Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Behavior of lithium and its isotopes during weathering of Hawaiian basalt

We examined the pedogenic behavior of lithium (Li) and its isotopes in Hawaii by sampling same‐age lava flows under mean annual rainfall ranging from 18 to 300 cm. Lithium concentrations in these soils vary from 1 to 29 ppm. Whereas Na, K, and Ca are completely leached from the soil at the most humid and severely weathered site, Li, Mg, Si, and Al show significant retention due to their association with secondary clay minerals. In these soils, allochthonous Li delivered in marine and mineral aerosol mixes with basalt‐derived Li, modifying the isotopic composition of the Li pool. The ability of soil to retain Li is related to its effective cation exchange capacity, which in turn is governed by rainfall and leaching intensity and their resulting effect on mineralogy. Lithium isotope ratios have a large range (δ7Li of −0.4 to 14‰), well beyond the intershield or temporal variation of the lavas of Hawaiian volcanoes (2.5 to 5.7‰). The most unweathered samples have δ7Li (∼5–6‰) comparable to that of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa lavas. The Li concentrations and isotope ratios together suggest that in arid to subhumid sites there is a net addition of isotopically heavier lithium from marine aerosol but that under greater rainfall there is a net loss of Li, and isotopically light Li is preferentially retained. Thus, during incongruent weathering of primary minerals, Li, especially 6Li, is adsorbed and sequestered by the clay mineral fraction of high cation exchange capacity soils in drier regions but lost from highly weathered, low cation exchange capacity acidic soils in the wetter regions.
Assessment of Walker-assisted Human Interaction from LRF and Wearable Wireless Inertial Sensors

This paper describes the assessment of basic walker-assisted human interaction based on a laser range finder (LRF) sensor and two inertial wearable sensors. Thirteen osteoarthritis patients and thirteen healthy subjects were selected to be part of this pilot experiment, which intends to acquire and calculate spatiotemporal and human-interaction parameters from walker-assisted ambulation. A comparison is made between the spatiotemporal parameters of healthy subjects and the ones of patients with osteoarthritis. Moreover, it is made an analysis of the effect that change of direction in walker-assisted ambulation can have on spatiotemporal parameters. Results have shown that 1) velocity, step length and distance to the walker are significantly affected by the change of direction, and 2) distance to the walker and step length can distinguish between healthy subjects and patients with osteoarthritis. In terms of human-interaction parameters, results show that a LRF sensor can correctly describe the trajectory and velocity of the user in relation to the walker. However, just the wearable sensors can characterize changes in direction. These results will be further used in the development of a robotic control that intends to detect the user's intention through LRF and inertial sensors, and respond accordingly.
The Chemical Evolution of the La[subscript 0.6]Sr[subscript 0.4]CoO[subscript 3−δ] Surface Under SOFC Operating Conditions and Its Implications for Electrochemical Oxygen Exchange Activity

Owing to its extraordinary high activity for catalysing the oxygen exchange reaction, strontium doped LaCoO 3 (LSC) is one of the most promising materials for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes. However, under SOFC operating conditions this material suffers from performance degradation. This loss of electrochemical activity has been extensively studied in the past and an accumulation of strontium at the LSC surface has been shown to be responsible for most of the degradation effects. The present study sheds further light onto LSC surface changes also occurring under SOFC operating conditions. In-situ near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements were conducted at temperatures between 400 and 790 °C. Simultaneously, electrochemical impedance measurements were performed to characterise the catalytic activity of the LSC electrode surface for O 2 reduction. This combination allowed a correlation of the loss in electro-catalytic activity with the appearance of an additional La-containing Sr-oxide species at the LSC surface. This additional Sr-oxide species preferentially covers electrochemically active Co sites at the surface, and thus very effectively decreases the oxygen exchange performance of LSC. Formation of precipitates, in contrast, was found to play a less important role for the electrochemical degradation of LSC.
Experimental economics and experimental computer science: a survey

In surprisingly many computer science research projects, system outcomes may be influenced by computerized or human agents with different economic incentives. Such studies include P2P networks, routing protocols, agent systems, and attacker-defender security games. Even the most technical system raises a pressing economic question: what incentives will drive the success or failure of deployment? Traditional computer science techniques, in isolation, may overlook factors that are critical to the overall outcome: In these situations, human-subject experiments may form a useful complement, broadening our understanding through the formulation and testing of economically motivated hypotheses. I argue that these efforts can benefit from the large body of work that has been conducted in the field of experimental economics in the last 30 to 40 years. I discuss the methodology of experimental economics and review recent work that falls on the boundary of computer science and economics experiments and is likely unfamiliar to many professionals and researchers in technical fields.
Deep Hybrid Similarity Learning for Person Re-Identification

Person re-identification (Re-ID) aims to match person images captured from two non-overlapping cameras. In this paper, a deep hybrid similarity learning (DHSL) method for person Re-ID based on a convolution neural network (CNN) is proposed. In our approach, a light CNN learning feature pair for the input image pair is simultaneously extracted. Then, both the elementwise absolute difference and multiplication of the CNN learning feature pair are calculated. Finally, a hybrid similarity function is designed to measure the similarity between the feature pair, which is realized by learning a group of weight coefficients to project the elementwise absolute difference and multiplication into a similarity score. Consequently, the proposed DHSL method is able to reasonably assign complexities of feature learning and metric learning in a CNN, so that the performance of person Re-ID is improved. Experiments on three challenging person Re-ID databases, QMUL GRID, VIPeR, and CUHK03, illustrate that the proposed DHSL method is superior to multiple state-of-the-art person Re-ID methods.
Clinical utility of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test for the diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis

We evaluated the usefulness of interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB) in routine clinical practice. We retrospectively assessed the diagnostic usefulness of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) test in 519 consecutive patients who were suspected of having active pulmonary TB and had QFT-IT test results. Active pulmonary TB was diagnosed in 242 patients (47%). The sensitivity in the diagnosis of active pulmonary TB was higher with the QFT-IT test (84%) than with the tuberculin skin test (TST; 74%; p=0.003). The negative predictive value in the diagnosis of active pulmonary TB was also higher with the QFT-IT test (79%) than with the TST (70%; p=0.023). Among 59 patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung disease, the QFT-IT test was positive in 29 patients (49%). In conclusion, the high negative predictive value of the QFT-IT suggests a supplementary role for this test in the diagnostic exclusion of active TB. However, negative QFT-IT test results should not be used alone to exclude active TB. Additionally, the QFT-IT test has limited usefulness in differentiating active pulmonary TB from non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung disease in areas with a high prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection.
Development of the Mouse Inner Ear and Origin of Its Sensory Organs

The molecular mechanisms dictating the morphogenesis and differentiation of the mammalian inner ear are largely unknown. To better elucidate the normal development of this organ, two approaches were taken. First, the membranous labyrinths of mouse inner ears ranging from 10.25 to 17 d postcoitum (dpc) were filled with paint to reveal their gross development. Particular attention was focused on the developing utricle, saccule, and cochlea. Second, we used bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and lunatic fringe (Fng) as molecular markers to identify the origin of the sensory structures. Our data showed that BMP4 was an early marker for the superior, lateral, and posterior cristae, whereasFng served as an early marker for the macula utriculi, macula sacculi, and the sensory portion of the cochlea. The posterior crista was the first organ to appear at 11.5 dpc and was followed by the superior crista, the lateral crista, and the macula utriculi at 12 dpc. The macula sacculi and the cochlea were present at 12 dpc but became distinguishable from each other by 13 dpc. Based on the gene expression patterns, the anterior and lateral cristae may share a common origin. Similarly, three sensory organs, the macula utriculi, macula sacculi, and cochlea, seem to arise from a single region of the otocyst.
The RicAFT (YmcA‐YlbF‐YaaT) complex carries two [4Fe‐4S]2+ clusters and may respond to redox changes

During times of environmental insult, Bacillus subtilis undergoes developmental changes leading to biofilm formation, sporulation and competence. Each of these states is regulated in part by the phosphorylated form of the master response regulator Spo0A (Spo0A∼P). The phosphorylation state of Spo0A is controlled by a multi‐component phosphorelay. RicA, RicF and RicT (previously YmcA, YlbF and YaaT) have been shown to be important regulatory proteins for multiple developmental fates. These proteins directly interact and form a stable complex, which has been proposed to accelerate the phosphorelay. Indeed, this complex is sufficient to stimulate the rate of phosphotransfer amongst the phosphorelay proteins in vitro. In this study, we demonstrate that two [4Fe‐4S]2+ clusters can be assembled on the complex. As with other iron‐sulfur cluster‐binding proteins, the complex was also found to bind FAD, hinting that these cofactors may be involved in sensing the cellular redox state. This work provides the first comprehensive characterization of an iron‐sulfur protein complex that regulates Spo0A∼P levels. Phylogenetic and genetic evidence suggests that the complex plays a broader role beyond stimulation of the phosphorelay.
Dilated Cardiomyopathy Revealing Cushing Disease

Abstract Cardiovascular impairments are frequent in Cushing's syndrome and the hypercortisolism can result in cardiac structural and functional changes that lead in rare cases to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Such cardiac impairment may be reversible in response to a eucortisolaemic state. A 43-year-old man with a medical past of hypertension and history of smoking presented to the emergency department with global heart failure. Coronary angiography showed a significant stenosis of a marginal branch and cardiac MRI revealed a nonischemic DCM. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was estimated as 28% to 30%. Clinicobiological features and pituitary imaging pointed toward Cushing's disease and administration of adrenolytic drugs (metyrapone and ketoconazole) was initiated. Despite the normalization of cortisol which had been achieved 2 months later, the patient presented an acute heart failure. A massive mitral regurgitation secondary to posterior papillary muscle rupture was diagnosed as a complication of the occlusion of the marginal branch. After 6 months of optimal pharmacological treatment for systolic heart failure, as well as treatment with inhibitors of steroidogenesis, there was no improvement of LVEF. The percutaneous mitral valve was therefore repaired and a defibrillator implanted. The severity of heart failure contraindicated pituitary surgery and the patient was instead treated by stereotaxic radiotherapy. This is the first case reporting a Cushing's syndrome DCM without improvement of LVEF despite normalization of serum cortisol levels.
Serum thyroglobulin levels in healthy subjects and in patients with thyroid disease.

ABSTRACT Between 60 and 70% of normal subjects have circulating thyroglobulin demonstrable by a radioimmunoassay with a sensitivity of 10 ng/ml. Thyroglobulin was more frequently detectable in the sera of pregnant women and in newborn infants. Thyroglobulin did not cross the placenta in experiments on the rat. As expected, considerable amounts of thyroglobulin are released at operation or by therapeutic doses of radioiodine but there was no appreciable increase in the serum concentration following tracer doses, suggesting that during routine uptake tests leakage through radiation damage is negligible. In nontoxic nodular goiters elevated serum thyroglobulin concentrations were observed which correlated with goiter size. Thyroglobulin levels were higher in the patients giving a family history of thyroid disease although this group also had larger goiters. Thyroglobulin assay curves for goiter extract, the patient's serum and standard thyroglobulin were parallel. It is known that increased amounts of thyrog.
1H-Magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of stimulant medication effect on brain metabolites in French Canadian children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Background Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in school aged children. Functional abnormalities have been reported in brain imaging studies in ADHD populations. Psychostimulants are considered as the first line treatment for ADHD. However, little is known of the effect of stimulants on brain metabolites in ADHD patients. Objectives To compare the brain metabolite concentrations in children with ADHD and on stimulants with those of drug naïve children with ADHD, versus typically developed children, in a homogenous genetic sample of French Canadians. Methods Children with ADHD on stimulants (n=57) and drug naïve children with ADHD (n=45) were recruited, as well as typically developed children (n=38). The presence or absence of ADHD diagnosis (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV criteria) was based on clinical evaluation and The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children IV. All children (n=140) underwent a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy session to measure the ratio of N-acetyl-aspartate, choline, glutamate, and glutamate–glutamine to creatine, respectively, in the left and right prefrontal and striatal regions of the brain, as well as in the left cerebellum. Results When compared with drug naïve children with ADHD, children with ADHD on stimulants and children typically developed were found to have higher choline ratios in the left prefrontal region (P=0.04) and lower N-acetyl-aspartate ratios in the left striatum region (P=0.01), as well as lower glutamate–glutamine ratios in the left cerebellum (P=0.05). In these three regions, there was no difference between children with ADHD on stimulants and typically developed children. Conclusion Therapeutic psychostimulant effects in children with ADHD may be mediated by normalization of brain metabolite levels, particularly in the left fronto-striato-cerebellar regions.
Use of periosteal membrane as a barrier membrane for the treatment of buccal Grade II furcation defects in lower molars: a novel technique.

OBJECTIVE To use the periosteum as a barrier in treatment of buccal Grade II furcation defects of lower molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS This technique was performed on 12 patients with bilateral buccal Grade II furcation defects of lower molars. On a random basis, one furcation defect of each pair was selected for the control group and other for the experimental group. Debridement was done in the defect area in both groups. In the control group, after debridement, mucoperiosteal flap was sutured back. In the experimental group, after reflection of the mucoperiosteal flap, a portion of the periosteum along with a layer of connective tissue (periosteal membrane) was incised and mobilized in the defect area for defect coverage as a barrier, and then the periosteal membrane and mucoperiosteal flap were fixed with suture, respectively. Horizontal dimension of the furcation defect was the primary outcome measure. Gingival index, probing attachment level (PAL), and vertical dimension of furcation defect were the secondary outcome measures. Clinical parameters were registered at baseline and at 6 months. RESULTS Every clinical parameter was improved by surgery. Significant gain in PAL as well as horizontal and vertical dimensions of the furcation defects was found. CONCLUSION This periosteum displacement technique is effective for the treatment of buccal Grade II furcation defects of lower molars.
Utilization of Organs From Donors According to Hepatitis C Antibody and Nucleic Acid Testing Status: Time for Change

Previous studies have grouped all donors positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody (Ab). Only recently has donor HCV nucleic acid testing (NAT) become routine, and the impact of Ab and NAT status on organ utilization is unknown. Using the United Network for Organ Sharing database, we identified 9290 donors from 2015 to 2016 for whom both HCV Ab and NAT data were available and compared organ utilization by HCV status. Overall, 93.8% of donors were Ab negative and NAT negative (Ab−NAT−), 0.15% were Ab negative and NAT positive, 1.8% were Ab positive and NAT negative (Ab+NAT−), and 4.2% were both Ab and NAT positive (Ab+NAT+). Ab−NAT− donors donated at the highest rate for all organs except livers, of which Ab+NAT− donors donated at a higher rate (81.2% vs 73.2%, p = 0.03). Livers were discarded for reasons related to abnormal biopsies in Ab+NAT+ donors, whereas kidneys from Ab‐ or NAT‐positive donors were discarded for reasons related to HCV status. Using a propensity score−matched model, we estimated that using Ab+NAT− donors at the same rate as Ab−NAT− donors could result in 48 more kidney donors, 37 more heart donors, and 15 more lung donors annually. We urge the use of HCV Ab+NAT− donors for appropriately selected and consenting recipients.
Bodies and persons: Modernity and forms of personhood in Melanesia

Introduction The insurrection on Bougainville, the cascade of new types of commercialism, mass media advertising, the continuing admixture of “Western” and local forms of medicine, the expansion of the public sphere, the penetration of the state into the recesses of domestic life, the reshaping and abstraction of labor, the use of education as an instrument of civic integration, and much else summarized by the term modernity underline the need to grasp the redefinition of local epistemologies brought about by the continuing encompassment of Melanesia by its “Other” – the West. At issue is how indigenous categories of knowledge and ways of knowing the world are not only transformed but permanently set in motion by the political economy of capitalism, the rise of the nation-state, the internationalization of the public sphere, the infiltration of Western popular and scientific cultures (from Christian religions and electronic media to medicine and anthropology), and interstate organizations such as the World Bank. In this context it is necessary to shape an ethnography of modernity that goes beyond an account of manifest change (e.g. adoption of Western religion, the advent of new practices of production and exchange, the implementation of a Western schooling system, the inscription of English) and grasps the transformations in knowing, agency, and subjectivity wrought by encompassment – the interplay among structures of different orders of magnitude, power, and intelligibility. The construction of the “person” figures centrally in any such analysis because the concepts of personhood indigenous to Melanesia and Papua New Guinea in particular are significantly different from those embodied in Western practice and texts and presupposed by the colonially inspired political institutions that define the emerging states of Oceania.
State-constrained control based on linearization of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation

For continuous time, state constrained, stochastic control problems a method based on optimization is presented. The method applies to systems where the control signal and the disturbance both enters affinely, and it has one main tuning parameter, which determines the control activity. If the disturbance covariance is unknown, it can also be used as a tuning parameter (matrix) to adjust the control directions in an intuitive way. Optimal control problems for this type of systems result in Hamilton Jacobi Bellman (HJB) equations that are problematic to solve because of nonlinearity and infinite boundary conditions. However, by applying a logarithmic transformation we show how and when the HJB equation can be transformed into a linear eigenvalue problem for which there are sometimes analytical solutions and if not, it can readily be solved with standard numerical methods. Sufficient and necessary conditions for when the method can be applied are derived, and their physical interpretation is discussed. A MIMO buffer control problem is used as an illustration.
Establishment of reference intervals of clinical chemistry analytes for the adult population in Saudi Arabia: a study conducted as a part of the IFCC global study on reference values

Abstract Background: This study is a part of the IFCC-global study to derive reference intervals (RIs) for 28 chemistry analytes in Saudis. Method: Healthy individuals (n=826) aged ≥18 years were recruited using the global study protocol. All specimens were measured using an Architect analyzer. RIs were derived by both parametric and non-parametric methods for comparative purpose. The need for secondary exclusion of reference values based on latent abnormal values exclusion (LAVE) method was examined. The magnitude of variation attributable to gender, ages and regions was calculated by the standard deviation ratio (SDR). Sources of variations: age, BMI, physical exercise and smoking levels were investigated by using the multiple regression analysis. Results: SDRs for gender, age and regional differences were significant for 14, 8 and 2 analytes, respectively. BMI-related changes in test results were noted conspicuously for CRP. For some metabolic related parameters the ranges of RIs by non-parametric method were wider than by the parametric method and RIs derived using the LAVE method were significantly different than those without it. RIs were derived with and without gender partition (BMI, drugs and supplements were considered). Conclusions: RIs applicable to Saudis were established for the majority of chemistry analytes, whereas gender, regional and age RI partitioning was required for some analytes. The elevated upper limits of metabolic analytes reflects the existence of high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Saudi population.