Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Resource efficiency in Europe : policies and approaches in 31 EEA member and cooperating countries

"This report provides an overview of resource efficiency policies and instruments in 31 member and cooperating countries of the EEA’s Eionet network. A detailed survey was conducted during the first half of 2011 to collect, analyse and disseminate information about national experiences in developing and implementing resource efficiency policies, with the goal to facilitate the sharing of experiences and good practice. The report reviews national approaches to resource efficiency and explores similarities and differences in policies, strategies, indicators and targets, policy drivers and institutional setup. It concludes with some EEA considerations for development of future policies on resource efficiency at the EU and country levels. The analysis is illustrated with short examples of policy initiatives in the countries, described in more detail in the country profiles published together with the report. " (https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/resource-efficiency-in-europe [2])
Concurrency control in database structures with relaxed balance

We consider the separation of rebalancing from updates in several database structures, such as B-trees for external and AVL-trees for internal structures. We show how this separation can be implemented such that rebalancing is performed by local background processes. Our solution implies that even simple locking schemes (without additional links and copies of certain nodes) for concurrency control are efficient in the sense that at any time only a small constant number of nodes must be locked.
A survey of CORDIC algorithms for FPGA based computers

The current trend back toward hardware intensive signal processing has uncovered a relative lack of understanding of hardware signal processing architectures. Many hardware efficient algorithms exist, but these are generally not well known due to the dominance of software systems over the past quarter century. Among these algorithms is a set of shift-add algorithms collectively known as CORDIC for computing a wide range of functions including certain trigonometric, hyperbolic, linear and logarithmic functions. While there are numerous articles covering various aspects of CORDIC algorithms, very few survey more than one or two, and even fewer concentrate on implementation in FPGAs. This paper attempts to survey commonly used functions that may be accomplished using a CORDIC architecture, explain how the algorithms work, and explore implementation specific to FPGAs.
Functional dominance rather than taxonomic diversity and functional diversity mainly affects community aboveground biomass in the Inner Mongolia grassland

Abstract The relationship between biodiversity and productivity has been a hot topic in ecology. However, the relative importance of taxonomic diversity and functional characteristics (including functional dominance and functional diversity) in maintaining community productivity and the underlying mechanisms (including selection and complementarity effects) of the relationship between diversity and community productivity have been widely controversial. In this study, 194 sites were surveyed in five grassland types along a precipitation gradient in the Inner Mongolia grassland of China. The relationships between taxonomic diversity (species richness and the Shannon–Weaver index), functional dominance (the community‐weighted mean of four plant traits), functional diversity (Rao's quadratic entropy), and community aboveground biomass were analyzed. The results showed that (1) taxonomic diversity, functional dominance, functional diversity, and community aboveground biomass all increased from low to high precipitation grassland types; (2) there were significant positive linear relationships between taxonomic diversity, functional dominance, functional diversity, and community aboveground biomass; (3) the effect of functional characteristics on community aboveground biomass is greater than that of taxonomic diversity; and (4) community aboveground biomass depends on the community‐weighted mean plant height, which explained 57.1% of the variation in the community aboveground biomass. Our results suggested that functional dominance rather than taxonomic diversity and functional diversity mainly determines community productivity and that the selection effect plays a dominant role in maintaining the relationship between biodiversity and community productivity in the Inner Mongolia grassland.
Leaf Colour as a Signal of Chemical Defence to Insect Herbivores in Wild Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)

Leaf colour has been proposed to signal levels of host defence to insect herbivores, but we lack data on herbivory, leaf colour and levels of defence for wild host populations necessary to test this hypothesis. Such a test requires measurements of leaf spectra as they would be sensed by herbivore visual systems, as well as simultaneous measurements of chemical defences and herbivore responses to leaf colour in natural host-herbivore populations. In a large-scale field survey of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) populations, we show that variation in leaf colour and brightness, measured according to herbivore spectral sensitivities, predicts both levels of chemical defences (glucosinolates) and abundance of specialist lepidopteran (Pieris rapae) and hemipteran (Brevicoryne brassicae) herbivores. In subsequent experiments, P. rapae larvae achieved faster growth and greater pupal mass when feeding on plants with bluer leaves, which contained lower levels of aliphatic glucosinolates. Glucosinolate-mediated effects on larval performance may thus contribute to the association between P. rapae herbivory and leaf colour observed in the field. However, preference tests found no evidence that adult butterflies selected host plants based on leaf coloration. In the field, B. brassicae abundance varied with leaf brightness but greenhouse experiments were unable to identify any effects of brightness on aphid preference or performance. Our findings suggest that although leaf colour reflects both levels of host defences and herbivore abundance in the field, the ability of herbivores to respond to colour signals may be limited, even in species where performance is correlated with leaf colour.
An Eye-Tracking Investigation of Internet Consumers' Decision Deliberateness

Purpose – Because presentation formats, i.e. table v. graph, in shopping web sites may promote or inhibit deliberate consumer decision making, it is important to understand the effects of information presentation on deliberateness. This paper seeks to empirically test whether the table format enhances deliberate decision making, while the web map weakens the process. In addition, deliberateness can be influenced by the decision orientation, i.e. emotionally charged or accuracy oriented. Thus, the paper further examines the effect of presentations across these two decision orientations.Design/methodology/approach – Objective and detailed description of the decision process is used to examine the effects. A two (decision orientation: positive emotion v. accuracy) by two (presentation: map v. table) eye‐tracking experiment is designed. Deliberateness is quantified with the information processing pattern summarized from eye movement data. Participants are required to make preferential choices from simple deci.
The Utrecht approach to exercise in chronic childhood conditions: the decade in review.

PURPOSE To summarize and discuss current evidence and understanding of clinical pediatric exercise physiology focusing on the work the research group at Utrecht and others have performed in the last decade in a variety of chronic childhood conditions as a continuation of the legacy of Dr Bar-Or. KEY POINTS The report discusses current research findings on the cardiopulmonary exercise performance of children (and adolescents) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, osteogenesis imperfecta, achondroplasia, hemophilia, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis, and childhood cancer. Exercise recommendations and contraindications are provided for each condition. Implications for clinical practice and future research in this area are discussed for each of the chronic conditions presented. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS The authors provide a basic framework for developing an individual and/or disease-specific training program, introduce the physical activity pyramid, and recommend a core set of clinical measures to be used in clinical research.
Comprehensive evidence-based guidelines for interventional techniques in the management of chronic spinal pain.

BACKGROUND Comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines for interventional techniques in the management of chronic spinal pain are described here to provide recommendations for clinicians. OBJECTIVE To develop evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for interventional techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic spinal pain. DESIGN Systematic assessment of the literature. METHODS Strength of evidence was assessed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria utilizing 5 levels of evidence ranging from Level I to III with 3 subcategories in Level II. OUTCOMES Short-term pain relief was defined as relief lasting at least 6 months and long-term relief was defined as longer than 6 months, except for intradiscal therapies, mechanical disc decompression, spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal infusion systems, wherein up to one year relief was considered as short-term. RESULTS The indicated evidence for accuracy of diagnostic facet joint nerve blocks is Level I or II-1 in the diagnosis of lumbar, thoracic, and cervical facet joint pain. The evidence for lumbar and cervical provocation discography and sacroiliac joint injections is Level II-2, whereas it is Level II-3 for thoracic provocation discography. The indicated evidence for therapeutic interventions is Level I for caudal epidural steroid injections in managing disc herniation or radiculitis, and discogenic pain without disc herniation or radiculitis. The evidence is Level I or II-1 for percutaneous adhesiolysis in management of pain secondary to post-lumbar surgery syndrome. The evidence is Level II-1 or II-2 for therapeutic cervical, thoracic, and lumbar facet joint nerve blocks; for caudal epidural injections in managing pain of post-lumbar surgery syndrome, and lumbar spinal stenosis, for cervical interlaminar epidural injections in managing cervical pain (Level II-1); for lumbar transforaminal epidural injections; and spinal cord stimulation for post-lumbar surgery syndrome. The indicated evidence for intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET), mechanical disc decompression with automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy (APLD), and percutaneous lumbar laser discectomy (PLDD) is Level II-2. LIMITATIONS The limitations of these guidelines include a continued paucity of the literature, lack of updates, and conflicts in preparation of systematic reviews and guidelines by various organizations. CONCLUSION The indicated evidence for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions is variable from Level I to III. These guidelines include the evaluation of evidence for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in managing chronic spinal pain and recommendations for managing spinal pain. However, these guidelines do not constitute inflexible treatment recommendations. Further, these guidelines also do not represent "standard of care. "
Reinforcement based Cognitive Algorithms to Detect Malicious Node in Wireless Networks

The growth of wireless communication technologies and its applications leads to many security issues. Malicious node detection is one among the major security issues. Adoption of cognition can detect and Prevent malicious activities in the wireless networks. To achieve cognition into wireless networks, we are using reinforcement learning techniques. By using the existing reinforcement techniques, we have proposed GreedyQ cognitive (GQC) and SoftSARSA cognitive (SSC) algorithms for malicious node detection and the performances among these algorithms are evaluated and the result shows SSC algorithm is best algorithm. The proposed algorithms perform better in malicious node detection as compared to the existing algorithms.
In Vitro Assembly of PB2 with a PB1-PA Dimer Supports a New Model of Assembly of Influenza A Virus Polymerase Subunits into a Functional Trimeric Complex

ABSTRACT Influenza virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase is a heterotrimeric complex of PB1, PB2, and PA. We show that the individually expressed PB2 subunit can be assembled with the coexpressed PB1-PA dimer in vitro into a transcriptionally active complex. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a model viral RNA promoter can bind to the PB1-PA dimer prior to assembly with PB2. Our results are consistent with a recently proposed model for the sequential assembly of viral RNA polymerase complex in which the PB1-PA dimeric complex and the PB2 monomer are transported into the nucleus separately and then assembled in the nucleus.
Interferon-alpha reinstates morphine-conditioned place preference through opioid receptors in rats

Cytokine interferon-alpha (IFN-&agr;) is an immunomodulator and neuromodulator, which modulates central nervous system function partially by activating opioid receptors. However, the role that IFN-&agr; plays in relapse to drug abuse is still largely unknown. Thus, we studied whether human recombinant INF-&agr; (rIFN-&agr;) would reinstate morphine-conditioned place preference (CPP) in rats. In Experiment 1, rats were trained for morphine-CPP with 8-day alternate subcutaneous (s.c.) injections of morphine and saline, and the effect of human rIFN-&agr; (20 000 IU/5 μl, intracerebroventricularly) on CPP reinstatement was examined after extinction. In Experiment 2, rats underwent morphine (5 mg/kg, s.c.) unconditioned training with 8 daily alternate injections of morphine (5 mg/kg, s.c.) and saline. Then, the effect of human rIFN-&agr; (20 000 IU/5 μl, intracerebroventricularly) on reinstatement of CPP was examined after extinction. In Experiment 3, the effect of opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) on human rIFN-&agr;-induced reinstatement of morphine-CPP was investigated. We found that human rIFN-&agr; reinstated morphine-CPP in rats trained under morphine conditioning after extinction, but did not affect CPP in rats that underwent unconditioned training. Naloxone significantly inhibited human rIFN-&agr;-induced reinstatement of morphine-CPP. These results indicate that IFN-&agr; is a stimulus for reinstatement of morphine-CPP by activation of opioid receptors, which extends our understanding on the high comorbidity of heroin relapse and viral infection.
Regulation of ALF Promoter Activity in Xenopus Oocytes

Background In this report we evaluate the use of Xenopus laevis oocytes as a matched germ cell system for characterizing the organization and transcriptional activity of a germ cell-specific X. laevis promoter. Principal Findings The promoter from the ALF transcription factor gene was cloned from X. laevis genomic DNA using a PCR-based genomic walking approach. The endogenous ALF gene was characterized by RACE and RT-PCR for transcription start site usage, and by sodium bisulfite sequencing to determine its methylation status in somatic and oocyte tissues. Homology between the X. laevis ALF promoter sequence and those from human, chimpanzee, macaque, mouse, rat, cow, pig, horse, dog, chicken and X. tropicalis was relatively low, making it difficult to use such comparisons to identify putative regulatory elements. However, microinjected promoter constructs were very active in oocytes and the minimal promoter could be narrowed by PCR-mediated deletion to a region as short as 63 base pairs. Additional experiments using a series of site-specific promoter mutants identified two cis-elements within the 63 base pair minimal promoter that were critical for activity. Both elements (A and B) were specifically recognized by proteins present in crude oocyte extracts based on oligonucleotide competition assays. The activity of promoter constructs in oocytes and in transfected somatic Xenopus XLK-WG kidney epithelial cells was quite different, indicating that the two cell types are not functionally equivalent and are not interchangeable as assay systems. Conclusions Overall the results provide the first detailed characterization of the organization of a germ cell-specific Xenopus promoter and demonstrate the feasibility of using immature frog oocytes as an assay system for dissecting the biochemistry of germ cell gene regulation.
The relationship between shear rate and flow‐mediated dilation is altered by acute exercise

Endothelial function is a predictor of cardiovascular health and is improved with exercise training. However, it is not clear how exercise acutely affects endothelial function. Previous studies present conflicting results, resulting from varied exercise protocols and ambiguity in data analysis after exercise. The aims of this study were to compare brachial artery endothelial function at rest and post‐exercise in and to compare the data expressed as a percent change and normalized to shear rate (SR).
A single aromatic core mutation converts a designed “primitive” protein from halophile to mesophile folding

The halophile environment has a number of compelling aspects with regard to the origin of structured polypeptides (i.e., proteogenesis) and, instead of a curious niche that living systems adapted into, the halophile environment is emerging as a candidate “cradle” for proteogenesis. In this viewpoint, a subsequent halophile‐to‐mesophile transition was a key step in early evolution. Several lines of evidence indicate that aromatic amino acids were a late addition to the codon table and not part of the original “prebiotic” set comprising the earliest polypeptides. We test the hypothesis that the availability of aromatic amino acids could facilitate a halophile‐to‐mesophile transition by hydrophobic core‐packing enhancement. The effects of aromatic amino acid substitutions were evaluated in the core of a “primitive” designed protein enriched for the 10 prebiotic amino acids (A,D,E,G,I,L,P,S,T,V)—having an exclusively prebiotic core and requiring halophilic conditions for folding. The results indicate that a single aromatic amino acid substitution is capable of eliminating the requirement of halophile conditions for folding of a “primitive” polypeptide. Thus, the availability of aromatic amino acids could have facilitated a critical halophile‐to‐mesophile protein folding adaptation—identifying a selective advantage for the incorporation of aromatic amino acids into the codon table.
Association of gastrointestinal distress in ultramarathoners with race diet.

CONTEXT Gastrointestinal (GI) distress is common during ultrarunning. PURPOSE To determine if race diet is related to GI distress in a 161-km ultramarathon. METHODS Fifteen (10 male, 5 female) consenting runners in the Javelina Jundred (6.5 loops on a desert trail) participated. Body mass was measured immediately prerace and after each loop. Runners reported if they had nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and/or diarrhea after each loop. Subjects were interviewed after each loop to record food, fluid, and electrolyte consumption. Race diets were analyzed using Nutritionist Pro. RESULTS Nine (8 male, 1 female) of 15 runners experienced GI distress including nausea (89%), abdominal cramps (44%), diarrhea (44%), and vomiting (22%). Fluid consumption rate was higher (p = .001) in runners without GI distress (10.9 ± 3.2 ml · kg-1 · hr-1) than in those with GI distress (5.9 ± 1.6 ml · kg-1 · hr-1). Runners without GI distress consumed a higher percentage fat (p = .03) than runners with GI distress (16.5 ± 2.6 vs. 11.1 ± 5.0). In addition, fat intake rate was higher (p = .01) in runners without GI distress (0.06 ± 0.03 g · kg-1 · hr-1) than in runners with GI distress (0.03 ± 0.01 g · kg-1 ·hr-1). Lower fluid and fat intake rates were evident in those developing GI distress before the onset of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS A race diet with higher percentage fat and higher intake rates of fat and fluid may protect ultramarathoners from GI distress. However, these associations do not indicate cause and effect, and factors other than race diet may have contributed to GI distress.
Stereochemical quality of protein structure coordinates

Methods have been developed to assess the stereochemical quality of any protein structure both globally and locally using various criteria. Several parameters can be derived from the coordinates of a given structure. Global parameters include the distribution of ϕ,ψ and χ1 torsion angles, and hydrogen bond energies. There are clear correlations between these parameters and resolution; as the resolution improves, the distribution of the parameters becomes more clustered. These features show a broad distribution about ideal values derived from high‐resolution structures. Some structures have tightly clustered distributions even at relatively low resolutions, while others show abnormal scatter though the data go to high resolution. Additional indicators of local irregularity include proline ϕ angles, peptide bond planarities, disulfide bond lengths, and their χ3 torsion angles. These stereochemical parameters have been used to generate measures of stereochemical quality which provide a simple guide as to the reliability of a structure, in addition to the most important measures, resolution and R‐factor. The parameters used in this evaluation are not novel, and are easily calculated from structure coordinates. A program suite is currently being developed which will quickly check a given structure, highlighting unusual stereochemistry and possible errors.
Analyzing the Semantic Types of Claims and Premises in an Online Persuasive Forum

Argumentative text has been analyzed both theoretically and computationally in terms of argumentative structure that consists of argument components (e.g., claims, premises) and their argumentative relations (e.g., support, attack). Less emphasis has been placed on analyzing the semantic types of argument components. We propose a two-tiered annotation scheme to label claims and premises and their semantic types in an online persuasive forum, Change My View, with the long-term goal of understanding what makes a message persuasive. Premises are annotated with the three types of persuasive modes: ethos, logos, pathos, while claims are labeled as interpretation, evaluation, agreement, or disagreement, the latter two designed to account for the dialogical nature of our corpus. We aim to answer three questions: 1) can humans reliably annotate the semantic types of argument components? 2) are types of premises/claims positioned in recurrent orders? and 3) are certain types of claims and/or premises more likely to appear in persuasive messages than in non-persuasive messages?