Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards maintaining consistency of spatial databases

This paper focuses on the consistency issues related to integrating multiple sets of spatial data in spatial information systems such as Geographic Information Systems (GISs). Data sets to be integrated are assumed to hold information about the same geographic features which can be drawn from different sources at different times, which may vary in reliability and accuracy, and which may vary in the scale of presentation resulting in possible multiple spatial representations for these features. A systematic approach is proposed which relies first on breaking down the consistency issue by identifying a range of consistency classes which can be checked in isolation. These classes are a representative set of properties and relationships which can completely identify the geographic objects in the data sets. Different levels of consistency are then proposed, namely, total, partial and conditional, which can be checked for every consistency class. This provides the flexibility for two data sets to be integrated without necessarily being totally consistent in every aspect. The second step of the proposed approach is to explicitly represent the different classes and levels of consistency in the system. As an example, a simple structure which stores adjacency relationships is given which can be used for the explicit representation of topological consistency. The paper also proposes that the set of consistent knowledge in the data sets (which is mostly qualitative) be explicitly represented in the database and that uncertainty or ambiguity inherent in the knowledge be represented as well.
Topographic specializations in the retinal ganglion cell layer correlate with lateralized visual behavior, ecology, and evolution in cockatoos

Cockatoos are a unique avian group inhabiting a diversity of arboreal and terrestrial microhabitats. Most species display strong lateralized visual behaviors using their left eye/foot to assist with food manipulation during foraging. In this study, we used retinal wholemounts and stereological methods to investigate whether the topographic distribution of retinal ganglion cells in cockatoos reflects their lateralized behaviors and microhabitat diversity. We found that all species studied possess a horizontal visual streak and a shallow central fovea that afford increased spatial resolution in the lateral visual field. Arboreal cockatoos have a well‐defined dorsotemporal area, in contrast to terrestrial cockatoos, in which this specialization is inconspicuous or absent. Terrestrial cockatoos also have a triangular extension of increased ganglion cell density directed toward the dorsotemporal retinal periphery. Both the dorsotemporal area and the triangular extension enhance spatial resolution in the frontal and inferior visual fields, which potentially assists with binocular coordination during foraging. We found significantly higher ganglion cell densities in the left (52,000–72,000 cells/mm2) compared with the right (42,500–50,000 cells/mm2) perifoveal region of species that have strong left eye–left foot lateralized behaviors. In contrast, cockatoo species that show no lateralized behaviors have equivalent retinal ganglion cell densities in both left and right perifoveal regions (42,500–52,500 cells/mm2). Retinal ganglion cell peak densities in the dorsotemporal area showed no significant difference between left and right eyes for any species, suggesting that cockatoos use both eyes to extract information in the binocular visual field, independent of the degree of lateralization. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:3363–3385, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Galectin-3 Mediates Aldosterone-Induced Vascular Fibrosis

Objective—Aldosterone (Aldo) is involved in arterial stiffness and heart failure, but the mechanisms have remained unclear. Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a &bgr;-galactoside-binding lectin, plays an important role in inflammation, fibrosis, and heart failure. We investigated here whether Gal-3 is involved in Aldo-induced vascular fibrosis. Methods and Results—In rat vascular smooth muscle cells Gal-3 overexpression enhanced specifically collagen type I synthesis. Moreover Gal-3 inhibition by modified citrus pectin or small interfering RNA blocked Aldo-induced collagen type I synthesis. Rats were treated with Aldo-salt combined with spironolactone or modified citrus pectin for 3 weeks. Hypertensive Aldo-treated rats presented vascular hypertrophy, inflammation, fibrosis, and increased aortic Gal-3 expression. Spironolactone or modified citrus pectin treatment reversed all the above effects. Wild-type and Gal-3 knock-out mice were treated with Aldo for 6 hours or 3 weeks. Aldo increased aortic Gal-3 expression, inflammation, and collagen type I in wild-type mice at both the short- and the long-term, whereas no changes occurred in Gal-3 knock-out mice. Conclusion—Our data indicate that Gal-3 is required for inflammatory and fibrotic responses to Aldo in vascular smooth muscle cells in vitro and in vivo, suggesting a key role for Gal-3 in vascular fibrosis.
Effect of fly ash addition on the fracture toughness of plain concrete at third model of fracture

AbstractA new testing method and estimation of the fracture toughness in Mode III (antiplane shear) of concretes containing: 0, 20 and 30% volume content of the class F fly ash (FA) was proposed. Fracture toughness tests were performed on axial torsional machine MTS 809 Axial/Torsional Test System using special device. The Device for the fracture toughness test at the Mode III fracture consisted of the cylindrical specimen with the formed initial crack, steel plates, and screws with washers securing the specimen in the press holders. The specimens applied for experiments were cylinders with dimensions of 150/300 mm, having an initial circumferential notch made in the half-height of cylinders. The specimens were subjected to pure torsion. The studies examined effect of FA additive on the parameter KIIIc. 20% FA additive causes a small increase of the KIIIc in comparison to the concrete without the FA, while 30% FA additive causes a significant decrease in fracture toughness. The fracture surfaces of the sp.
Heritability of Subcortical Volumetric Traits in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Objectives We aimed to 1) determine if subcortical volume deficits are common to mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) patients and their unaffected siblings 2) assess the suitability of subcortical volumetric traits as endophenotypes for MTLE. Methods MRI-based volume measurements of the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, caudate, putamen and pallidium were generated using an automated brain reconstruction method (FreeSurfer) for 101 unrelated ‘sporadic’ MTLE patients [70 with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE+HS), 31 with MRI-negative TLE], 83 unaffected full siblings of patients and 86 healthy control subjects. Changes in the volume of subcortical structures in patients and their unaffected siblings were determined by comparison with healthy controls. Narrow sense heritability was estimated ipsilateral and contralateral to the side of seizure activity. Results MTLE+HS patients displayed significant volume deficits across the hippocampus, amygdala and thalamus ipsilaterally. In addition, volume loss was detected in the putamen bilaterally. These volume deficits were not present in the unaffected siblings of MTLE+HS patients. Ipsilaterally, the heritability estimates were dramatically reduced for the volume of the hippocampus, thalamus and putamen but remained in the expected range for the amygdala. MRI-negative TLE patients and their unaffected siblings showed no significant volume changes across the same structures and heritability estimates were comparable with calculations from a healthy population. Conclusions The findings indicate that volume deficits for many subcortical structures in ‘sporadic’ MTLE+HS are not heritable and likely related to acquired factors. Therefore, they do not represent suitable endophenotypes for MTLE+HS. The findings also support the view that, at a neuroanatomical level, MTLE+HS and MRI-negative TLE represent two distinct forms of MTLE.
Knowledge and Acceptability of Pap Smears, Self-Sampling and HPV Vaccination among Adult Women in Kenya

Objectives Our study aimed to assess adult women’s knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, and characterize their attitudes towards potential screening and prevention strategies. Methods Women were participants of an HIV-discordant couples cohort in Nairobi, Kenya. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on sociodemographic status, and sexual and medical history at baseline and on knowledge and attitudes towards Pap smears, self-sampling, and HPV vaccination at study exit. Results Only 14% of the 409 women (67% HIV-positive; median age 29 years) had ever had a Pap smear prior to study enrollment and very few women had ever heard of HPV (18%). Although most women knew that Pap smears detect cervical cancer (69%), very few knew that routine Pap screening is the main way to prevent ICC (18%). Most women reported a high level of cultural acceptability for Pap smear screening and a low level of physical discomfort during Pap smear collection. In addition, over 80% of women reported that they would feel comfortable using a self-sampling device (82%) and would prefer at-home sample collection (84%). Nearly all women (94%) reported willingness to be vaccinated to prevent cervical cancer if offered at no or low cost. Conclusions These findings highlight the need to educate women on routine use of Pap smears in the prevention of cervical cancer and demonstrate that vaccination and self-sampling would be acceptable modalities for cervical cancer prevention and screening.
Parallelism in Coordination as an Instance of Syntactic Priming: Evidence from Corpus-based Modeling

Experimental research in psycholinguistics has demonstrated a parallelism effect in coordination: speakers are faster at processing the second conjunct of a coordinate structure if it has the same internal structure as the first conjunct. We show that this phenomenon can be explained by the prevalence of parallel structures in corpus data. We demonstrate that parallelism is not limited to coordination, but also applies to arbitrary syntactic configurations, and even to documents. This indicates that the parallelism effect is an instance of a general syntactic priming mechanism in human language processing.
The relationship between GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1 genetic polymorphisms and bladder cancer susceptibility

Background: Previous studies have investigated the relationship between GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1 polymorphisms and bladder cancer (BCa) susceptibility, respectively, but the results remain inconsistent. So, we conducted this meta-analysis including 79 case–control studies to explore such relationships. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, Web of Science, and CNKI for relevant available studies. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were implemented to evaluate the intensity of associations. Publication bias was estimated using Begg funnel plots and Egger regression test. To assess the stability of the results, we used sensitivity analysis with the method of calculating the results again by omitting 1 single study each time. Between-study heterogeneity was tested using the I 2 statistic. Results: No significant association between GSTA1 polymorphism and BCa susceptibility (OR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.83–1.33) was noted. Besides, meaningful association between individuals who carried the GSTM1 null genotype and increased BCa risk was detected (OR = 1.39, 95%CI 1.28–1.51). When stratified by ethnicity, significant difference was found in both Caucasian (OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.23–1.58) and Asian populations (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.31–1.61). Moreover, in the subgroup analysis by source of controls (SOC), the results were significant in both hospital-based control groups (OR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.35–1.64) and population-based control groups (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.07–1.37). Additionally, the analysis revealed no significant association between GSTP1 polymorphism and BCa risk (OR = 1.07, 95% CI 0.96–1.20). What is more, significant associations between GSTT1 polymorphism and BCa susceptibility were discovered (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.00–1.22). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significant associations between GSTT1 null genotype and BCa risk were observed only in Caucasians (OR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.09–1.44). Furthermore, when stratified by SOC, no obvious relationship was found between the GSTT1 null genotype polymorphism with hospital-based population (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.97–1.28) or population-based population (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.96–1.27). Conclusion: This study suggested that GSTM1 null genotype and GSTT1 null genotype might be related to higher BCa risk, respectively. However, no associations were observed between GSTA1 or GSTP1 polymorphisms and BCa susceptibility.
Motion-compensated temporal filtering within the H.264/AVC standard

We propose an adaptive motion-compensated temporal filtering (MCTF) structure to provide efficient temporal scalability within the H.264/AVC video compression standard. MCTF has traditionally been considered within fully scalable wavelet video coders. However, motion-compensated simple 5/3 lifted temporal wavelet filtering suffers at scene changes, as well as occlusion regions. We note that the bi-directional motion compensation mode in the H.264 standard is best equipped with the state of the art adaptive features such as adaptive block size, mode switching between forward, backward and bidirectional prediction and in-loop deblocking filter. Hence, we propose a GOP structure to implement block-based adaptive MCTF within the H.264 syntax using stored B-pictures, similar to the motion-compensated 5/3 wavelet filtering. We provide experimental results to compare the results of our proposed codec with those of other scalable wavelet video coders which use MCTF. It is also possible to employ the proposed adaptive MCTF structure within fully scalable wavelet video codecs.
WORT: Write Optimal Radix Tree for Persistent Memory Storage Systems

Recent interest in persistent memory (PM) has stirred development of index structures that are efficient in PM. Recent such developments have all focused on variations of the B-tree. In this paper, we show that the radix tree, which is another less popular indexing structure, can be more appropriate as an efficient PM indexing structure. This is because the radix tree structure is determined by the prefix of the inserted keys and also does not require tree rebalancing operations and node granularity updates. However, the radix tree as-is cannot be used in PM. As another contribution, we present three radix tree variants, namely, WORT (Write Optimal Radix Tree), WOART (Write Optimal Adaptive Radix Tree), and ART+CoW. Of these, the first two are optimal for PM in the sense that they only use one 8-byte failure-atomic write per update to guarantee the consistency of the structure and do not require any duplicate copies for logging or CoW. Extensive performance studies show that our proposed radix tree variants perform considerable better than recently proposed B-tree variants for PM such NVTree, wB+Tree, and FPTree for synthetic workloads as well as in implementations within Memcached.
Inducing Proliferation of Human Amniotic Epithelial (HAE) Cells for Cell Therapy

Probably because amnion is derived from the fetus and is exposed to the maternal immune system, human amniotic epithelial (HAE) cells do not express the HLA-A, -B, -C, or -DR antigens on their surfaces, suggesting that HAE cells do not induce rejection (immune reaction) after allotransplantation. And the amnion, like the placenta, is useless to the mother and child after birth. Therefore, HAE cells or tissues were expected to be suitable for allotransplantation. Because HAE cells produce large amounts of enzymes, amnion transplantation has been carried out in order to correct inborn errors of metabolism by supplementing lysosomal enzyme deficiencies. However, several problems remain before amnion allotransplantation can be accepted as effective. The HAE cell population is limited, because the maximum number of HAE cells obtainable from one donor is about 2 × 108 cells, and HAE cells proliferate poorly in in vitro culture. In this study, we aimed at increasing the HAE cell population in vitro. First, we investigated the effect of several cytokines on HAE cell proliferation and found that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and transforming growth factor-β stimulated it, whereas IL-6 and LIF inhibited it. Second, we investigated the effects of amniotic fluid on HAE cell proliferation and observed that IL-6 in amniotic fluid inhibits it. Then, to inhibit the dying of cells, we attempted to inhibit apoptosis (one mode of cell death). Treatment with caspase III inhibitor increased the cell viability of HAE cells by 20%.
Phylogeography and Population Genetic Structure of Amur Grayling Thymallus grubii in the Amur Basin

Amur grayling, Thymallus grubii, is an important economic cold freshwater fish originally found in the Amur basin. Currently, suffering from loss of habitat and shrinking population size, T. grubii is restricted to the mountain river branches of the Amur basin. In order to assess the genetic diversity, population genetic structure and infer the evolutionary history within the species, we analysised the whole mitochondrial DNA control region (CR) of 95 individuals from 10 rivers in China, as well as 12 individuals from Ingoda/Onon and Bureya River throughout its distribution area. A total of 64 variable sites were observed and 45 haplotypes were identified excluding sites with gaps/missing data. Phylogenetic analysis was able to confidently predict two subclade topologies well supported by maximum-parsimony and Bayesian methods. However, basal branching patterns cannot be unambiguously estimated. Haplotypes from the mitochondrial clades displayed local homogeneity, implying a strong population structure within T. grubii. Analysis of molecular variance detected significant differences among the different geographical rivers, suggesting that T. grubii in each river should be managed and conserved separately.
Thermal and exergetic evaluation of parabolic trough collectors with finned absorbers operating with air

The objective of this work is to evaluate energetically and exergetically the use of internal longitudinal fins in parabolic trough collectors operating with air. Nine different finned absorbers are compared with the smooth absorber for various inlet temperatures up to 500℃. More specifically, the use of 4, 8, and 16 fins with lengths 5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm are examined. The simulation tool is Solidworks Flow Simulation and the examined parabolic trough collector is the Eurotrough module. According to the final results, the global maximum exergetic efficiency is 43.65% and it is achieved for 4 fins with 15 mm length, while the inlet temperature of the air is equal to 350℃ and the thermal efficiency is 67.98%. Moreover, in the cases of 8 and 16 fins, the optimum lengths exergetically are 10 mm and 5 mm respectively, a fact that proves the reverse relationship between the number of fins and the fin length. Finally, it is also important to be stated that greater number of fins and higher fin length not only lead to higher thermal performance but also to higher pressure losses; two factors are taken into consideration in the exergetic performance, which is the main evaluation index of this study.
Please Scroll down for Article Journal of Change Management Management Consultants' Colourful Ways of Looking at Change: an Explorative Study under Dutch Management Consultants Management Consultants' Colourful Ways of Looking at Change: an Explorative Study under Dutch Management Consultants

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. ABSTRACT Questionnaire data collected from 71 management consultants is used to gain insight into their preferences and assumptions regarding organizational change. The main question is: 'how do management consultants think about change and which preference do they have regarding the use of intervention methods? '. The research is based on a framework in which five perspectives on change are conceptualized and in which each perspective is divided in thinking and doing and as a whole is associated with a colour. These perspectives are: yellow-print thinking which is based on processes of power, coalition formation and coercion; blueprint thinking is synonym with planned and programmed change; red-print thinking concerns Human Resource Management; green-print thinking lines up with organizational learning; and white-print thinking stands for emergent processes of self steering, chaos and sense making. The results suggest that the method used produces useful insight in consultants' attitudes and preferences.
Serum Cholinesterase Activities Distinguish between Stroke Patients and Controls and Predict 12-Month Mortality

To date there is no diagnostic biomarker for mild stroke, although elevation of inflammatory biomarkers has been reported at early stages. Previous studies implicated acetylcholinesterase (AChE) involvement in stroke, and circulating AChE activity reflects inflammatory response, since acetylcholine suppresses inflammation. Therefore, carriers of polymorphisms that modify cholinergic activity should be particularly susceptible to inflammatory damage. Our study sought diagnostic values of AChE and Cholinergic Status (CS, the total capacity for acetylcholine hydrolysis) in suspected stroke patients. For this purpose, serum cholinesterase activities, butyrylcholinesterase-K genotype and inflammatory biomarkers were determined in 264 ischemic stroke patients and matched controls during the acute phase. AChE activities were lower (P < 0.001), and butyrylcholinesterase activities were higher in patients than in controls (P = 0.004). When normalized to sampling time from stroke occurrence, both cholinergic parameters were correlated with multiple inflammatory biomarkers, including fibrinogen, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein (r = 0.713, r = 0.607; r = 0.421, r = 0.341; r = 0.276, r = 0.255; respectively; all Pvalues < 0.001). Furthermore, very low AChE activities predicted subsequent nonsurvival (P = 0.036). Also, carriers of the unstable butyrylcholinesterase-K variant were more abundant among patients than controls, and showed reduced activity (P < 0.001). Importantly, a cholinergic score combining the two cholinesterase activities discriminated between 94.3% matched pairs of patients and controls, compared with only 75% for inflammatory measures. Our findings present the power of circulation cholinesterase measurements as useful early diagnostic tools for the occurrence of stroke. Importantly, these were considerably more distinctive than the inflammatory biomarkers, albeit closely associated with them, which may open new venues for stroke diagnosis and treatment.