Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Research on soil moisture inversion method based on GA-BP neural network model

ABSTRACT Global Navigation Satellite System Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) is a new remote-sensing technique, and it can be used to estimate near-surface soil moisture from Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) data. Considering the effects of vegetation changes on GNSS-IR in some environments, a non-linear inversion method for soil moisture is proposed. Firstly, the SNR data and satellite elevation angles are solved using Translation, Editing, and Quality Checking. The direct and reflected signals are separated using a low-order polynomial; then, a sinusoidal fitting model of the reflection signal is established; it is used to obtain the amplitude and phase of the SNR interferogram. Finally, an estimation model of vegetation water content and prediction model of the vegetation phase changes are established to modify the original phase and weaken the influence on the vegetation changes. Based on the corrected phase, a Genetic Algorithm Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) model is established for soil moisture inversion. According to the GPS monitoring data from the Plate Boundary Observatory H2O network, the experiment indicates that (1) The BPNN is introduced to inverse the soil moisture content, and the non-linear fitting ability of the model is well developed, and the fitting process is stable; (2) the modified phase effectively reduced the effects of vegetation changes on the soil moisture inversion. The correlation coefficient (r) between the inversion results and soil moisture value greatly improved, and the root mean square error and mean absolute error are less than 0.060 and 0.050, respectively. Therefore, the soil moisture problem can be treated as a non-linear event, and the algorithm is feasible and effective.
A prospective comparison of the platelet sequestration ability of three autotransfusion devices.

Although current autotransfusion devices have platelet sequestration capabilities, each has a unique technology to achieve the final platelet product. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality and quantity of platelets sequestered by three different autotransfusion devices. The three commercially available autotransfusion devices evaluated were Fresenius C.A. T.S (closed spiral chamber), Cobe BRAT 2 (Baylor bowl), and Haemonetic Cell Saver 5 (Latham bowl). Platelet sequestration was preformed in the automatic mode following the manufacturer's recommended sequestration protocols. The total number of platelets sequestered, percent recovery, and percent platelet function were assessed. Each device behaved similarly. There was a 2- to 3-fold increase in platelet count compared with baseline with only approximately 50-60% recovery, whereas there was approximately a 10% decrease in platelet function after processing compared with baseline. No statistical difference was noted in platelet function between the respective machines. However, there was a significant loss of platelet function observed with the actual process regardless of autotransfusion device used.
The Effects of Acetylcholine on the Electrical Activity of Canine Cardiac Purkinje Fibers

We studied the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) on small bundles of canine cardiac Purkinje fibers exposed to normal, or low-chloride (isethionate) Tyrode's solution in a rapid superfusion system. In superfusate containing 4 mM K+, the resting potential of Purkinje fibers may be either “low,” near −40 mV, or “high,” near —90 mV. ACh, at 10−6 to 10−5 M, increased the membrane potential from both the low and high resting levels and, in low-Cl solution, often induced a maintained shift in potential from the low to the high level. The increase in membrane potential caused by ACh was greater at the low than at the high level. ACh, at 10−6 to 10−5 M, reduced action potential duration in both normal and low-Cl Tyrode's solution, the effect being more marked in the latter. These effects of ACh were reversibly abolished by atropine (5 × 10−5 M), indicating that they were mediated via muscarinic ACh receptors, and they probably result from an increase in membrane K+ conductance since 10″5 M ACh reversibly reduced, by 13% on the average, the amplitudes of the steady changes in membrane potential evoked by applying small current pulses (-5 to — 25 nA, 200 msec). ACh (10−5 M) also diminished the rate of, or stopped, spontaneous activity arising from either level of membrane potential. The cessation of spontaneous slow response activity, arising from the low level, sometimes was accompanied by a maintained shift of the membrane potential to the high resting level. It is concluded that the action of ACh on Purkinje fibers is qualitatively similar to its action on sinoatrial nodal and atrial cells.
NOTE GEOLOGICHE E STRATIGRAFICHE SULL'AREA DI PALMARIGGI (LECCE, PUGLIA)

The geological mapping and the biostratigraphic study of Neogene sediments outcropping near Palmariggi, a small area between Otranto and Maglie (Puglia), have been carried out. Above the dolomitic limestone units of the Cretaceous-Oligocene platform three sedimentary cycles have been recognized, one of Miocene and two of Pliocene age. The first cycle consists of two units: the Pietra leccese and the overlying Calcareniti di Andrano; the second cycle is represented by the Leuca Formation and the last cycle by the Uggiano la Chiesa Formation. The pre-Neogene units are affected by a folding episode with major structures trending NNW- SSE. A subsequent tectonic event characterized by folds with axial directions interferring with the previous one has been detected in the pre-Neogene units. The latter deformation affects also the Miocene successions. Both the previous deformative episodes control the outcrop distribution of the Neogene sediments, preserved in the low structural sites such as synclinal cores. In the Palmariggi area an extensional tectonics of pre-Pliocene age follows the folding related to the compressive episodes. The normal faults linked to this late extension, show a NNW-SSE trend.
Molecular population genetics and phenotypic sensitivity to ethanol for a globally diverse sample of the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae

New genomic resources and genetic tools of the past few years have advanced the nematode genus Caenorhabditis as a model for comparative biology. However, understanding of natural genetic variation at molecular and phenotypic levels remains rudimentary for most species in this genus, and for C. briggsae in particular. Here we characterize phenotypic variation in C. briggsae’s sensitivity to the potentially important and variable environmental toxin, ethanol, for globally diverse strains. We also quantify nucleotide variation in a new sample of 32 strains from four continents, including small islands, and for the closest‐known relative of this species (C. sp. 9). We demonstrate that C. briggsae exhibits little heritable variation for the effects of ethanol on the norm of reaction for survival and reproduction. Moreover, C. briggsae does not differ significantly from C. elegans in our assays of its response to this substance that both species likely encounter regularly in habitats of rotting fruit and vegetation. However, we uncover drastically more molecular genetic variation than was known previously for this species, despite most strains, including all island strains, conforming to the broad biogeographic patterns described previously. Using patterns of sequence divergence between populations and between species, we estimate that the self‐fertilizing mode of reproduction by hermaphrodites in C. briggsae likely evolved sometime between 0.9 and 10 million generations ago. These insights into C. briggsae’s natural history and natural genetic variation greatly expand the potential of this organism as an emerging model for studies in molecular and quantitative genetics, the evolution of development, and ecological genetics.
Surgical Outcomes of Transconjunctival Anterior Orbitotomy for Intraconal Orbital Cavernous Hemangioma

Purpose To describe surgical outcomes for transconjunctival anterior orbitotomy for intraconal cavernous hemangiomas. Methods The medical records of 9 consecutive patients with intraconal cavernous hemangiomas who underwent surgical removal by transconjunctival anterior orbitotomy were retrospectively reviewed. The conjunctiva was incised and retracted with a traction suture. For large tumors, a rectus muscle was temporarily disinserted. Tenon's capsule was separated and the tumor was removed with a cryoprobe or clamp. Surgical outcomes, positions of the tumors, methods of approach, and intra- and post-operative complications were evaluated. Results The mean follow-up period was 33 ± 6.8 months. No bony orbitotomy was used in this technique and the cosmetic results were very satisfactory. All tumors were removed intact. In 4 patients, tumors were extirpated with the aid of a cryoprobe. No patients had residual proptosis or limitation of ocular movement. No signs of recurrence were noted in any cases at 33 months follow-up. No serious or permanent complications were observed during or after the operation. Conclusions Transconjunctival anterior orbitotomy is an important surgical procedure in the treatment of intraconal cavernous hemangiomas. It can produce an excellent result, even if the posterior border of the tumor abuts the orbital apex.
The lethal giant larvae Gene in Tribolium castaneum: Molecular Properties and Roles in Larval and Pupal Development as Revealed by RNA Interference

We identified and characterized the TcLgl gene putatively encoding lethal giant larvae (Lgl) protein from the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum). Analyses of developmental stage and tissue-specific expression patterns revealed that TcLgl was constitutively expressed. To examine the role of TcLgl in insect development, RNA interference was performed in early (1-day) larvae, late (20-day) larvae, and early (1-day) pupae. The early larvae injected with double-stranded RNA of TcLgl (dsTcLgl) at 100, 200, and 400 ng/larva failed to pupate, and 100% mortality was achieved within 20 days after the injection or before the pupation. The late larvae injected with dsTcLgl at these doses reduced the pupation rates to only 50.3%, 36.0%, and 18.2%, respectively. The un-pupated larvae gradually died after one week, and visually unaffected pupae failed to emerge into adults and died during the pupal stage. Similarly, when early pupae were injected with dsTcLgl at these doses, the normal eclosion rates were reduced to only 22.5%, 18.0%, and 11.2%, respectively, on day 7 after the injection, and all the adults with abnormal eclosion died in two days after the eclosion. These results indicate that TcLgl plays an essential role in insect development, especially during their metamorphosis.
Ontea: Platform for Pattern Based Automated Semantic Annotation

Automated annotation of web documents is a key challenge of the Se- mantic Web effort. Semantic metadata can be created manually or using automated annotation or tagging tools. Automated semantic annotation tools with best results are built on various machine learning algorithms which require training sets. Other approach is to use pattern based semantic annotation solutions built on natural language processing, information retrieval or information extraction methods. The paper presents Ontea platform for automated semantic annotation or semantic tag- ging. Implementation based on regular expression patterns is presented with eval- uation of results. Extensible architecture for integrating pattern based approaches is presented. Most of existing semi-automatic annotation solutions can not prove it real usage on large scale data such as web or email communication, but semantic web can be exploited only when computer understandable metadata will reach critical mass. Thus we also present approach to large scale pattern based annotation.
Mechanisms of sphingosine‐1‐phosphate‐mediated vasoconstriction of rat afferent arterioles

Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) influences resistance vessel function and is implicated in renal pathological processes. Previous studies revealed that S1P evoked potent vasoconstriction of the pre‐glomerular microvasculature, but the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely defined. We postulated that S1P‐mediated pre‐glomerular microvascular vasoconstriction involves activation of voltage‐dependent L‐type calcium channels (L‐VDCC) and the rho/rho kinase pathway.
Phosphorothioate DNA as an antioxidant in bacteria

Diverse bacteria contain DNA with sulfur incorporated stereo-specifically into their DNA backbone at specific sequences (phosphorothioation). We found that in vitro oxidation of phosphorothioate (PT) DNA by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or peracetic acid has two possible outcomes: DNA backbone cleavage or sulfur removal resulting in restoration of normal DNA backbone. The physiological relevance of this redox reaction was investigated by challenging PT DNA hosting Salmonella enterica cells using H2O2. DNA phosphorothioation was found to correlate with increasing resistance to the growth inhibition by H2O2. Resistance to H2O2 was abolished when each of the three dnd genes, required for phosphorothioation, was inactivated. In vivo, PT DNA is more resistant to the double-strand break damage caused by H2O2 than PT-free DNA. Furthermore, sulfur on the modified DNA was consumed and the DNA was converted to PT-free state when the bacteria were incubated with H2O2. These findings are consistent with a hypothesis that phosphorothioation modification endows DNA with reducing chemical property, which protects the hosting bacteria against peroxide, explaining why this modification is maintained by diverse bacteria.
THE LIMNOGEOLOGY OF THE LAKES SAGARA AND NYAMAGOMA

The present study focuses on the limnogeological aspects of the lakes Sagara and Nyamagoma within the Malagarasi Wetland Ecosystem. Abiotic parameters from water and sediment samples were determined during the dry and wet seasons using appropriate gears and methods. The data show variation of the abiotic parameters in both lakes from the water surface to the bottom. Lake Nyamagoma is less turbid (0.7-24 NTU) than Lake Sagara (25 to 65 NTU). The water transparency was also high at Lake Nyamagoma (0.75-1.5 m) thus supporting the observed turbidity trend. The physical chemical changes may be attributed to processes such as cooling, dissociation, dissolution, decomposition, adsorption, precipitation, cation exchange and photosynthesis. However, higher nutrient concentration was observed in the wet season than dry season with the exception of SiO 2 consequent to dilution effect by surface runoff. The mineralogical content (Kaolinite, Smectite, Illite and Quartz) of the lake sediments indicate existence of good drainage conditions at the lakes as supported by the geology of the area. It is recommended that a long-term limnogeological monitoring and evaluation be conducted so as to understand future nutrient hydrodynamics and hydrological functioning of the wetland ecosystem.
Energetic Electron Precipitation: Multievent Analysis of Its Spatial Extent During EMIC Wave Activity

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves can drive precipitation of tens of keV protons and relativistic electrons, and are a potential candidate for causing radiation belt flux dropouts. In this study, we quantitatively analyze three cases of EMIC‐driven precipitation, which occurred near the dusk sector observed by multiple Low‐Earth‐Orbiting (LEO) Polar Operational Environmental Satellites/Meteorological Operational satellite programme (POES/MetOp) satellites. During EMIC wave activity, the proton precipitation occurred from few tens of keV up to hundreds of keV, while the electron precipitation was mainly at relativistic energies. We compare observations of electron precipitation with calculations using quasi‐linear theory. For all cases, we consider the effects of other magnetospheric waves observed simultaneously with EMIC waves, namely, plasmaspheric hiss and magnetosonic waves, and find that the electron precipitation at MeV energies was predominantly caused by EMIC‐driven pitch angle scattering. Interestingly, each precipitation event observed by a LEO satellite extended over a limited L shell region (ΔL ~ 0.3 on average), suggesting that the pitch angle scattering caused by EMIC waves occurs only when favorable conditions are met, likely in a localized region. Furthermore, we take advantage of the LEO constellation to explore the occurrence of precipitation at different L shells and magnetic local time sectors, simultaneously with EMIC wave observations near the equator (detected by Van Allen Probes) or at the ground (measured by magnetometers). Our analysis shows that although EMIC waves drove precipitation only in a narrow ΔL, electron precipitation was triggered at various locations as identified by POES/MetOp over a rather broad region (up to ~4.4 hr MLT and ~1.4 L shells) with similar patterns between satellites.
Overwhelming infection in asplenic patients: current best practice preventive measures are not being followed

Aims—Patients without spleens are at increased risk of overwhelming infection. Recently, greater efforts, including the publication of national guidelines, have been made to improve the management of asplenic individuals. In theory, risks of serious sepsis can be reduced by good advice, immunisation, and antibiotic prophylaxis. In practice, such preventive measures might not be followed or may fail. A study of recent cases of overwhelming postsplenectomy infection (OPSI) was undertaken to examine specific associated factors and to determine whether currently recommended preventive measures are being followed. Methods—Cases of OPSI were identified and reported mainly by microbiologists across the country using a specifically designed proforma. Data including the nature of the infection and vaccination/antibiotic prophylaxis history since splenectomy were obtained. Results—Seventy seven cases were reported. The age range varied from 3 months (congenital asplenia) to 87 years. In those who had undergone surgical splenectomy, the time interval between surgery and OPSI varied from 24 days to 65 years. Overall mortality reached 50%, with underlying haematological malignancy associated with the highest death rate. Streptococcus pneumoniae caused approximately 90% episodes. Only 31% individuals had received pneumococcal vaccination before OPSI. Seven of 17 pneumococcal infections in immunised cases could be considered vaccine failures. Few patients had been adequately advised on antibiotic prophylaxis or other measures. Conclusions—Currently accepted best practice for managing asplenic patients is not being followed. Some OPSI cases may still be preventable but many asplenic individuals remain unrecognised. The compilation of asplenic patient registers might help to implement agreed policies with audit necessary to evaluate compliance. More is needed to ensure optimal management for this cohort of the population.
Structured histopathology profiling of chronic rhinosinusitis in routine practice

Tissue eosinophilia in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a marker of inflammatory disorders recalcitrant to surgical intervention. Eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (ECRS) is traditionally associated with asthma, polyps, aspirin sensitivity, high serum eosinophilia, and elevated immunoglobulin E (IgE). However, patients with ECRS may not present with these associations and there is a need to establish other surrogate markers. The objective of the study was to determine the associations between the histopathology, serology, and clinical characteristics in CRS patients.
Identifying individuals in video by combining 'generative' and discriminative head models

The objective of this work is automatic detection and identification of individuals in unconstrained consumer video, given a minimal number of labelled faces as training data. Whilst much work has been done on (mainly frontal) face detection and recognition, current methods are not sufficiently robust to deal with the wide variations in pose and appearance found in such video. These include variations in scale, illumination, expression, partial occlusion, motion blur, etc. We describe two areas of innovation: the first is to capture the 3-D appearance of the entire head, rather than just the face region, so that visual features such as the hairline can be exploited. The second is to combine discriminative and 'generative' approaches for detection and recognition. Images rendered using the head model are used to train a discriminative tree-structured classifier giving efficient detection and pose estimates over a very wide pose range with three degrees of freedom. Subsequent verification of the identity is obtained using the head model in a 'generative' framework. We demonstrate excellent performance in detecting and identifying three characters and their poses in a TV situation comedy
Immune and inflammatory function in cigarette smokers.

Tobacco smoking is associated with increased prevalence of various diseases, both in the respiratory tract and in distal organs. The possibility that tobacco smoke induced changes in immune and inflammatory processes may play a part in the aetiology and pathogenesis of many of these diseases was first recognised in the mid 1960s. The ensuing decade witnessed a steadily increasing research effort centred on toxicological aspects of chronic inhalation of tobacco smoke in relation to immune and inflammatory cell function in experimental animals. This work (reviewed by Holt and Keast') defined a discrete pattern of change in animals during the course of tobacco smoke exposure, with the following salient features: (1) systemically, biphasic fluctuations were observed in primary T cell dependent humoral and cellular immune responses, initial enhancement during the first few months of exposure eventually giving way to suppression in chronically exposed animals; (2) T cell independent immune responses (for example, to bacterial polysaccharide antigens) and secondary immune responses dependent on T memory cells remained normal in these animals; (3) an immediate and profound suppression of T cell function was noted in the respiratory tract, together with (4) the steady development of an expanded and functionally altered population of alveolar macrophages. Recognition of the possibility that similar effects occur in man has provided the impetus for various direct studies on aspects of immune and inflammatory cell functions in human smokers. Furthermore, it has become accepted practice to segregate the smokers within "control" populations, particularly in studies using bronchoalveolar lavage. The available data from these human studies are reviewed below in the light of the information available from earlier animal experiments.