Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical and Biological Characterization of the Gamma-Irradiated Human Cornea

Purpose: To compare the physical and biological characteristics of commercial gamma-irradiated corneas with those of fresh human corneas and to determine suitability for transplantation. Methods: The physical properties of gamma-irradiated and fresh corneas were evaluated with respect to light transmittance, hydration (swelling ratio), elastic modulus (compressive modulus by the indentation method), matrix organization (differential scanning calorimetry), and morphology (light and transmission electron microscopy). The biological properties of the gamma-irradiated cornea, including residual cell content and cellular biocompatibility, were evaluated by quantifying DNA content and measuring the proliferation rate of human corneal epithelial cells, respectively. Results: The hydration, light transmittance, elastic modulus, and proliferation rate of human corneal epithelial cells were not significantly different between fresh and gamma-irradiated corneas. However, differences were observed in tissue morphology, DNA content, and thermal properties. The density of collagen fibrils of the gamma-irradiated corneal sample (160.6 ± 33.2 fibrils/&mgr;m2) was significantly lower than that of the fresh corneal sample (310.0 ± 44.7 fibrils/&mgr;m2). Additionally, in the gamma-irradiated corneas, cell fragments—but not viable cells—were observed, supported by lower DNA content of the gamma-irradiated cornea (1.0 ± 0.1 &mgr;g/mg) than in fresh corneas (1.9 &mgr;g/mg). Moreover, the denaturation temperature of gamma-irradiated corneas (61.8 ± 1.1 °C) was significantly lower than that of fresh corneas (66.1 ± 1.9 °C). Conclusions: Despite structural changes due to irradiation, the physical and biological properties of the gamma-irradiated cornea remain similar to the fresh cornea. These factors, combined with a decreased risk of rejection and longer shelf life, make the gamma-irradiated tissue a viable and clinically desired option in various ophthalmic procedures.
Evolution of globular cluster systems in three galaxies of the Fornax cluster

We studied and compared the radial profiles of globular clusters and of the stellar bulge component in three galaxies of the Fornax cluster observed with the WFPC2 of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The stars are more concentrated toward the galactic centres than globular clusters, in agreement with what has already been observed in many other galaxies: if the observed difference is the result of evolution of the globular cluster systems starting from initial profiles similar to those of the halo–bulge stellar components, a relevant fraction of their initial mass (74, 47 and 52 per cent for NGC 1379, 1399 and 1404, respectively) should have disappeared in the inner regions. This mass has probably contributed to the nuclear field population, local dynamics and high-energy phenomena in the primeval life of the galaxy. An indication in favour of the evolutionary interpretation of the difference between the globular cluster system and stellar bulge radial profiles is given by the positive correlation we found between the value of the mass lost from the globular cluster system and the central galactic black hole mass in the set of seven galaxies for which these data are available.
Moisture Concentration Variation of Silages Produced on Commercial Farms in the South-Central USA

Preservation of forage crops as silage offers opportunity to avoid the high risk of rain-damaged hay in the humid south-central USA. Recent developments with baled silage or baleage make silage a less expensive option than typical chopped silage. Silage has been important in the region primarily for dairy production, but baleage has become an option for the more extensive beef cattle industry in the region. Silage samples submitted to the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Forage Quality Lab from 2006 through 2013 were assessed for dry matter (DM) and forage nutritive characteristics of chopped silage and baleage of the different forage types from commercial farms primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi. Of the 1,308 silage samples submitted, 1,065 were annual ryegrass (AR) with small grains (SG), the warm-season annual (WA) grasses, sorghums and pearl millet, and the warm-season perennial (WP) grasses, bermudagrass and bahiagrass, providing the remaining samples. Concentration of DM was used to indicate an effective ensiling opportunity, and AR silage was more frequently within the target DM range than was the WA forage group. The AR samples also indicated a high-quality forage with average crude protein (CP) of 130 g/kg and total digestible nutrient (TDN) near 600 g/kg. The cooler winter weather at harvest apparently complicated harvest of SG silage with chopped SG silage lower in both CP and TDN (104 and 553 g/kg, respectively) than either AR silage or baleage of SG (137 and 624 g/kg for CP and TDN, respectively). The hot, humid summer weather along with large stems and large forage quantities of the WA grasses and the inherently higher fiber concentration of WP grasses at harvest stage indicate that preservation of these forage types as silage will be challenging, although successful commercial silage samples of each forage type and preservation approach were included among samples of silages produced in the region.
Prevalence, nature and predictors of prescribing errors in mental health hospitals: a prospective multicentre study

Objective To determine the prevalence, nature and predictors of prescribing errors (PEs) in three mental health hospitals. Setting Inpatient units in three National Health Service (NHS) mental health hospitals in the North West of England. Participants Trained clinical pharmacists prospectively recorded the number of PEs in newly written or omitted prescription items screened during their routine work on 10 data collection days. A multidisciplinary panel reviewed PE data using established methods to confirm (1) the presence of a PE, (2) the type of PE and (3) whether errors were clinically relevant and likely to cause harm. Primary outcome measures Frequency, nature and predictors of PEs. Results Of 4427 screened prescription items, 281 were found to have one or more PEs (error rate 6.3% (95% CI 5.6 to 7.1%)). Multivariate analysis revealed that specialty trainees (OR 1.23 (1.01 to 1.51)) and staff grade psychiatrists (OR 1.50 (1.05 to 2.13)) were more likely to make PEs when compared to foundation year (FY) one doctors, and that specialty trainees and consultant psychiatrists were twice as likely to make clinically relevant PEs (OR 2.61 (2.11 to 3.22) and 2.03 (1.66 to 2.50), respectively) compared to FY one staff. Prescription items screened during the prescription chart rewrite (OR 0.52 (0.33 to 0.82)) or at discharge (OR 0.87 (0.79 to 0.97)) were less likely to be associated with PEs than items assessed during inpatient stay, although they were more likely to be associated with clinically relevant PEs (OR 2.27 (1.72 to 2.99) and 4.23 (3.68 to 4.87), respectively). Prescription items screened at hospital admission were five times more likely (OR 5.39 (2.72 to 10.69)) to be associated with clinically relevant errors than those screened during patient stay. Conclusions PEs may be more common in mental health hospitals than previously reported and important targets to minimise these errors have been identified.
Is data clustering in adversarial settings secure?

Clustering algorithms have been increasingly adopted in security applications to spot dangerous or illicit activities. However, they have not been originally devised to deal with deliberate attack attempts that may aim to subvert the clustering process itself. Whether clustering can be safely adopted in such settings remains thus questionable. In this work we propose a general framework that allows one to identify potential attacks against clustering algorithms, and to evaluate their impact, by making specific assumptions on the adversary's goal, knowledge of the attacked system, and capabilities of manipulating the input data. We show that an attacker may significantly poison the whole clustering process by adding a relatively small percentage of attack samples to the input data, and that some attack samples may be obfuscated to be hidden within some existing clusters. We present a case study on single-linkage hierarchical clustering, and report experiments on clustering of malware samples and handwritten digits.
Synergy between Home Environmental Features, Early Language Literacy and Later Reading Achievement: Comparative Study of Urban, Semi-Urban and Rural Ghanaian Children

This research underscores the significance of ensuring a level playing field for all children, especially lowincome children. The findings of the paper suggest a synergy between early home environmental features and their central role in children’s learning and behaviour indicating that quality early childhood experiences are highly associated with language and literacy outcomes between and among Ghanaian children. This notwithstanding, these rich early experiences from home environment elude many children in Ghana. For example, paucity of availability of books in the homes, limited time in literacy-related play from parents, lack of quality linguistic input to enhance children’s vocabulary are lacking for most children from rural and semi-urban backgrounds leading to poor literacy skills compared to children from urban centres.
Elements of physical hydrology

Among the many diverse aspects of environmental science, none is more critical to the future of society and nature than water. Understanding the role of water on Earth and making good decisions regarding water conservation and hydrological hazards depends on learning the fundamentals of physical hydrology. This textbook, now in an expanded second edition, provides the clearest opportunity for students to absorb those fundamentals. Written at an introductory level, Elements of Physical Hydrology covers virtually every aspect of this subject, including: the hydrological cycle; water budgets at catchment to global scales; spatial and temporal aspects of precipitation; evapotranspiration; fluid dynamics and the Bernoulli equation; laminar and turbulent flows; open channel flow; flood movement through reservoirs and channels; flood frequency analysis; groundwater flow; aquifer characterization; land subsidence; soil moisture dynamics; flow in the unsaturated zone; hydrologic controls on vegetation; biotic controls on hydrological processes; runoff generation from surface and subsurface sources; catchment models; the water-food-energy nexus; and the globalization of water. Impacts of changing climate Layering one topic upon the next, Elements of Physical Hydrology succeeds in moving from simple, easy-to-grasp explanations through equations and models in a manner that will leave students new to the topic eager to apply their knowledge. Professionals in related disciplines will also find this book ideal for self-study. Thoughtfully illustrated, carefully written, and covering a broad spectrum of topics, this classic text clarifies a subject that is often misunderstood and oversimplified.
An analysis of urban expansion and its associated thermal characteristics using Landsat imagery

There has been an increasing interest in mapping and monitoring urban land use/land cover using remote sensing techniques. However, there still exist quite a number of challenges in deriving urban extent and its expansion density from remote sensing data quantitatively. This study utilized Landsat TM/ETM+ remote sensing data to assess urban expansion and its thermal characteristics with a case study in the city of Changsha, China. We proposed a new approach for quantitatively determining built-up area, its expansion density and their respective relationship with land surface temperature (LST) patterns. An urban expansion metric was also developed using a moving window mechanism to identify urban built-up area and its expansion density based on selected threshold values. The study suggested that urban extent and its expansion density, as well as surface thermal characteristics and patterns could be identified through quantitatively derived remotely sensed indices and LST, which offer meaningful characteristics in quantifying urban expansion density and urban thermal pattern. Results from the case study demonstrated that: (1) the built-up area and urban expansion density have significantly increased in the city of Changsha from 1990 to 2001; and (2) the differences of urban expansion densities correspond to thermal effects, where a high percentage of imperviousness is usually associated with the area covered by high surface temperature.
The Dengue Virus NS5 Protein Intrudes in the Cellular Spliceosome and Modulates Splicing

Dengue virus NS5 protein plays multiple functions in the cytoplasm of infected cells, enabling viral RNA replication and counteracting host antiviral responses. Here, we demonstrate a novel function of NS5 in the nucleus where it interferes with cellular splicing. Using global proteomic analysis of infected cells together with functional studies, we found that NS5 binds spliceosome complexes and modulates endogenous splicing as well as minigene-derived alternative splicing patterns. In particular, we show that NS5 alone, or in the context of viral infection, interacts with core components of the U5 snRNP particle, CD2BP2 and DDX23, alters the inclusion/exclusion ratio of alternative splicing events, and changes mRNA isoform abundance of known antiviral factors. Interestingly, a genome wide transcriptome analysis, using recently developed bioinformatics tools, revealed an increase of intron retention upon dengue virus infection, and viral replication was improved by silencing specific U5 components. Different mechanistic studies indicate that binding of NS5 to the spliceosome reduces the efficiency of pre-mRNA processing, independently of NS5 enzymatic activities. We propose that NS5 binding to U5 snRNP proteins hijacks the splicing machinery resulting in a less restrictive environment for viral replication.
Research Statement Obstacle and Vehicle Detection and Tracking

Despite the apparent computational advantages that robots have in processing sensory data, they cannot match the performance of humans even on relatively simple tasks. These shortcomings have real costs. Lives are lost on civilian highways and during military operations. The scientific return of Martian landers is reduced by the need for human intervention. In homes, businesses, and health care facilities, our quality of life and productivity could be improved by smarter and more capable robots. Robots are limited in these fields primarily due to the difficulty of perceiving and modeling the real world. My research is addressing these problems, and has demonstrably advanced the art. For me, satisfying research often comes from approaching a problem from a new direction. New directions can lead to connections to other fields, and ultimately new methods with interesting (and often appealing) characteristics. I value careful and rigorous analysis of these new ideas, and so I spend a significant amount of my time deriving, proving, and quietly contemplating. My theoretical inclinations, however, are complemented by a strong desire to build systems (software, electrical, and mechanical). This has proven to be a useful combination, as I can build systems that serve as excellent testbeds for my ideas. Building systems is also an invaluable way of identifying the problems that need to be solved. My research has yielded several improvements to computers’ ability to perceive and model the world around them, allowing robots to operate in increasingly complex environments. These approaches have transplanted and adapted ideas from other fields like neural networks and spectral graph partitioning. Some of the areas are described below.
Ocean acoustic tomography: Rays and modes

We have measured perturbation of the sound speed δC(x,y,z) (temperature) field within an ocean volume by repeated acoustic transmissions through the volume along many different ray paths i (Ocean Tomography Group, 1982). The data set consisted of ray travel time perturbations δti, and the sound field was obtained by inverse theory from a linear weighted sum δC(x,y,z)=ΣiAi−1 (x,y,z) δti, where Ai is the time spent by ray i in a differential volume centered on x,y,z. Here the method is extended to cases (e.g. the ‘axial’ ocean near a sound speed minimum) where ray theory is not applicable or not convenient. This is done by including in the data set the frequency perturbation δf of lower modes. The matrix A is generalized to a combination of ray weighting and mode weighting. The procedures are illustrated for bilinear and quadratic sound channels, corresponding to a last and first arrival, respectively, of the axial ray, and for a cosh z profile (surprisingly close to some measured equatorial sound speed profiles) where all rays arrive together. We use a northwest Atlantic profile for illustration of an actual case, and here we find overlapping arrival sequences which lead to additional complexities. All this is conveniently displayed in frequency-time (ambiguity) diagrams. We discuss two inversion schemes: one based on Abel transforms and the other on numerical matrix inversions. The latter scheme is more straightforward for perturbations from a known initial state. The paper is a review of the underlying principles; application to measurements is planned in the near future.
Mélange: Space Folding for Visual Exploration

Navigating in large geometric spaces-such as maps, social networks, or long documents-typically requires a sequence of pan and zoom actions. However, this strategy is often ineffective and cumbersome, especially when trying to study and compare several distant objects. We propose a new distortion technique that folds the intervening space to guarantee visibility of multiple focus regions. The folds themselves show contextual information and support unfolding and paging interactions. We conducted a study comparing the space-folding technique to existing approaches and found that participants performed significantly better with the new technique. We also describe how to implement this distortion technique and give an in-depth case study on how to apply it to the visualization of large-scale 1D time-series data.
Family decision at the turn of the century: has the changing structure of households impacted the family decision‐making process?

Evaluation of husbands' and wives' influence in family decision making is heavily reliant on studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s. Since that time, profound changes have occurred in the American family. These changes may have affected the nature of decision making in the household. To examine the degree to which earlier findings are still generalisable today, hypotheses are developed and tested with a contemporary sample of 458 men and women. Results suggest that there have been significant changes in the roles assumed in the family decision-making process, with the wife gaining more influence in all decision areas. The results indicate that marketers must re-examine their marketing strategies for some products and/or services. Possible theoretical explanations are suggested to explain why these changes may have occurred. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.
Spatial and Temporal Variability of Perchlorate Reduction in Southern California Soils

In this study, we investigated natural attenuation of perchlorate in agricultural soils by mimicking realistic field conditions, where very low concentrations (ppb level) of perchlorate are present. The main objectives of this study were 1) to quantify the reduction rates of perchlorate at coreand field-scales using soil core samples and irrigation and drainage water samples, and 2) to assess the spatial and temporal variability of perchlorate degradation. An additional experiment was added in which we investigated the effects of organic carbon availability and moisture content (i.e., oxygen level) on the rates of perchlorate reduction. Fundamental information gained through this research provides insights into perchlorate degradation rates and mechanisms in soils irrigated with Colorado River water. Such estimates may prove useful in formulating better soil/water management strategies to minimize perchlorate entry into the food chain.
Large-scale circulation with small diapycnal diffusion: The two-thermocline limit

The structure and dynamics of the large-scale circulation of a single-hemisphere, closed-basin ocean with small diapycnal diffusion are studied by numerical and analytical methods. The investigation is motivated in part by recent differing theoretical descriptions of the dynamics that control the stratification of the upper ocean, and in part by recent observational evidence that diapycnal diffusivities due to small-scale turbulence in the ocean thermocline are small (-0.1 cm2 s-i). Numerical solutions of a computationally efficient, three-dimensional, planetary geostrophic ocean circulation model are obtained in a square basin on a mid-latitude B-plane. The forcing consists of a zonal wind stress (imposed meridional Ekman flow) and a surface heat llux proportional to the difference between surface temperature and an imposed air temperature. For small diapycnal diffusivities (vertical:
Successful implementation of a pediatric sedation protocol for mechanically ventilated patients*

Objective:To evaluate the effect of a nursing-driven sedation protocol for mechanically ventilated pediatric patients on duration of use of analgesic and sedative medications. We hypothesized that a protocol would decrease length of sedation use and decrease days of mechanical ventilation and length of stay. Design:Retrospective cohort study with historical controls. Setting:Thirty-one-bed tertiary care, medical-surgical-cardiac pediatric intensive care unit in a metropolitan university-affiliated children's hospital. Patients:Children requiring mechanical ventilation longer than 48 hrs not meeting exclusion criteria. Interventions:Before protocol implementation, sedation was managed per individual physician orders. During the intervention period, analgesia and sedation were managed by nurses following an algorithm-based sedation protocol based on a comfort score. Measurements and Main Results:The observation group included consecutive patients admitted during the 12-month period before protocol education and implementation (n = 153). The intervention group included patients admitted during the 12 months following protocol implementation (n = 166). The median duration of total sedation days (intravenous plus enteral) was 7 days for the observation period and 5 days for the intervention period (p = .026). Specifically, the median duration of morphine infusion was 6 days for the observation period and 5 days for the intervention period (p = .015), whereas the median duration of lorazepam infusion was 2 days for the observation period and 0 days for the intervention period. After adjusting for severity of illness with the pediatric risk of mortality III (PRISM III) score, the Cox proportional hazards regression analysis demonstrated that at any point in time, patients in the intervention group were 23% more likely to be off all sedation (heart rate 0.77, p = .020). Additionally, the intervention group tended to be associated with fewer days of mechanical ventilation (heart rate 0.81, p = .060) and decreased pediatric intensive care unit length of stay (heart rate 0.81, p = .058), although these associations did not quite reach statistical significance. Conclusion:A pediatric sedation protocol can significantly decrease days of benzodiazepine and opiate administration, which may improve pediatric intensive care unit resource utilization.