectric loss factors, with the composite containing 6 wt % of carbon black having a value of ∈' 79 and ∈ 14.
Midlife fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of dementia in later life in Swedish twins.

OBJECTIVE Diet may be associated with risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD). The authors examined the association between fruit and vegetable consumption in midlife and risk for all types of dementia and AD. METHODS Participants were 3,779 members of the Swedish Twin Registry who completed a diet questionnaire approximately 30 years before cognitive screening and full clinical evaluation for dementia as part of the study of dementia in Swedish Twins (HARMONY) study. Among the participants, 355 twins were diagnosed with dementia. Among these, 81 twin pairs were discordant for dementia (50 discordant for AD). Data were analyzed with logistic regression for the entire sample using generalized estimating equations to adjust for relatedness of twins and with conditional logistic regression for the co-twin control design. RESULTS In fully adjusted models, a medium or great proportion of fruits and vegetables in the diet, compared with no or small, was associated with a decreased risk of dementia and AD. This effect was observed among women and those with angina. Similar, but nonsignificant, odds ratios were found in the co-twin control analyses. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that higher fruit and vegetable consumption may reduce the risk of dementia, especially among women and those with angina pectoris in midlife.
Preventing Illegal Logging: Simultaneous Optimization of Resource Teams and Tactics for Security

Green security — protection of forests, fish and wildlife — is a critical problem in environmental sustainability. We focus on the problem of optimizing the defense of forests againstillegal logging, where often we are faced with the challenge of teaming up many different groups, from national police to forest guards to NGOs, each with differing capabilities and costs. This paper introduces a new, yet fundamental problem: SimultaneousOptimization of Resource Teams and Tactics (SORT). SORT contrasts with most previous game-theoretic research for green security — in particular based onsecurity games — that has solely focused on optimizing patrolling tactics, without consideration of team formation or coordination. We develop new models and scalable algorithms to apply SORT towards illegal logging in large forest areas. We evaluate our methods on a variety of synthetic examples, as well as a real-world case study using data from our on-going collaboration in Madagascar.
Trends in Transfusion Transmitted Infections Among Replacement Blood Donors in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Hepatitis-B, Hepatitis-C and Human Immunodeficiency infections in replacement blood donors. Materials and Methods: From January 2004 to December 2011, 108,598 apparently healthy donors donated blood at our Blood Bank. Screening was done by Microparticle Enzyme Immuno Assay (MEIA) method on Axsym System (Abbott Diagnostic, USA) and in year 2011 by Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CIA) method on Architect i2000 (Abbott Diagnostic, USA). From 2010 onward, HIV reactive donors were advised for confirmatory tests and reported back with the results. Results: Of the 108,598 total donors, 108,393 (99.8%) were replacement donors with a mean age of 28.92 (17-55) years. Of this, only 164 (0.15%) were females. Among the replacement donors, 4,906 (4.5%) were found to be reactive for Hepatitis-B, C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus. All the reactive patients, except one, were males. HbsAg was positive in 2,068 (1.90%) and anti-HCV in 2832 (2.61%) donors, while 111 (0.10%) were positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Co-infectivity was observed in 103 (0.09%) cases. The prevalence appeared to be higher in younger age group (17-30 yrs). Only 16.6% cases should be patients returned with results of the confirmatory tests for HIV and were found positive. Conclusion: Hepatitis-B and C sero-prevalence in our series of replacement donors appears high compared to most studies from neighboring countries and relatively low in comparison to earlier studies from Pakistan. Prevalence of HIV, however, appears low and turn out of HIV positive cases for confirmatory tests is low. Conflict of interest:None declared.
Subtypes versus severity differences in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the Northern Finnish Birth Cohort.

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether behaviors of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity among adolescents in Northern Finland reflect qualitatively distinct subtypes of ADHD, variants along a single continuum of severity, or of severity differences within subtypes. METHOD Latent class models, exploratory factor models, and factor mixture models were applied to questionnaire data of ADHD behaviors obtained from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC). Latent class models correspond to qualitatively distinct subtypes, factor analysis corresponds to severity differences, and factor mixture analysis allows for both subtypes and severity differences within subtypes. RESULTS A comparison of the different models shows that models that distinguish between a low scoring majority class (unaffecteds) and a high scoring minority class (affecteds), and allow for two factors (inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive) with severity differences provide the best fit. CONCLUSIONS The analysis provides support that a high-scoring minority group (8.8% of males and 6.8% of females) likely reflects an ADHD group in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort, whereas the majority of the population falls into a low-scoring group of unaffecteds. Distinct factors composed of items of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity are evident for both sexes with considerable variability in severity within each class.
Influence of Respiratory Position on Contrast Attenuation in Pulmonary CT Angiography: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare the effect of inspiration and resting expiratory position on contrast enhancement in pulmonary CT angiography (CTA) in a randomized clinical trial. SUBJECTS AND METHODS In accordance with a power analysis performed before the study, we included 28 consecutive patients referred for evaluation of suspected pulmonary embolism in this prospective study. Patients were randomly assigned to perform either inspiration (n = 14; six men, eight women; mean age [SD], 38.1 ± 9.8 years) or resting expiratory position (n = 14; six men, eight women; mean age: 42.1 ± 9.2 years). All patients were scanned in a standardized supine position and scanning parameters were kept constant. Contrast medium was injected automatically with bolus tracking. Objective pulmonary vessel attenuation was quantified with digital measurement. Results were analyzed by using the unpaired t test and chi-square test. RESULTS Patients in the resting expiratory position showed significantly higher contrast attenuation than those who performed inspiration (302.9 ± 11.9 HU vs 221.5 ± 20.9 HU; p < 0.01). There were no significant differences in applied total volume of contrast agent (76.8 ± 1.9 mL vs 75.7 ± 1.6 mL; p = 0.6765), total volume including normal saline bolus (116.8 mL ± 2.8 mL vs 121.8 mL ± 2.3 mL; p = 0.1724) or flow rate (3.1 mL/s ± 0.1 mL/s vs 3.2 mL/s ± 0.1 mL/s). CONCLUSION Pulmonary CTA should be performed in the resting expiratory position, and patients should be instructed to avoid inspiration to achieve the highest possible attenuation in the pulmonary arteries.