Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental performance evaluation of a laboratory-scale molten salt thermocline storage

Single-tank thermal storages, which are known from low-temperature systems, provide an opportunity for cost reduction in high temperature thermal energy storage systems. As for high-temperature systems limited experimental data is publicly available, a single-tank molten salt storage prototype was designed and built at Fraunhofer ISE. This paper covers an analysis based on test results addressing also quantitative energetic evaluation criteria, such as the theoretical and actual capacity of the storage, besides qualitative outcomes. The main aspect to be addressed in order to promote the application of thermocline systems is the quality of the stratification and the thermal efficiency of such a system. In this paper a method and the corresponding results are shown how to determine the thickness of the thermocline zone with finite temperature measurement positions. Also displayed are the inlet and outlet temperatures of the storage and the flow rate. During the conducted storage charging and discharging te.
The modified self: family caregivers' experiences of caring for a dying family member at home.

AIM The aim of this study was to explore situations in daily life that challenge caregivers' self-image when caring for a dying family member at home. Background. Caregiving affects the health and daily lives of family caregivers. Patterns of challenging situations may provide insight into the home caregiving experience, thus contributing to our understanding of the influence it has on the caregivers' self-image. DESIGN Qualitative descriptive study. METHODS Ten family caregivers who cared for a dying family member at home with support from an advanced home care team were interviewed 6-12 months after the death of the family member. The interviews were analysed with interpretive description. Result. Three patterns characterised the experiences of caregivers' daily lives in caring for a dying family member at home: challenged ideals, stretched limits and interdependency. These patterns formed the core theme, the modified self. Situations that challenged the caregivers' self-image were connected to experiences such as 'forbidden thoughts', intimacy and decreasing personal space. CONCLUSIONS The caregivers met challenging situations in their daily lives that created a modified image of self. It is important to recognise the impact of caring for a dying family member at home. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This study argues for supporting family caregivers to maximise their potential to handle the demanding everyday life with a dying family member at home. This study contributes to understanding situations in the home that may challenge caregivers' self-image and points out the importance of talking about caregiving experiences. From a clinical perspective, this study emphasises the significance of creating a climate, which allows family caregivers to express thoughts and feelings. Sharing experiences such as 'forbidden thoughts' can be one way of handling the profoundly changed every day life.
Truly low and high thromboembolic risk – impact of risk scores in real life

Background Anticoagulation therapy is followed by analysis of factors used in the CHA2DS2-VASc score and assessing the risk of bleeding (HAS-BLED). The aim of the study The aim of the study was to evaluate in ‘real life’ risk stratification scores in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Material and methods From 81 consecutive patients who had not yet received anticoagulation, 68 were finally enrolled after exclusion criteria. Patients were analyzed related to risk scores: CHADS2 ≥ 2 (group I) vs. CHADS2 < 2 and CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 2 (group II) and gender. Patients at high thromboembolic risk were treated with warfarin, after consideration of the patient's decision. Results At high risk of thromboembolic complications were 61 patients (90%). In 26 subjects (43%, 15 women – 57%) indication for anticoagulation was established by CHA2DS2-VASc. When compared to CHADS2 ≥ 2, these patients were younger (72 ±10 years vs. 63 ±10 years, p = 0.0002), less frequently burdened with arterial hypertension (p = 0.03) and had lower risk in HAS-BLED (1.23 ±0.65 vs. 0.81 ±0.49, p = 0.03). Seven patients (10%) did not require anticoagulation (CHA2DS2-VASc = 0). Compared to men, women more often had ischemic stroke (2 vs. 18%, p = 0.03), but less coronary artery disease (58 vs. 25%, p = 0.005). During 18 months on warfarin, bleeding occurred in 9 patients (13%, 6 women). On dual antiplatelet therapy were 11 patients (16%). No thromboembolic complications were recorded. Conclusions CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED schemata easily identify real low and high thromboembolic risk patients and bleeding risk. It seems that women present higher risk of bleeding, but less frequent use of antiplatelet therapy.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop on Sodium and Blood Pressure : a critical review of current scientific evidence.

The Workshop on Sodium and Blood Pressure was convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in Bethesda, Md, on January 28 and 29, 1999, to update earlier reviews of this topic.1 2 3 Other topics covered were sodium intake in relation to other cardiovascular disease (CVD) and non-CVD conditions, research needs, and public policy considerations. More than 55 invited speakers and other attendees from the United States and abroad reviewed and discussed the scientific information. This review synthesizes the presentations and discussions. Epidemiological studies conducted over the past 50 years have shown a clear curvilinear relation of higher adult blood pressure (BP) levels to higher rates of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, heart failure, and kidney failure. A continuous relation is apparent from below the 120/80 mm Hg level. Thus, a significant portion of CVD occurs in persons whose BP has not reached the arbitrary 140/90 mm Hg level defining hypertension. Studies show unequivocally that lowering high BP in hypertensive patients can reduce the likelihood of developing or dying from CVD, including CHD and stroke. Dietary factors in individuals and in the population at large have important effects on BP levels, which are generally assumed to translate to CVD risk. For the nonhypertensive subset, a population-wide approach to lowering BP (an approach based on lifestyle modifications that have been shown to prevent or delay increases in BP) could affect the total CVD burden as much as or more than treating only those with established hypertension. There is an abundance of scientific evidence demonstrating a direct relation between salt intake and BP. Studies in laboratory animals show that high BP can be induced by diet.4 Recent evidence comes from a randomized trial involving 26 chimpanzees that were given a low salt/high potassium diet (preintervention period). Subsequently, …
Seasonal changes in leaf area of Amazon forests from leaf flushing and abscission

[1] A large increase in near-infrared (NIR) reflectance of Amazon forests during the light-rich dry season and a corresponding decrease during the light-poor wet season has been observed in satellite measurements. This increase has been variously interpreted as seasonal change in leaf area resulting from net leaf flushing in the dry season or net leaf abscission in the wet season, enhanced photosynthetic activity during the dry season from flushing new leaves and as change in leaf scattering and absorption properties between younger and older leaves covered with epiphylls. Reconciling these divergent views using theory and observations is the goal of this article. The observed changes in NIR reflectance of Amazon forests could be due to similar, but small, changes in NIR leaf albedo (reflectance plus transmittance) resulting from the exchange of older leaves for newer ones, but with the total leaf area unchanged. However, this argument ignores accumulating evidence from ground-based reports of higher leaf area in the dry season than the wet season, seasonal changes in litterfall and does not satisfactorily explain why NIR reflectance of these forests decreases in the wet season. More plausibly, the increase in NIR reflectance during the dry season and the decrease during the wet season would result from changes in both leaf area and leaf optical properties. Such change would be consistent with known phenological behavior of tropical forests, ground-based reports of seasonal changes in leaf area, litterfall, leaf optical properties and fluxes of evapotranspiration, and thus, would reconcile the various seemingly divergent views.
Social and Genetic Networks of HIV-1 Transmission in New York City

Background Sexually transmitted infections spread across contact networks. Partner elicitation and notification are commonly used public health tools to identify, notify, and offer testing to persons linked in these contact networks. For HIV-1, a rapidly evolving pathogen with low per-contact transmission rates, viral genetic sequences are an additional source of data that can be used to infer or refine transmission networks. Methods and Findings The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene interviews individuals newly diagnosed with HIV and elicits names of sexual and injection drug using partners. By law, the Department of Health also receives HIV sequences when these individuals enter healthcare and their physicians order resistance testing. Our study used both HIV sequence and partner naming data from 1342 HIV-infected persons in New York City between 2006 and 2012 to infer and compare sexual/drug-use named partner and genetic transmission networks. Using these networks, we determined a range of genetic distance thresholds suitable for identifying potential transmission partners. In 48% of cases, named partners were infected with genetically closely related viruses, compatible with but not necessarily representing or implying, direct transmission. Partner pairs linked through the genetic similarity of their HIV sequences were also linked by naming in 53% of cases. Persons who reported high-risk heterosexual contact were more likely to name at least one partner with a genetically similar virus than those reporting their risk as injection drug use or men who have sex with men. Conclusions We analyzed an unprecedentedly large and detailed partner tracing and HIV sequence dataset and determined an empirically justified range of genetic distance thresholds for identifying potential transmission partners. We conclude that genetic linkage provides more reliable evidence for identifying potential transmission partners than partner naming, highlighting the importance and complementarity of both epidemiological and molecular genetic surveillance for characterizing regional HIV-1 epidemics.
UC Office of the President Recent Work Title Synchronization to auditory and visual rhythms in hearing and deaf individuals Permalink

A striking asymmetry in human sensorimotor processing is that humans synchronize movements to rhythmic sound with far greater precision than to temporally equivalent visual stimuli (e.g., to an auditory vs. a flashing visual metronome). Traditionally, this finding is thought to reflect a fundamental difference in auditory vs. visual processing, i.e., superior temporal processing by the auditory system and/or privileged coupling between the auditory and motor systems. It is unclear whether this asymmetry is an inevitable consequence of brain organization or whether it can be modified (or even eliminated) by stimulus characteristics or by experience. With respect to stimulus characteristics, we found that a moving, colliding visual stimulus (a silent image of a bouncing ball with a distinct collision point on the floor) was able to drive synchronization nearly as accurately as sound in hearing participants. To study the role of experience, we compared synchronization to flashing metronomes in hearing and profoundly deaf individuals. Deaf individuals performed better than hearing individuals when synchronizing with visual flashes, suggesting that cross-modal plasticity enhances the ability to synchronize with temporally discrete visual stimuli. Furthermore, when deaf (but not hearing) individuals synchronized with the bouncing ball, their tapping patterns suggest that visual timing may access higherorder beat perception mechanisms for deaf individuals. These results indicate that the auditory advantage in rhythmic synchronization is more experienceand stimulusdependent than has been previously reported. 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Multisatellite Analysis of Plasma Pressure in the Inner Magnetosphere During the 1 June 2013 Geomagnetic Storm

Using data from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program 16–18, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 15–19, and METOP 1–2 satellites, we reconstructed for the first time a two‐dimensional statistical distribution of plasma pressure in the inner magnetosphere during the 1 June 2013 geomagnetic storm with time resolution of 6 hr. Simultaneously, we used the data from Van Allen Probes and Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions missions to obtain the in situ plasma pressure in the equatorial plane. This allowed us to corroborate that the dipole mapping works reasonably well during the storm time and that variations of plasma pressure are consistent at low and high altitudes; namely, we observed a drastic increase in plasma pressure a few hours before the storm onset that continued during the storm main phase. Plasma pressure remained elevated during the first 18 hr of the recovery phase and then started to decrease to normal levels. We found that the variation in pressure correlates with the change in the slope of the Dst index, and that the plasma pressure nearly conserved its axial symmetry during the storm, giving one more evidence that the ring current provides the main contribution to the Dst variation. We also found that the plasma pressure in the magnetosphere correlates with the solar wind dynamic pressure with a correlation coefficient exceeding 0.9, which can be related to the pressure balance at the magnetospheric flanks. The results obtained here agree with the concept of the ring current generation by an inner magnetosphere plasma ring in magnetostatic equilibrium.
Perceptions of Cattle and Sheep Farmers on Climate Change and Adaptation in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Abstract This study examined the perceptions of cattle and sheep farmers on climate change and adaptation in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Using information from 500 livestock farmers between 2005 and 2009 farming season, preliminary descriptive statistics results indicated that farmers had different perceptions of climate change and adaptation measures. Further analysis using principal components showed that the perceptions could be grouped into: (i) drought and windy weather patterns; (ii) information and adaptation; (iii) climate change extension services; (iv) intensive cattle and sheep production and (v) temperatures.
Some Statistical Properties of Surface Slopes via Remote Sensing Using Variable Reflection Angle Considering a Non-Gaussian Probability Density Function

Relationships to obtain information concerning some statistical properties of surface slope from statistical properties of the image intensity in remotely sensed images, considering a variable detector line-of-sight angle, are shown. The brightness distribution in sunlight reflected from the ruffled sea surface is related to the joint probability distribution of the two components of surface slope. A 1-D section through the brightness distribution provides values of the joint distribution along a line through the joint distribution. Considering the assumption that all the ocean waves are moving along a single direction and that the observer and the sun are both in the vertical plane containing this direction, a new expression between the variance of the intensity in the image and the variance of the surface slopes is derived considering a non-Gaussian statistics where the skewness and kurtosis moments are taken into account. The relation between correlation functions of the intensities in the image and surface slopes is numerically analyzed; in the non-Gaussian statistics, the skewness moment was considered only. The 1-D case is considered, and the results are graphically presented.
Oxygen-Loaded Nanodroplets Effectively Abrogate Hypoxia Dysregulating Effects on Secretion of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 by Human Monocytes

Monocytes play a key role in the inflammatory stage of the healing process. To allow monocyte migration to injured tissues, the balances between secreted matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) must be finely modulated. However, a reduction of blood supply and local oxygen tension can modify the phenotype of immune cells. Intriguingly, hypoxia might be targeted by new effective oxygenating devices such as 2H,3H-decafluoropentane- (DFP-) based oxygen-loaded nanodroplets (OLNs). Here, hypoxia effects on gelatinase/TIMP release from human peripheral monocytes were investigated, and the therapeutic potential of dextran-shelled OLNs was evaluated. Normoxic monocytes constitutively released ~500 ng/mL MMP-9, ~1.3 ng/mL TIMP-1, and ~0.6 ng/mL TIMP-2 proteins. MMP-2 was not detected. After 24 hours, hypoxia significantly altered MMP-9/TIMP-1 balance by reducing MMP-9 and increasing TIMP-1, without affecting TIMP-2 secretion. Interestingly OLNs, not displaying toxicity to human monocytes after cell internalization, effectively counteracted hypoxia, restoring a normoxia-like MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio. The action of OLNs was specifically dependent on time-sustained oxygen diffusion up to 24 h from their DFP-based core. Therefore, OLNs appear as innovative, nonconventional, cost-effective, and nontoxic therapeutic tools, to be potentially employed to restore the physiological invasive phenotype of immune cells in hypoxia-associated inflammation.
Response of Glacier and Lake Dynamics in Four Inland Basins to Climate Change at the Transition Zone between the Karakorum And Himalayas

Inland glacier and lake dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its surroundings over recent decades are good indicators of climate change and have a significant impact on the local water supply and ecosystem. The glacier and lake changes in Karakoram are quite different from those of the Himalayas. The mechanisms of the complex and regionally heterogeneous behavior of the glacier and lake changes between the Karakorum and Himalayas are poorly understood. Based on satellite images and meteorological data of Shiquanhe, Hetian, and Yutian stations, we demonstrate that the overall retreat of glaciers and increase of lake area at the transition zone between the Karakoram and Himalayas (TKH) have occurred since 1968 in response to a significant global climate change. Glacial areas in the Songmuxi Co basin, Zepu Co basin, Mang Co basin and Unnamed Co decreased by -1.98 ± 0.02 km2, -5.39 ± 0.02 km2, -0.01 ± 0.02 km2, and -0.12 ± 0.02 km2 during the study period, corresponding to losses of -1.42%, -2.86%, -1.54%, and -1.57%, respectively. The lake area of the Songmuxi Co, Zepu Co, Mang Co and Unnamed Co increased by 7.57 ± 0.02 km2, 8.53 ± 0.02 km2, 1.35 ± 0.02 km2, and 0.53±0.02 km2, corresponding to growths of 30.22%, 7.55%, 11.39%, and 8.05%, respectively. Increases in temperature was the main reason for glacier retreat, whereas decreases in potential evapotranspiration of lakes, increases in precipitation, and increases in melt water from glaciers and frozen soil all contributed to lake area expansion.
Fine-grain adaptation for real time embedded systems using UML/MARTE profile

The integration of adaptation techniques in the development cycle of real time embedded systems (RTES) has become a necessity to permit their fast and efficient reaction to environment variability. In order to yield considerable benefits in terms of resource utilization, the adaptive behavior should be integrated in different system layers and with different granularities (fine and coarse). The existing model-based design approaches of adaptive RTES is limited to the modeling of coarse-grain adaptation techniques which bring global modification to the whole system configuration. However, fine-grain adaptation techniques, specifically per-application adaptation, which is an important ability of embedded systems for dealing with modern applications complexity, are still under-explored. Since this adaptation issue is not supported by the UML MARTE profile, we propose in this paper a model-based design of an adaptive application layer using the MARTE standard. We define an additionnal package extending the Software Resource Modeling sub-profile. A case study on the H264/AVC video encoder application is presented to illustrate the application of our proposed extension.
Different Expression of 11&bgr;-Hydroxylase and Aldosterone Synthase Between Aldosterone-Producing Microadenomas and Macroadenomas

Aldosterone-producing adenoma is a major subtype of primary aldosteronism. The number of cases of these adenomas, which are below the detection limit of computed tomography but diagnosed by adrenal venous sampling, has recently been increasing. However, the pathophysiology of these adenomas, especially those manifesting clinically overt hyperaldosteronism despite their small size, remains unknown. Therefore, we examined the correlation between tumor size and the status of intratumoral steroidogenic enzymes involved in aldosterone biosynthesis using immunohistochemistry. Forty patients with surgically proven aldosterone-producing adenomas were retrospectively studied. Multidetector computed tomography, adrenal venous sampling, and laparoscopic adrenalectomy were performed in all of the patients studied. The tumor area at the maximum diameter of the sections was precisely measured by ImageJ software. The status of the steroidogenic enzymes was immunohistochemically analyzed, and the findings were evaluated according to the H-score system, based on both the number of immunopositive cells and relative immunointensity. Adrenal masses were not detected by computed tomography in 20 patients. Blood pressure, plasma aldosterone concentration, urinary aldosterone excretion, and the number of antihypertensive agents also decreased significantly after the surgery in these patients, as well as in the patients with adenomas detectable by computed tomography. Maximum tumor area obtained in the specimens was significantly correlated with preoperative plasma aldosterone concentration, urinary aldosterone excretion, and the H score of 11&bgr;-hydroxylase and was inversely correlated with the H score of aldosterone synthase. These results demonstrated that small adenomas could produce sufficient aldosterone to cause clinically overt primary aldosteronism because of the significantly higher aldosterone synthase expression per tumor area.