Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantifying soil and critical zone variability in a forested catchment through digital soil mapping

Abstract. Quantifying catchment-scale soil property variation yields insights into critical zone evolution and function. The objective of this study was to quantify and predict the spatial distribution of soil properties within a high-elevation forested catchment in southern Arizona, USA, using a combined set of digital soil mapping (DSM) and sampling design techniques to quantify catchment-scale soil spatial variability that would inform interpretation of soil-forming processes. The study focused on a 6 ha catchment on granitic parent materials under mixed-conifer forest, with a mean elevation of 2400 m a.s. l, mean annual temperature of 10 °C, and mean annual precipitation of ~ 85 cm yr−1. The sample design was developed using a unique combination of iterative principal component analysis (iPCA) of environmental covariates derived from remotely sensed imagery and topography, and a conditioned Latin hypercube sampling (cLHS) scheme. Samples were collected by genetic horizon from 24 soil profiles excavated to the depth of refusal and characterized for soil mineral assemblage, geochemical composition, and general soil physical and chemical properties. Soil properties were extrapolated across the entire catchment using a combination of least-squares linear regression between soil properties and selected environmental covariates, and spatial interpolation or regression residual using inverse distance weighting (IDW). Model results indicated that convergent portions of the landscape contained deeper soils, higher clay and carbon content, and greater Na mass loss relative to adjacent slopes and divergent ridgelines. The results of this study indicated that (i) the coupled application of iPCA and cLHS produced a sampling scheme that captured the greater part of catchment-scale soil variability; (ii) application of relatively simple regression models and IDW interpolation of residuals described well the variance in measured soil properties and predicted spatial correlation of soil properties to landscape structure; and (iii) at this scale of observation, 6 ha catchment, topographic covariates explained more variation in soil properties than vegetation covariates. The DSM techniques applied here provide a framework for interpreting catchment-scale variation in critical zone process and evolution. Future work will focus on coupling results from this coupled empirical–statistical approach to output from mechanistic, process-based numerical models of critical zone process and evolution.
ssessment of human operator functional state using a novel differential volution optimization based adaptive fuzzy model

With the development of human–machine systems, there has been a growing concern about the consequences of operator performance breakdown under excessive level of workload, especially in safetycritical situations. Assessment and detection of the operator functional state (OFS) enable us to predict the high operational risks of operator. This paper adopts the psychophysiological signals and task performance measures to evaluate OFS under different levels of mental workload. Four indices extracted from electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram, including heart rate (HR), ratio of the standard deviation to the average of HR segment, task load indices (TLI1 and TLI2), are chosen as the inputs of the proposed sychophysiological measure daptive-Network-based Fuzzy Inference ystem ifferential evolution nt colony search model. A technique of differential evolution with ant colony search (DEACS) is developed to optimize the parameters of Adaptive-Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The optimized ANFIS model is employed to estimate the OFS under a series of process control tasks on a simulated software platform of AUTOmation-enhanced Cabin Air Management System. The results showed that the proposed adaptive fuzzy model based on ANFIS and DEACS algorithm is applicable for the operator functional state assessment.
Leftward asymmetry in relative fiber density of the arcuate fasciculus

Left hemispheric language dominance is well established, but the structural substrate for this functional asymmetry is uncertain. We report a strong asymmetry in the relative fiber density of the arcuate fasciculus, a white matter pathway associated with language that connects the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Measured with diffusion tensor tractography, nearly all study participants demonstrated greater relative fiber density in the left arcuate fasciculus than in the right arcuate fasciculus. In comparison, we found no asymmetry in the corticospinal tract, an important white matter pathway with no known role in language. Combined with data on volumetric and activation asymmetry, greater connectivity may provide the elements of a neural system model for language lateralization.
Impairment of Endothelium‐Dependent Relaxation in Human Basilar Artery After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose The goal of this study was to determine the alterations in vascular reactivity of human basilar artery after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods Human basilar arteries were obtained from subjects who died within 1 day after subarachnoid hemorrhage and control subjects who died from causes other than brain involvement. Basilar artery strips were suspended for isometric tension recording in Krebs-Ringer solution. Morphometric study was also carried out on paraffin-embedded sections stained with van Gieson's elastica stain of preselected sites from the basilar arteries. The intimal and medial area and the intimal index ([intimal area/area circumscribed by internal elastic lamina] × 100) were evaluated. Results Contractile responses to KCl, norepinephrine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine did not differ between subarachnoid hemorrhage and control groups. The endothelium-dependent relaxation responses to thrombin, bradykinin, and calcium ionophore A23187 were less for the subarachnoid hemorrhage group than for the control group. However, the endothelium-independent response to sodium nitroprusside of the subarachnoid hemorrhage group did not differ from that of the control group. Morphometric measurements were comparable between the two groups. Conclusions These results suggest that the decreased relaxation responses to thrombin and bradykinin occur at the level of endothelial cells and not smooth muscle cells and that decreased relaxation may be involved in delayed vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Although the decreased relaxation was observed within 1 day after subarachnoid hemorrhage, a period in which delayed spasm does not occur, this time difference may be dependent on the severity of bleeding after rupture of an aneurysm.
An automatic speaker recognition system for intelligence applications

This paper presents an automatic speaker recognition system for intelligence applications. The system has to provide functionalities for a speaker skimming application in which databases of recorded conversations belonging to an ongoing investigation can be annotated and quickly browsed by an operator. The paper discusses the criticalities introduced by the characteristics of the audio signals under consideration - in particular background noise and channel/coding distortions - as well as the requirements and functionalities of the system under development. It is shown that the performance of state-of-the-art approaches degrades significantly in presence of moderately high background noise. Finally, a novel speaker recognizer based on phonetic features and an ensemble classifier is presented. Results show that the proposed approach improves performance on clean audio, and suggest that it can be employed towards improved real-world robustness.
Suprascapular intraneural ganglia and glenohumeral joint connections.

OBJECT Unlike the more commonly noted paralabral cysts (extraneural ganglia), which are well known to result in suprascapular nerve compression, only four cases of suprascapular intraneural ganglia have been reported. Because of their rarity, the pathogenesis of suprascapular intraneural ganglia has been poorly understood and a pathoanatomical explanation has not been provided. In view of the growing literature demonstrating strong associations between paralabral cysts and labral (capsular) pathology, joint connections, and joint communications, the authors retrospectively reviewed the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies and postoperative results in the two featured patients to test a hypothesis that suprascapular intraneural ganglia would have analogous findings. METHODS Two patients who presented with suprascapular neuropathy were found to have intraneural ganglia. Connections to the glenohumeral joint could be established in both patients through posterior labrocapsular complex tears. In neither patient was the joint connection identified preoperatively or intraoperatively, and cyst decompression was performed by itself without attention to the labral tear. The suprascapular intraneural ganglia extended from the glenohumeral joint as far proximally as the level of the nerves' origin from the upper trunk in the supraclavicular fossa. Although both patients experienced symptomatic improvement after surgery, neurological recovery was incomplete. In both cases, postoperative MR images revealed cyst persistence. In addition, previously unrecognized superior labral anteroposterior (SLAP) Type II lesions (tears of the superior labrum extending anteroposterior and involving the biceps anchor at the labrum without actual extension into the tendon) were visualized. In one patient with a persistent cyst, an MR arthrogram was obtained and demonstrated a communication between the joint and the cyst. CONCLUSIONS The findings in these two patients support the synovial theory for intraneural ganglia. Based on their experience with intraneural ganglia at other sites, the authors believe that suprascapular intraneural ganglia arise from the glenohumeral joint, egress through a superior (posterior) labral tear, and dissect within the epineurium along an articular branch into the main nerve, following the path of least resistance. Furthermore, these two cases of intraneural ganglia with SLAP lesions are directly analogous to the many cases of paralabral cysts associated with these types of labral tears. By better understanding the origin of this unusual type of ganglia and drawing analogies to the more common extraneural cysts, surgical strategies can be formulated to address the underlying pathoanatomy, improve operative outcomes, and prevent recurrences.
Enhanced expression of recombinant beta toxin of Clostridium perfringens type B using a commercially available Escherichia coli strain

Clostridium perfringens beta toxin is only produced by types B and C and plays an important role in many human and animal diseases, causing fatal conditions that originate in the intestines. We compared the expression of C. perfringens type B vaccine strain recombinant beta toxin gene in the Escherichia coli strains RosettaTM(DE3) and BL21(DE3). The beta toxin gene was extracted from pJETβ and ligated with pET22b(+). pET22β was transformed into E. coli strains BL21(DE3) and RosettaTM(DE3). Recombinant protein was expressed as a soluble protein after isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) induction in strain RosettaTM(DE3) but not in BL21(DE3). Expression was optimised by growing recombinant cells at 37 °C and at an induction of 0.5 mM, 1 mM, 1.5 mM IPTG. Expression was evaluated using sodium dodecyl sulfate Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The recombinant protein was purified via Ni-NTA and was analysed using western blot. We concluded that E. coli strain RosettaTM(DE3) can enhance the expression of C. perfringens recombinant beta toxin.
Is Younger Really Safer? A Qualitative Study of Perceived Risks and Benefits of Age-Disparate Relationships among Women in Cape Town, South Africa

Young women in age-asymmetric relationships may be at an elevated risk for acquisition of HIV, since relationships with older men are also correlated with other risk behaviors like less condom use. Qualitative studies have shown that women are motivated to participate in these relationships for money and emotional support. However, there is a paucity of research on women’s perceived risks of these relationships, particularly in South Africa. To this end, we conducted in-depth interviews with 23 women recruited from three urban communities in Cape Town. A thematic question guide was used to direct the interviews. Thematic content analysis was used to explore women’s perceived risks of age-disparate and non-age-disparate relationships, the benefits of dating older men, and risk perceptions that influence decisions around beginning or ending a relationship. A plurality of women thought that dating an older man does not bring any adverse consequences, although some thought that older men do not use condoms and may be involved in concurrent partnerships. Many women were less inclined to date same-age or younger men, because they were viewed as being disrespectful and abusive. This study points to the need for more awareness raising about the risks of age-disparate relationships. In addition to these initiatives, there is an urgent need to implement holistic approaches to relationship health, in order to curb intimate partner violence, improve gender equity and make non-age-disparate relationships more attractive.
A linear time algorithm for placing φ-nodes

Dataflow analysis framework based on Static Single Assignment (SSA) form and Sparse Evaluation Graphs (SEGs) demand fast computation of program points where data flow information must be merged, the so-called &fgr;-nodes. In this paper, we present a surprisingly simple algorithm for computing &fgr;-nodes for arbitrary flowgraphs (reducible or irreducible) that runs in linear time. We employ a novel program representation—the DJ graph—by augmenting the dominator tree of a flowgraph with edges which may lead to a potential “merge” of dataflow information. In searching for &fgr;-nodes we never visit an edge in the DJ-graph more than once by guiding the search of nodes by their levels in the dominator tree. The algorithm has been implemented and the results are compared with the well known algorithm due to Cytron et al. A consistent and significant speedup has been observed over a range of 46 Fortran procedures taken from a number of benchmark programs. We also ran experiments on increasingly taller ladder graphs and confirmed the linear time complexity of our algorithm.
Antimicrobial activity of ropivacaine and other local anaesthetics

Background and objective It is claimed that local anaesthetics have antimicrobial properties. Our aim was to investigate the antimicrobial effects of different concentrations of ropivacaine, bupivacaine, lidocaine and prilocaine on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. Methods All local anaesthetic dilutions were exposed to microorganisms for 0, 30, 60, 120, 240 min at room temperature. The inoculums taken from diluted suspensions were reinoculated on blood agar and incubated for 18–24 h at 35°C and then the colonies were counted. Results Ropivacaine did not inhibit any of the microorganisms tested. Bupivacaine reduced the viable cells of P. aeruginosa at 0.5% and 0.25% solutions. Lidocaine 5% and 2% and prilocaine 2.0% dilutions reduced the viable cells of all microorganisms tested. Prilocaine 1.0% reduced the viable cells of E. coli, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Lidocaine 1% reduced only the viable cells of P. aeruginosa and prilocaine 0.5% reduced only E. coli. Conclusion Ropivacaine had no antimicrobial effect on microorganisms tested. Bupivacaine showed poor antimicrobial effectiveness. Lidocaine and prilocaine had more powerful antimicrobial effects than the other two local anaesthetics.
A regression-based approach to scalability prediction

Many applied scientific domains are increasingly relying on large-scale parallel computation. Consequently, many large clusters now have thousands of processors. However, the ideal number of processors to use for these scientific applications varies with both the input variables and the machine under consideration, and predicting this processor count is rarely straightforward. Accurate prediction mechanisms would provide many benefits, including improving cluster efficiency and identifying system configuration or hardware issues that impede performance. We explore novel regression-based approaches to predict parallel program scalability. We use several program executions on a small subset of the processors to predict execution time on larger numbers of processors. We compare three different regression-based techniques: one based on execution time only; another that uses per-processor information only; and a third one based on the global critical path. These techniques provide accurate scaling predictions, with median prediction errors between 6.2% and 17.3% for seven applications.
Establishing Good Benchmarks and Baselines for Face Recognition

The Rowland Institute at Harvard, Harvard University, 100 Edwin Land Blvd.,Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,cox@rowland.harvard. eduAbstract. Progress in face recognition relies critically on the creationof test sets against which the performance of various approaches can beevaluated. A good set must capture the essential elements of what makesthe problem hard, while conforming to practical scale limitations. How-ever, these goals are often deceptively dicult to achieve. In the relatedarea of object recognition, Pinto et al. [2] demonstrated the potentialdangers of using a large, uncontrolled natural image set, showing thatan extremely rudimentary vision system (inspired by the early stages ofvisual processing in the brain) was able to perform on par with manystate-of-the-art vision systems on the popular Caltech101 object set [3]. At the same time, this same rudimentary system was easily defeatedby an ostensibly \simpler" synthetic recognition test designed to betterspan the range of real world variation in object pose, position, scale, etc.These results suggested that image sets that look \natural" to human ob-servers may nonetheless fail to properly embody the problem of interest,and that care must be taken to establish baselines against which perfor-mance can be judged. Here, we repeat this approach for the \LabeledFaces in the Wild" (LFW) dataset [1], and for a collection of standardface recognition tests. The goal of the present work is not to competein the LFW challenge, per se, but to provide a baseline against whichthe performance of other systems can be judged. In particular, we foundthat our rudimentary \baseline" vision system was able to achieve  68%correct performance on the LFW challenge, substantially higher than apure \chance" baseline. We argue that this value might serve as a moreuseful baseline against which to evaluate absolute performance and arguethat the LFW set, while perhaps not perfect, represents an improvementover other standard face sets.
Routine viral culture for pediatric respiratory specimens submitted for direct immunofluorescence testing

From 1986 to 1987, 69 (25%) of 274 specimens from children with lower respiratory tract syndromes were positive for respiratory syncytial virus antigen by direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA). Comprehensive viral culture was performed on all 205 DFA-negative specimens, and 72 specimens yielded viruses; 5 specimens yielded multiple agents. Thus, 52% of specimens yielded a specific virus, supporting the routine use of viral culture. Isolates from the DFA-negative specimens included respiratory syncytial virus (n = 7), rhinovirus (n = 34), hemadsorbing viruses (n = 13), cytomegalovirus (n = 11), adenovirus (n = 8), enteroviruses (n = 3), and herpes simplex virus (n = 2). Although serologic confirmation is needed, cytomegalovirus may be an underappreciated cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection in normal children. Further studies must be conducted to document this possibility.
Biochemical evidence linking the GIX thymocyte surface antigen to the gp69/71 envelope glycoprotein of murine leukemia virus

It is known that the thymocyte surface antigen GIX is found in some strains of mice and not others, and that its expression in mice of strain 129, in which most extensive genetic studies have been made, is controlled by two unlinked cellular chromosomal loci. We have now isolated a protein with a mol wt of approximately 70,000 daltons from the surface of thymocytes from 129 mice, which have antigenic and biochemical properties characteristic of the gp69/71 envelope component of murine leukemia virus. Our evidence is compatible with the conclusion that it carries the GIX antigen.
Crystallization Studies of Highly Monodisperse Oligomeric Poly(Ethylene Oxide)

Poly(ethylene oxide) is one of the most intensively studied polymers in terms of crystallization, because of its linear structure. In this thesis the chapters are organized in a self-contained fashion, with a general introduction and a brief conclusion. We introduce the purification and characterization of highly monodisperse PEO oligomers, and the analysis of their melting and crystallization behaviours. Through evaporative purification, we have been able to purify low molecular weight PEO, and achieve a polydispersity index six times better than the neat commercial sample, as measured by mass spectroscopy. Melting temperatures are obtained using differential scanning calorimetry. Based on the Gibbs Thomson relation, we claim that during crystallization, some purified PEO samples can form crystal lamellae not only with extended chains, but also with once-folded chains, which is normally not expected for polymers with such short chain lengths. The fact that we are able to control the melting temperature through annealing treatment on the crystal validates our chain-folding model of folded and extended chains.
No response to linear polarization cues in operant conditioning experiments with zebra finches

ABSTRACT Many animals can use the polarization of light in various behavioural contexts. Birds are well known to use information from the skylight polarization pattern for orientation and compass calibration. However, there are few controlled studies of polarization vision in birds, and the majority of them have not been successful in convincingly demonstrating polarization vision. We used a two-alternative forced choice conditioning approach to assess linear polarization vision in male zebra finches in the ‘visible’ spectral range (wavelengths >400 nm). The birds were trained to discriminate colour, brightness and polarization stimuli presented on either one of two LCD-screens. All birds were able to discriminate the colour and brightness stimuli, but they were unable to discriminate the polarization stimuli. Our results suggest that in the behavioural context studied here, zebra finches are not able to discriminate polarized light stimuli. Summary: Zebra finches do not learn to use polarization cues displayed on modified LCD-screens despite extensive behavioural training in a two-alternative forced choice experiment.