Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Remote-sensing image-based analysis of the patterns of urban heat islands in rapidly urbanizing Jinan, China

According to the UN Population Reference Bureau, 1.4 billion more people will have settled in urban areas by 2030. One of the key environmental effects of rapid urbanization is the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Understanding the mechanism of surface UHIs associated with land-use/land-cover (LULC) change patterns is important for improving the ecology and sustainability of cities. In this article, time series Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data were used to extract LULC data and land surface temperature (LST) data for the city of Jinan, China, from 1987 to 2011, a period during which the city experienced rapid urbanization. With the aid of a geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) approach, the changes in this urban area’s LULC were explored, and the impact of these changes on the spatiotemporal patterns and underlying driving forces of the surface UHI effect were further quantitatively characterized. The results show that significant changes in land use and land cover occurred over the study period, with loss of farmland, forest, and shrub vegetation to urban use, leading to spatial growth of impervious surfaces. Consequently, the land surface characteristics and spatiotemporal patterns of the UHI have changed drastically. According to the seasonal and inter-annual variations in intensity of UHIs, mean differences in UHI intensity between city centre, peri-urban, and nearby rural areas were stronger during summer and spring and weaker during winter and autumn. Spatially, there were significant LST gradients from the city centre to surrounding rural areas. The city centre exhibited higher LSTs and remarkable variation in LSTs, while the surrounding rural areas exhibited lower LSTs and lower variation in LSTs. Moreover, the analysis of LSTs and indices showed that great differences of temperature even existed in a LULC type except for variations between different LULC types. In addition, a local-level analysis revealed that the intensity of the UHI effect is proportional to the size of the urban area, the population density, and the frequent occurrence of certain activities.
Using spatial optimization to create dynamic harvest blocks from LiDAR-based small interpretation units

Spatial and temporal differences in forest features occur on different scales as forest ecosystems evolve. Due to the increased capacity of remote sensing methods to detect these differences, forest planning may now consider forest compartments as transient units which may change in time and depend on the management objectives. This study presents a methodology for implementing these transient units, referred to as dynamic treatment units (DTU). LiDAR (Light Detecting and Ranging) data and field sample plots were used to estimate forest stand characteristics for 500-m2 pixels and compartments, and a set of models was developed to enable growth simulations. The DTUs were obtained by maximizing a utility function which aimed at maximizing the aggregation of harvest areas and the ending growing stock volume with even-flow cutting targets for three 10-year periods. Remote sensing techniques, modeling, simulation, and spatial optimization were combined with the aim of having an efficient methodology for assigning cutting treatments to forest stands and delineating compact harvest blocks. Pixel-based planning led to more accurate estimation of stand characteristics and more homogeneity inside the delineated harvest blocks while the compartment-based planning resulted in larger and higher area/perimeter ratio.
Studies on the mechanism of bacterial resistance to complement-mediated killing. I. Terminal complement components are deposited and released from salmonella minnesota S218 without causing bacterial death

The mechanism of resistance of gram-negative bacteria to killing by complement was investigated. Complement consumption and uptake of purified, radiolabeled complement components on bacteria was studied using a serum- sensitive and a serum-resistant strain of Salmonella minnesota. Twice as many molecules of (125)I C3 were bound per colony-forming unit (CFU) of the smooth, serum-resistant S. minnesota S218 as were bound per CFU of the rough, serum-sensitive S. minnesota Re595 in 10 percent pooled normal human serum (PNHS), although 75-80 percent of C3 was consumed by both organisms. Hemolytic titrations documented total consumption of C9 by 5 min and more than 95 percent consumption of C5 and C7 by 15 min in the reaction with S218 with 10 percent PNHS. In contrast, negligible C5 depletion, 10 percent C7 consumption, and only a 26 percent decrease in C9 titer occurred with the serum-sensitive Re595. Binding of (125)I C5, (125)I C7, and (125)I C9 to S218 and Re595 was measured in 10 percent PNHS. A total of 6,600 molecules C5/CFU, 5,200 molecules C7/CFU, and 3,100 molecules C9/CFU bound to S218 after 5-10 min of incubation at 37 degrees C, but 50-70 percent of the C5, C7, and C9 bound to S218 was released from the organism during incubation at 37 degrees C for 60 min. Binding of 2,000 molecules C5/CFU, 1,900 molecules C7/CFU, and 9,000 molecules C9/CFU to Re595 was achieved by 20 min and was stable. The ratio of bound C9 molecules to bound C7 molecules, measured using (131)I C9 and (125)I C7, was constant for both organisms after 15 min and was 4.3:1 on Re595 and 0.65:1 on S218 in 10 percent PNHS. With addition of increasing amounts of purified, unlabeled (29 to 10 percent PNHS, there was no change in the C9:C7 ratio on Re595. However, with S218 there was a linear increase of the C9:C7 ratio, which approached the ratio on Re595. There was no (14)C release from S218 incubated in PNHS, nor was there evidence by electron microscopy of outer membrane damage to S218. Therefore, S. minnesota S218 is resistant to killing by PNHS, despite the fact that the organism consumes terminal complement components efficiently and that terminal components are deposited on the surface in significant amounts. The C5b-9 complex is released from the surface of S218 without causing lethal outer membrane damage.
A New Hybrid Channel Access Scheme for Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract : Many contention-based channel access schemes have been proposed for multi-hop ad hoc networks in the recent past, and they can be divided into two categories, sender-initiated and receiver-initiated, according to the collision avoidance handshake in use. The sender-initiated scheme is adopted in the IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, which is by far the most popular and studied protocol. However, the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol can experience serious fairness problems due to location-dependent contention and the binary exponential backoff it uses. On the other hand, a receiver-initiated collision avoidance handshake is more effective at the receiver's side. Hence, the authors propose a hybrid channel access scheme that combines both sender-initiated and receiver-initiated collision avoidance schemes. The new scheme involves only some additional queue management and book-keeping work while maintaining compatibility with the existing IEEE 802.11 protocol. Simulation experiments show that the new scheme is very effective, as it can achieve much better fairness than the original sender-initiated scheme with almost no degradation in throughput. The hybrid scheme also eliminates the need for a good traffic estimator, which is usually mandatory in pure receiver-initiated schemes.
Normothermic Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Normothermic cardiopuhnonary bypass avoids the detrimental systemic effects of hypothermia. It is a safe and effective technique of systemic perfusion during cardiopulmonaiy bypass. Myocardial preservation is not compromised when electromechanical quiescence is maintained. Cerebral protection is comparable to that of systemic hypothermia. Low vascular resistance is common and easily treated with higher perfusion flows or vasopressors during bypass and facilitates weaning from bypass. Duration of cardiopulmonary bypass is significantly shortened by the absence of systemic cooling and rewarming phases. Clinical outcomes of patients undergoing cardiac, surgery with normothermic bypass compare favorably with those receiving moderate hypothermia.
Uncinate Process Length in Birds Scales with Resting Metabolic Rate

A fundamental function of the respiratory system is the supply of oxygen to meet metabolic demand. Morphological constraints on the supply of oxygen, such as the structure of the lung, have previously been studied in birds. Recent research has shown that uncinate processes (UP) are important respiratory structures in birds, facilitating inspiratory and expiratory movements of the ribs and sternum. Uncinate process length (UPL) is important for determining the mechanical advantage for these respiratory movements. Here we report on the relationship between UPL, body size, metabolic demand and locomotor specialisation in birds. UPL was found to scale isometrically with body mass. Process length is greatest in specialist diving birds, shortest in walking birds and intermediate length in all others relative to body size. Examination of the interaction between the length of the UP and metabolic demand indicated that, relative to body size, species with high metabolic rates have corresponding elongated UP. We propose that elongated UP confer an advantage on the supply of oxygen, perhaps by improving the mechanical advantage and reducing the energetic cost of movements of the ribs and sternum.
Ih “run‐up” in rat neocortical neurons and transiently rat or human HCN1‐expressing HEK293 cells

Hyperpolarization‐activated cyclic nucleotide‐gated ion channels (HCN) are key determinants of CNS functions. Here we describe an increase in hyperpolarization‐activated current (Ih) at the beginning of whole‐cell recordings in rat layer 5 cortical neurons. For a closer investigation of this Ih increase, we overexpressed the predominant layer 5 rat subunit HCN1 in HEK293 cells. We characterized the resulting Ih in the cell‐attached and whole‐cell configurations. Breaking into whole‐cell configuration led to about a 30% enhancement of rat HCN1‐mediated Ih accompanied by a depolarizing shift in voltage dependence and an accelerated time course of activation. This current enhancement is not species specific; for human HCN1, the current similarly increases in amount and kinetics. Although the changes were bound to cytosolic solution exchange, they were independent of cAMP, ATP, GTP, and the phosphate group donor phosphocreatine. Together, these data provide a characterization of heterologous expression of rat HCN1 and suggest that cytosolic contents suppress Ih. Such a mechanism might constitute a reserve in h‐channel function in vivo. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sociophonetic variation, orientation and topic in County Durham

This thesis presents a sociophonetic study of four villages in County Durham which have not previously been explored in sociolinguistic literature. As well as examining socially-conditioned phonological variation across the villages, the study analyses the linguistic relationship between the research site and two larger localities with their own urban varieties of English, which are situated at either side of the research area: the city of Sunderland to the north and the Teesside conurbation to the south. The study examines phonological variability in the linguistic production of a socially-homogeneous group of thirty-two speakers, split equally across the four villages and stratified by emically-defined age groups. More than 6500 tokens of the MOUTH, FACE, GOAT and START variables (following Wells’ 1982 method of classifying sets of vowels) are analysed from recorded sociolinguistic interviews with informants. The findings are compared to previous sociolinguistic investigations of other varieties of North East English in terms of the levelling of variants local to the area. The established methodological comparison of read speech and conversational styles is complemented by detailed investigation of the conversational topic in which the production occurs, and its effect on phonological variation. An Identity Questionnaire (pioneered by Llamas 2001) explores identity construction in County Durham and how this is shaped by local speech patterns. This is achieved by surveying speakers’ individual attitudes and perceptions about their local area and accents. The correlation of this language ideology data and speakers’ actual linguistic performance allows the study to assess the role orientation plays in variant usage. While some variables (GOAT and MOUTH) demonstrate change in the direction of levelled variants, highly local forms are favoured in individual villages in terms of the FACE and START vowels which only pattern with geographical areas below the regional level (younger speakers close to Teesside overwhelmingly use the local START form found in Teesside; younger speakers further north retain the local FACE variant found in Tyneside and Sunderland). However, speakers across all locations produce a higher proportion of local variants in the highly local conversational topic of coal mining.
Informational equivalence between synthetic aperture radar imagery and the thickness of Arctic pack ice

The negative exponential form of the conditional probability of both differences in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) intensity and differences in thickness between neighbors is used as the basis of a representation of structural information in terms of textural information for sea ice. The analysis is based on a unique data set involving airborne SAR flights over the track of a submarine that simultaneously profiled ice thickness by means of an upwardly directed sonar. It is shown that both sets of data, namely, imagery and thickness, possess an identical conditional probability relationship. This probability is composed of both a fractal property for spatial separations and a simple negative exponential distribution for intensity or thickness differences for fixed separations. These properties allow for the derivation of two forms of information: textural and structural. An intercomparison of the structural information in terms of the textural information is offered for the same ice field as imaged by a SAR and measured from a submarine for its thickness. It is shown that the information curves for both the imagery and thickness have a similar geometrical form. It is demonstrated that three subranges within the information curves correspond to three visibly identifiable ice types and three thickness ranges associated previously with these ice types. It is suggested that an understanding of the transformation between the two sets of information states might provide estimated statistics of Arctic ice thickness from SAR imagery.
Characteristics of fading and fade countermeasures on a satellite-Earth link operating in an equatorial climate, with reference to broadcast applications

Measurements of 12 GHz attenuation, using a satellite beacon receiver, are reported for a station in Malaysia, in one of the most extreme climates with regard to rainfall intensity. The data are analysed, with particular reference to broadcast applications, including data broadcast, multi-media, and time-repeated video applications. Of particular interest is the performance of time diversity, which is characterised with delays between 1 and 60 min. An empirical relationship is proposed, enabling time-diversity gain to be determined as a function of delay. Consideration is given to diurnal variations of attenuation and the additional margin necessary if good performance is to be maintained in peak broadcast hours. The relationship between the annual cumulative statistics of attenuation and the worst month attenuation is also investigated. In such an equatorial climate, with frequent fading throughout the year, it is seen that the worst-month criterion may not be such a useful or necessary measure as in other climates. The problem of prediction of attenuation is addressed using locally collected rain intensity data, and it is seen that further knowledge of rain structure is necessary to improve the quality of predictions.
Full age spectrum equation may be an alternative method to estimate the glomerular filtration rate in Chinese patients with chronic kidney disease .

OBJECTIVE To assess the performance of the full age spectrum (FAS) equation in comparison to other equations in subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD) for the first time in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS The measured glomerular filtration rate (mGFR) obtained by the 99mTc-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid renogram was used as the reference standard. Bias, precision, and accuracy were analyzed to identify which of these four equations performed better: FAS equation, the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation, the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation and the Berlin Initiative Study-1 (BIS-1) equation. κ-test and the Bland-Altman method were applied to evaluate the classification and the agreement between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and mGFR, respectively. RESULTS 396 subjects were enrolled in this study. The precision (root mean square error, RMSE) of the FAS equation was 19.49 (95% CI 17.98, 21.27) in adults (18 - 70 years) and 14.06 (95% CI 12.50, 16.07) in older adults (≥ 70 years), better than the corresponding values of MDRD equation 22.32 (95% CI 20.59, 24.36) and 20.76 (95% CI 18.46, 23.72)(p < 0.05), superior to 17.59 (15.64, 20.10) for CKD-EPI equation in older adults, respectively. The FAS equation showed the least bias (1.28 (95% CI -1.38, 4.03)) in older adults and the highest percentage (63.64%) of accuracy (30%) in all participants. The FAS correctly classified subjects into GFR categories. CONCLUSION The FAS equation improved the precision and accuracy of eGFR, especially in older adults. It also decreased the bias of the estimated GFR. The FAS equation is applicable to adults and may be an alternative to measuring eGFR in China.
Stat3 and c-Myc Genome-Wide Promoter Occupancy in Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency is regulated in part by transcription factor (TF) pathways that maintain self-renewal and inhibit differentiation. Stat3 and c-Myc TFs are essential for maintaining mouse ES cell self-renewal. c-Myc, together with Oct4, Sox2, and Klf4, is a reprogramming factor. While previous studies have investigated core transcriptional circuitry in ES cells, other TF pathways that promote ES cell pluripotency have yet to be investigated. Therefore, to further understand ES cell transcriptional networks, we used genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis (ChIP-chip) to map Stat3 and c-Myc binding targets in ES cells. Our results show that Stat3 and c-Myc occupy a significant number of genes whose expression is highly enriched in ES cells. By comparing Stat3 and c-Myc target genes with gene expression data from undifferentiated ES cells and embryoid bodies (EBs), we found that Stat3 binds active and inactive genes in ES cells, while c-Myc binds predominantly active genes. Moreover, the transcriptional states of Stat3 and c-Myc targets are correlated with co-occupancy of pluripotency-related TFs, polycomb group proteins, and active and repressive histone modifications. We also provide evidence that Stat3 targets are differentially expressed in ES cells following removal of LIF, where culture of ES cells in the absence of LIF resulted in downregulation of Stat3 target genes enriched in ES cells, and upregulation of lineage specific Stat3 target genes. Altogether, we reveal transcriptional targets of two key pluripotency-related genes in ES cells – Stat3 and c-Myc, thus providing further insight into the ES cell transcriptional network.
Somatotopy of the Neurons Innervating the Cricothyroid, Posterior Cricoarytenoid, and Thyroarytenoid Muscles of the Rat's Larynx

Neurons innervating the intrinsic muscles of the larynx are located within the nucleus ambiguus but the precise distribution of the neurons for each muscle is still a matter for debate. The purpose of this study was to finely determine the position and the number of the neurons innervating the intrinsic laryngeal muscles cricothyroid, posterior cricoarytenoid, and thyroarytenoid in the rat. The study was carried out in a total of 28 Sprague Dawley rats. The B subunit of the cholera toxin was employed as a retrograde tracer to determine the locations, within the nucleus ambiguus, of the neurons of these intrinsic laryngeal muscles following intramuscular injection. The labelled neurons were found ipsilaterally in the nucleus ambiguus grouped in discrete populations with reproducible rostrocaudal and dorsoventral locations among the sample of animals. Neurons innervating the cricothyroid muscle were located the most rostral of the three populations, neurons innervating the posterior cricoarytenoid were found more caudal, though there was a region of rostrocaudal overlap between these two populations. The most caudal were the neurons innervating the thyroarytenoid muscle, presenting a variable degree of overlap with the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. The mean number (±SD) of labelled neurons was found to be 41 ± 9 for the cricothyroid, 39 ± 10 for the posterior cricoarytenoid and 33 ± 12 for the thyroarytenoid. Anat Rec, 296:470–479, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Med kärret som källa : om begreppen offer och ritual inom arkeologin

This thesis deals with questions concerning theoretical perspectives and archaeological interpretation. It is also a thesis about prehistoric wetland depositions, as they illustrate the discussion. The starting point of the study is the use of the concept of sacrifice (or offering) in Scandinavian archaeology. There are several assumptions, both explicit and implicit, that are considered problematic. The assumed universality of sacrifice is one example. In some cases artefacts deposited in wetlands are categorized as ritual deposits. The use of this term warrants an examination of the concept of ritual as well, and it too is associated with similar problems. Instead of using the concept of sacrifice another approach is proposed. In this study, practice theory, and especially the concept of ritualization, are used as a starting point. This means that the term sacrifice is not used as a category of interpretation. In fact, the question whether the material is sacrificed or not becomes irrelevant with this perspective. Instead alternative results that may complement or replace the sacrificial category are explored. In short, the aim of this study is to apply practice theory to material deposited in wetland – traditionally interpreted as sacrifices – to enable an empirically informed discussion of archaeological interpretations and results. To achieve this aim the tools made available in practice theory are used, mainly the concepts of embodiment and objectification. The significance of the past in the past is also discussed. The archaeological material from a fen at Hindbygarden, Malmo, in south-west Scania in southern Sweden is mainly dated to a period covering more than three thousand years, from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age. There were also a few later activities. The long period of use, along with its variation and complexity, makes this material well suited for this kind of study. An archaeobotanical study also enables a discussion of the role of the physical environment. The environment is important in this study, as the spatial structures were a part of what was created by the actions that took place at the fen, and the environment influenced the experience of the depositions.