Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of TOF-SIMS and FE-SEM/EDS Techniques Combined with Sorption and Desorption Experiments to Check Competitive and Individual Pb2+ and Cd2+ Association with Components of B Soil Horizons

Sorption and desorption experiments were performed by the batch method on the B horizons of five natural soils: Umbric Cambisol, Endoleptic Luvisol, Mollic Umbrisol, Dystric Umbrisol, and Dystric Fluvisol. Individual and competitive sorption and desorption capacity and hysteresis were determined. The results showed that Pb2+ was sorbed and retained in a greater quantity than Cd2+ and that the hysteresis of the first was greater than that of the second. The most influential characteristics of the sorption and retention of Pb2+ were pH, ECEC, Fe and Mn oxides and clay contents. For Cd2+ they were mainly pH and, to a lesser extent, Mn oxides and clay content. The combined use of TOF-SIMS, FE-SEM/EDS and sorption and desorption analyses was suitable for achieving a better understanding of the interaction between soil components and the two heavy metals. They show the preferential association of Pb2+ with vermiculite, chlorite, Fe and Mn oxides, and of Cd2+ with the same components, although to a much lesser extent and intensity. This was due to the latter’s higher mobility as it competed unfavourably with the Pb2+ sorption sites. TOF-SIMS and FE-SEM/EDS techniques confirmed the results of the sorption experiments, and also provided valuable information on whether the soil components (individually or in association) retain Cd2+ and / or Pb2+; this could help to propose effective measures for the remediation of contaminated soils.
Norwegian PUQE (Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea) Identifies Patients with Hyperemesis Gravidarum and Poor Nutritional Intake: A Prospective Cohort Validation Study

Objective The English questionnaire Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and nausea (PUQE) identifies women with severe Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Our aim was to investigate whether scores from the translated Norwegian version; SUKK (SvangerskapsUtløst Kvalme Kvantifisering) was associated with severity of hyperemesis and nutritional intake. Design A prospective cohort validation study. Setting Hospital cohort of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) patients from western Norway and healthy pregnant women from Bergen, Norway. Sample 38 women hospitalized due to HG and 31 healthy pregnant controls attending routine antenatal check-up at health centers. Methods Data were collected May 2013-January 2014. The study participants answered the Norwegian PUQE-questionnaire (scores ranging from 3 to15) and registered prospectively 24-hours nutritional intake by a food list form. Main outcome measures Differences of PUQE-scores, QOL-score and nutritional intake between hyperemesis patients and controls. Results Hyperemesis patients had shorter gestational age compared to controls (median 9.7 weeks; 95% CI 8.6-10.6 versus 11.9; 95% CI 10.1-12.9, p=0.004), and larger weight-change from pre-pregnant weight (loss of median 3 kg; 95% CI 3-4 versus gain of 2 kg; 95% CI 0.5-2, p<0.001) otherwise groups were similar regarding pre-pregnant BMI, age, gravidity, and inclusion weight. Compared to controls, hyperemesis patients had significant higher PUQE-score (median 13; 95% CI 11-14 vs. 7; 95% CI 4-8), lower QOL (median score 3; 95% CI 2-4 vs. 6; 95% CI 4.5-8) and lower nutritional intake (energy intake median 990 kcal/24 hours; 95% CI 709-1233 vs. 1652; 95% CI 1558-1880 all p<0.001). PUQE-score was inversely correlated to nutritional intake (-0.5, p<0.001). At discharge PUQE-score had fallen to median 6 (95% CI 5-8) and QOL score risen to 7 (95% CI 6-8) in the HG group, (both p<0.001 compared to admission values). Conclusion PUQE-scoring has been validated as a robust indicator of severe hyperemesis gravidarum and insufficient nutritional intake in a Norwegian setting.
Simulation of MIMO channel capacity with antenna polarization diversity

A simulation study of the channel capacity of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system exploiting multiple polarizations is carried out. We focus on a simple yet realistic trimonopole antenna structure, taking into account all the mutual coupling and casing effects using the computational electromagnetics solver-numerical electromagnetics code. Simulation results show that, with a special transmit geometry, using the collocated trimonopole antennas at a size-constrained receiver can offer channel capacity that approaches the capacity of an uncorrelated MIMO Rayleigh channel. In addition, it is shown that the capacity increase is mainly attributed to polarization diversity instead of pattern diversity. Furthermore, we find that the mutual coupling and casing effects in the trimonopole system can actually provide a large capacity increase with less constraint on the antenna configurations than the idealized tridipole system.
Temporally Extended Dopamine Responses to Perceptually Demanding Reward-Predictive Stimuli

Midbrain dopamine neurons respond to reward-predictive stimuli. In the natural environment reward-predictive stimuli are often perceptually complicated. Thus, to discriminate one stimulus from another, elaborate sensory processing is necessary. Given that previous studies have used simpler types of reward-predictive stimuli, it has yet to be clear whether and, if so, how dopamine neurons obtain reward information from perceptually complicated stimuli. To investigate this, we recorded the activities of monkey dopamine neurons while they were performing discrimination between two coherent motion directions in random-dot motion stimuli. These coherent directions were paired with different magnitudes of reward. We found that dopamine neurons showed reward-predictive responses to random-dot motion stimuli. Moreover, dopamine neurons showed temporally extended activity correlated with changes in reward prediction (i.e., reward prediction error) from coarse to fine scales between initial motion detection and subsequent motion discrimination phases. Noticeably, dopamine reward-predictive responses became differential in a later phase than previously reported. This response pattern was consistent with the time course of processing required for the estimation of expected reward value that parallels the motion direction discrimination processing. The results demonstrate that dopamine neurons are able to reflect the reward value of perceptually complicated stimuli, and suggest that dopamine neurons use the moment-to-moment reward prediction associated with environmental stimuli to compute a reward prediction error.
Anemia, blood loss, and blood transfusions in North American children in the intensive care unit.

RATIONALE Minimizing exposure of children to blood products is desirable. OBJECTIVES We aimed to understand anemia development, blood loss, and red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). METHODS Prospective, multicenter, 6-month observational study in 30 PICUs. Data were collected on consecutive children (<18 yr old) in the PICU for 48 hours or more. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Anemia development, blood loss, and RBC transfusions were measured. A total of 977 children were enrolled. Most (74%) children were anemic in the PICU (33% on admission, 41% developed anemia). Blood draws accounted for 73% of daily blood loss; median loss was 5.0 ml/day. Forty-nine percent of children received transfusions; 74% of first transfusions were on Days 1-2. After adjusting for age and illness severity, compared with nontransfused children, children who underwent transfusion had significantly longer days of mechanical ventilation (2.1 d, P < 0.001) and PICU stay (1.8 d, P = 0.03), and had increased mortality (odds ratio [OR], 11.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.43-90.9; P = 0.02), nosocomial infections (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2-3.0; P = 0.004), and cardiorespiratory dysfunction (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.5-3.0; P < 0.001). High blood loss per kilogram body weight from blood draws (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.03-1.2; P = 0.01) was associated with RBC transfusion more than 48 hours after admission. The most common indication for transfusion was low hemoglobin (42%). Pretransfusion hemoglobin values varied greatly (mean, 9.7 +/- 2.7 g/dl). CONCLUSIONS Critically ill children are at significant risk for developing anemia and receiving blood transfusions. Transfusion in the PICU was associated with worse outcomes. It is imperative to minimize blood loss from blood draws and to set clear transfusion thresholds.
The Impact of Second Language Learning on Semantic and Nonsemantic First Language Reading

The relationship between orthography (spelling) and phonology (speech sounds) varies across alphabetic languages. Consequently, learning to read a second alphabetic language, that uses the same letters as the first, increases the phonological associations that can be linked to the same orthographic units. In subjects with English as their first language, previous functional imaging studies have reported increased left ventral prefrontal activation for reading words with spellings that are inconsistent with their orthographic neighbors (e.g., PINT) compared with words that are consistent with their orthographic neighbors (e.g., SHIP). Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 17 Italian–English and 13 English–Italian bilinguals, we demonstrate that left ventral prefrontal activation for first language reading increases with second language vocabulary knowledge. This suggests that learning a second alphabetic language changes the way that words are read in the first alphabetic language. Specifically, first language reading is more reliant on both lexical/semantic and nonlexical processing when new orthographic to phonological mappings are introduced by second language learning. Our observations were in a context that required participants to switch between languages. They motivate future fMRI studies to test whether first language reading is also altered in contexts when the second language is not in use.
Accuracy of Continuous Glucose Monitoring During Three Closed-Loop Home Studies Under Free-Living Conditions

Abstract Objectives: Closed-loop (CL) systems modulate insulin delivery based on glucose levels measured by a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Accuracy of the CGM affects CL performance and safety. We evaluated the accuracy of the Freestyle Navigator® II CGM (Abbott Diabetes Care, Alameda, CA) during three unsupervised, randomized, open-label, crossover home CL studies. Materials and Methods: Paired CGM and capillary glucose values (10,597 pairs) were collected from 57 participants with type 1 diabetes (41 adults [mean±SD age, 39±12 years; mean±SD hemoglobin A1c, 7.9±0.8%] recruited at five centers and 16 adolescents [mean±SD age, 15.6±3.6 years; mean±SD hemoglobin A1c, 8.1±0.8%] recruited at two centers). Numerical accuracy was assessed by absolute relative difference (ARD) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15197:2013 15/15% limits, and clinical accuracy was assessed by Clarke error grid analysis. Results: Total duration of sensor use was 2,002 days (48,052 h). Overall sensor accuracy for the capillary glucose range (1.1–27.8 mmol/L) showed mean±SD and median (interquartile range) ARD of 14.2±15.5% and 10.0% (4.5%, 18.4%), respectively. Lowest mean ARD was observed in the hyperglycemic range (9.8±8.8%). Over 95% of pairs were in combined Clarke error grid Zones A and B (A, 80.1%, B, 16.2%). Overall, 70.0% of the sensor readings satisfied ISO criteria. Mean ARD was consistent (12.3%; 95% of the values fall within ±3.7%) and not different between participants (P=0.06) within the euglycemic and hyperglycemic range, when CL is actively modulating insulin delivery. Conclusions: Consistent accuracy of the CGM within the euglycemic–hyperglycemic range using the Freestyle Navigator II was observed and supports its use in home CL studies. Our results may contribute toward establishing normative CGM performance criteria for unsupervised home use of CL.
Deriving user interface from ontologies: a model-based approach

In this paper we present an approach to derive user interface (UI) from ontologies. It automatically generates UI according to declarative model specifications, and the UI helps a novice user to construct valid queries against a knowledge base (KB). The UI represents queries by OWI, and then transfers them to concrete applications for matchmaking. A novel aspect of our approach is that the ontological KB used by UI generator is exactly the one used by applications; hence the refining of ontologies needs not refining UI. Further, during a user-machine interaction session, the system eliminates every illegal option that engenders a clash in the KB, so the consistent checking of user inputs is accomplished as a side effect. It boosts the development of a knowledge dense system, as the building of a KB in progress, the UI is generated simultaneous
Extracellular siderophores of rapidly growing Aspergillus nidulans and Penicillium chrysogenum

The highly active extracellular siderophores previously detected in young cultures of Aspergillus nidulans and Penicillium chrysogenum have been identified as the cyclic ester fusigen (fusarinine C), and its open-chain form, fusigen B (fusarinine B).
Game Theory Pragmatics: A Challenge for AI

Game theory has been playing an increasingly visible role in computer science in general and AI in particular, most notably in the area of multi agent systems. I briefly list the areas where most of the action has been in the past decade or so. I then suggest that going forward, the most dramatic interaction between computer science and game theory - with a special role for AI - could be around what might be called game theory pragmatics.
Capital Market Integration and Wages

For three years after the typical developing country opens its stock market to inflows of foreign capital, the average annual growth rate of the real wage in the manufacturing sector increases by a factor of seven. No such increase occurs in a control group of developing countries. The temporary increase in the growth rate of the real wage drives up the level of average annual compensation for each worker in the sample by 609 US dollars—an increase equal to 25 percent of their annual pre-liberalization salary. The increase in the growth rate of labor productivity in the aftermath of liberalization exceeds the increase in the growth rate of the real wage so that the increase in workers’ incomes actually coincides with a rise in manufacturing sector profitability. Overall, the results suggest that trade in capital may have a larger impact on wages than trade in goods.
Lifecycle costs of ultracapacitors in electric vehicle applications

The pulse power characteristics of ultracapacitors appear well suited to electric vehicle applications, where they may supply the peak power more efficiently than the battery, and can prevent excessive over sizing of the battery pack due to peak power demands. Operation of ultracapacitors in battery electric vehicles is examined for possible improvements in system efficiency, vehicle driving range, battery pack lifetime, and potential reductions in system lifecycle cost. The lifecycle operation of these ultracapacitors is simulated using custom-built, dynamic simulation code constructed in Matlab. Despite apparent gains in system efficiency and driving range, the results strongly suggest that the inclusion of ultracapacitors in the electric vehicle does not make sense from a lifecycle cost perspective. Furthermore, a comparison with results from earlier work shows that this outcome is highly dependant upon the efficiency and cost of the battery under consideration. However, it is likely that the lifecycle cost benefits of ultracapacitors in these electric vehicles would be, at most, marginal and do not justify the additional capital costs and system complexity that would be incurred in the vehicle.
Observation of Gravitational Lensing in the Clumpy Universe

We discuss how inhomogeneities of the universe affect observations of the gravitational lensing: (1) the bending angle, (2) the lensing statistics, and (3) the time delay. In order to take account of the inhomogeneities, the so-called Dyer-Roeder distance is used, which includes a parameter representing the clumpiness of the matter along the line of sight. It is shown analytically that all three combinations of distances appearing in the above observations, (1)-(3), are monotonic with respect to the clumpiness in general for any given set of the density parameter, cosmological constant, and redshifts of the lens and the source. Some implications of this result for the observations are presented; the clumpiness decreases both the bending angle and the lensing event rate, while it increases the time delay. We also discuss cosmological tests using the gravitational lensing in the clumpy universe.
Using massive online choice experiments to measure changes in well-being

Significance Gross domestic product (GDP) measures production and is not meant to measure well-being. While many people nonetheless use GDP as a proxy for well-being, consumer surplus is a better measure of consumer well-being. This is increasingly true in the digital economy where many digital goods have zero price and as a result the welfare gains from these goods are not reflected in GDP or productivity statistics. We propose a way of directly measuring consumer well-being using massive online choice experiments. We find that digital goods generate a large amount of consumer welfare that is currently not captured in GDP. For example, the median Facebook user needed a compensation of around $48 to give it up for a month. Gross domestic product (GDP) and derived metrics such as productivity have been central to our understanding of economic progress and well-being. In principle, changes in consumer surplus provide a superior, and more direct, measure of changes in well-being, especially for digital goods. In practice, these alternatives have been difficult to quantify. We explore the potential of massive online choice experiments to measure consumer surplus. We illustrate this technique via several empirical examples which quantify the valuations of popular digital goods and categories. Our examples include incentive-compatible discrete-choice experiments where online and laboratory participants receive monetary compensation if and only if they forgo goods for predefined periods. For example, the median user needed a compensation of about $48 to forgo Facebook for 1 mo. Our overall analyses reveal that digital goods have created large gains in well-being that are not reflected in conventional measures of GDP and productivity. By periodically querying a large, representative sample of goods and services, including those which are not priced in existing markets, changes in consumer surplus and other new measures of well-being derived from these online choice experiments have the potential for providing cost-effective supplements to the existing national income and product accounts.
A statistical analysis of X-ray variability in pre-main sequence objects of the Taurus molecular cloud

Context. This work is part of a systematic X-ray survey of the Taurus star forming complex with XMM-Newton. Aims. We study the time series of all X-ray sources associated with Taurus members, to statistically characterize their X-ray variability, and compare the results to those for pre-main sequence stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster and to expectations arising from a model where all the X-ray emission is the result of a large number of stochastically occurring flares. Methods. The analysis of the lightcurves is based on a maximum likelihood algorithm that segments the time series in intervals of constant signal without the need of binning. Flares are defined with criteria that take into account the amplitude and the derivative of the segmented lightcurves. Variability statistics are evaluated for di erent classes of pre-main sequence stars (protostars, cTTS, wTTS, brown dwarfs), and for di erent spectral type ranges. Flare frequency and energy distribution are computed. Results. We find that roughly half of the detected X-ray sources show variability above our sensitivity limit, and in 26 % of the cases this variability is recognized as flares. Variability is more frequently detected at hard than at soft energies. The variability statistics of cTTS and wTTS are undistinguishable, suggesting a common (coronal) origin for their X-ray emission. The frequency of large flares (E > 10 35 erg) on Taurus members is 1 event per star in 800 ksec. The typical duration of these flares ‐ probably biased by the finite observing time ‐ is about 10 ksec. We have for the first time applied a rigorous maximum likelihood method in the analysis of the number distribution of flare energies on pre-main sequence stars. In its di erential form this distribution follows a power-law with index = 2:4 0:5, in the range typically observed on late-type stars and the Sun. Conclusions. The signature of the X-ray variability in the pre-main sequence stars in Taurus and Orion provides twofold support for coronal heating by flares: (i) The correlation between the maximum variability amplitude and the minimum emission level indicates that both flare and quiescent emission are closely related to the coronal heating process. (ii) The power-law index derived for the flare energy distribution is large enough to explain the heating of stellar coronae by nano-flares ( > 2), albeit associated with a rather large uncertainty that leaves some doubt on this conclusion.
The Westerbork HI survey of spiral and irregular galaxies - I. HI imaging of late-type dwarf galaxies

Neutral hydrogen observations with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope are presented for a sample of 73 late-type dwarf galaxies. These observations are part of the WHISP project (Westerbork Hi Survey of Spiral and Irregular Galaxies). Here we present Hi maps, velocity fields, global profiles and radial surface density profiles of Hi, as well as Hi masses, Hi radii and line widths. For the late-type galaxies in our sample, we find that the ratio of Hi extent to optical diameter, defined as 6.4 disk scale lengths, is on average 1.8 +/- 0.8, similar to that seen in spiral galaxies. Most of the dwarf galaxies in this sample are rich in Hi with a typical M-HI/L-B of 1.5. The relative H I content M-HI/L-R increases towards fainter absolute magnitudes and towards fainter surface brightnesses. Dwarf galaxies with lower average H I column densities also have lower average optical surface brightnesses. We find that lopsidedness is as common among dwarf galaxies as it is in spiral galaxies. About half of the dwarf galaxies in our sample have asymmetric global profiles, a third has a lopsided H I distribution, and about half shows signs of kinematic lopsidedness.
Building autonomic components: The SelfLets approach

Autonomic computing is an emergent field aiming at the development of large-scale, self-managing, distributed component-based systems. This paper presents the model and the architecture of an autonomic computing element called SelfLet, which is a building component that can be used to create autonomic systems. SelfLets can be defined by specifying their goal, behaviors, services they need to use and/or provide, and autonomic policies guiding their self-management. The SelfLet architecture has been implemented in Java and offers programming abstractions suitable to implement an application-specific logic as well as autonomic policies. As a case study we have implemented a pervasive autonomic system that manages electrical power balancing in intelligent cooperating buildings.