Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aspect Induced Differences in Vegetation, Soil, and Microclimatic Characteristics of an Appalachian Watershed

Abstract This study evaluates and quantifies the variation in vegetation, plant nutrients, and microclimate across four topographic aspects in an Appalachian watershed (39°39′43′′N, 79°45′28′′W). The study found that the north and east aspects were 27–50% more productive than the west and southwest aspects. Species groups that showed strong aspect preference included yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), black cherry (Prunus serotina), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), and white oak (Quercus alba); the former two being dominant on the north and east aspects while the latter two dominate the west and southwest aspects. Red oak (Quercus rubra) and red maple (Acer rubrum) showed mild aspect preference indicating their broad ecological amplitude. Although the north and east aspects had greater biomass, the west and southwest aspects had about 23% more stems per hectare. There were large differences in microclimate among the four aspects. Air temperature during midday period averaged 25.2°C, 24.9°C, 30.5°C, and 29.4°C for the north, east, west and southwest aspects respectively. The maximum temperature difference between the mesic (north and east aspects) and xeric (west and southwest aspects) sites was 5.55°C and was observed at noon. The relative humidity at the xeric site was about 25% lower than that at the mesic site during midday periods. Plant water stress as measured by vapor pressure difference was about 37% higher on west and southwest aspects than on north and east aspects. Plant nutrients only showed minor differences with concentrations being higher on the north and east aspects except for phosphorus, which was higher on the west and southwest aspects.
Maté, Coffee, and Tea Consumption and Risk of Cancers of the Upper Aerodigestive Tract in Southern Brazil

Consumption of maté, a tea-like infusion of the herb Ilex paraguariensis, is common in South America. Drinkers have high risks of upper aerodigestive tract cancers, but it is conceivable that this high risk may be attributable to confounding by smoking, alcohol other exposures. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the data from a case-control study of upper aerodigestive tract cancers conducted in Southern Brazil. We matched noncancer controls (N = 756) to cases (N = 378) on the basis of age, sex period of admission. We estimated the effect of maté consumption by conditional logistic regression with adjustment for smoking, alcohol, sociodemographics several dietary items, considered as confounders. The unadjusted relative risk (RR) for all upper aerodigestive tract cancers was 2.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.6–2.7]. Some excess risk persisted after adjustment for potential confounders (RR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.2–2.2). Most of the excess risk for maté drinkers was for oral (RR = 1.9; 95% CI = 1.1–3.3) and laryngeal (RR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1–4.5) cancers. There was no evidence of associations with coffee and tea drinking. We conclude that the association of maté consumption with upper aerodigestive tract cancer risk is unlikely to result from insufficient control of confounding by critical exposures. Owing to its high prevalence in Southern South America, maté drinking may be linked to as many as 20% of all cases occurring in this region.
Are winter and summer dormancy symmetrical seasonal adaptive strategies? The case of temperate herbaceous perennials

Background Dormancy in higher plants is an adaptive response enabling plant survival during the harshest seasons and has been more explored in woody species than in herbaceous species. Nevertheless, winter and summer shoot meristem dormancy are adaptive strategies that could play a major role in enhancing seasonal stress tolerance and resilience of widespread herbaceous plant communities. Scope This review outlines the symmetrical aspects of winter and summer dormancy in order to better understand plant adaptation to severe stress, and highlight research priorities in a changing climate. Seasonal dormancy is a good model to explore the growth–stress survival trade-off and unravel the relationships between growth potential and stress hardiness. Although photoperiod and temperature are known to play a crucial, though reversed, role in the induction and release of both types of dormancy, the thresholds and combined effects of these environmental factors remain to be identified. The biochemical compounds involved in induction or release in winter dormancy (abscisic acid, ethylene, sugars, cytokinins and gibberellins) could be a priority research focus for summer dormancy. To address these research priorities, herbaceous species, being more tractable than woody species, are excellent model plants for which both summer and winter dormancy have been clearly identified. Conclusions Summer and winter dormancy, although responding to inverse conditions, share many characteristics. This analogous nature can facilitate research as well as lead to insight into plant adaptations to extreme conditions and the evolution of phenological patterns of species and communities under climate change. The development of phenotypes showing reduced winter and/or enhanced summer dormancy may be expected and could improve adaptation to less predictable environmental stresses correlated with future climates. To this end, it is suggested to explore the inter- and intraspecific genotypic variability of dormancy and its plasticity according to environmental conditions to contribute to predicting and mitigating global warming.
Binding to Gating Transduction in Nicotinic Receptors: Cys-Loop Energetically Couples to Pre-M1 and M2–M3 Regions

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) transduces binding of nerve-released ACh into opening of an intrinsic ion channel, yet the intraprotein interactions behind transduction remain to be fully elucidated. Attention has focused on the region of the AChR in which the β1–β2 and Cys-loops from the extracellular domain project into a cavity framed by residues preceding the first transmembrane domain (pre-M1) and the linker spanning transmembrane domains M2 and M3. Previous studies identified a principal transduction pathway in which the pre-M1 domain is coupled to the M2–M3 linker through the β1–β2 loop. Here we identify a parallel pathway in which the pre-M1 domain is coupled to the M2–M3 linker through the Cys-loop. Mutagenesis, single-channel kinetic analyses and thermodynamic mutant cycle analyses reveal energetic coupling among αLeu 210 from the pre-M1 domain, αPhe 135 and αPhe 137 from the Cys-loop, and αLeu 273 from the M2–M3 linker. Residues at equivalent positions of non-α-subunits show negligible coupling, indicating these interresidue couplings are specific to residues in the α-subunit. Thus, the extracellular β1–β2 and Cys-loops bridge the pre-M1 domain and M2–M3 linker to transduce agonist binding into channel gating.
Lyme Disease in Pregnancy: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. A number of other spirochetal diseases, if contracted in pregnancy, have been shown to cause fetal harm and there is concern over a similar effect with gestational borreliosis. Previously published individual case reports have suggested a possible association between gestational borreliosis and adverse pregnancy outcome; however, no specific pattern of teratogenicity has been shown, and a causal relationship has never been proven. In addition, larger epidemiological and serological series have consistently failed to demonstrate an increased risk to pregnant women who develop Lyme disease if they receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy. We describe a favorable outcome in a 42-year-old woman who developed Lyme disease in the third trimester and was treated with a full course of oral amoxicillin. In addition, we offer a review of the relevant literature regarding Lyme disease and pregnancy. The appropriate investigation and management of a woman with gestational borreliosis are discussed. Target Audience: Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Family Physicians Learning Objectives: After completion of this article, the reader should be able to recall that Lyme disease is not an uncommon disease during pregnancy and can occur in states outside of the Northeast, explain that the diagnosis is made clinically and may be confirmed by laboratory tests, state that treatment is recommended during pregnancy, and summarize that there is no consistent data of adverse fetal effects even though the placenta is infected.
Integrating the Principles of Effective Intervention into Batterer Intervention Programming

The majority of batterer intervention program (BIP) evaluations have indicated they are marginally effective in reducing domestic violence recidivism. Meanwhile, correctional programs used to treat a variety of offenders (e.g., substance users, violent offenders, and so forth) that adhere to the “principles of effective intervention” (PEI) have reported significant reductions in recidivism. This article introduces the PEI—the principles on which evidence-based practices in correctional rehabilitation are based—and identifies the degree to which they are currently integrated into BIPs. The case is made that batterer programs could be more effective if they incorporate the PEI. Recommendations for further integration of the principles into BIPs are also provided.
Deep Subwavelength-Scale Metal–Insulator–Metal Plasmonic Disk Cavities for Refractive Index Sensors

We propose an ultrasmall plasmonic cavity index sensor based on double metal disks, in which a plasmonic mode with a wavelength (λ0) of 1550 nm can be confined. By carefully reducing the radius (R) and gap thickness (t), the cavity can be reduced to a size of R = 744 nm and t = 20 nm, achieving a deep subwavelength-scale sensing volume of 0.0093 λ03, while keeping the same wavelength. The figure of merit of the index sensor has a maximum value of 80 with a high sensitivity (1160 nm per refractive index unit) and narrow linewidth (14.8 nm).
Neutralization: New Insights into the Problem of Employee Systems Security Policy Violations

Employees' failure to comply with information systems security policies is a major concern for information technology security managers. In efforts to understand this problem, IS security researchers have traditionally viewed violations of IS security policies through the lens of deterrence theory. In this article, we show that neutralization theory, a theory prominent in Criminology but not yet applied in the context of IS, provides a compelling explanation for IS security policy violations and offers new insight into how employees rationalize this behavior. In doing so, we propose a theoretical model in which the effects of neutralization techniques are tested alongside those of sanctions described by deterrence theory. Our empirical results highlight neutralization as an important factor to take into account with regard to developing and implementing organizational security policies and practices.
A Process Mining-Based Investigation of Adverse Events in Care Processes

This paper proposes the Clinical Pathway Analysis Method (CPAM) approach that enables the extraction of valuable organisational and medical information on past clinical pathway executions from the event logs of healthcare information systems. The method deals with the complexity of real-World clinical pathways by introducing a perspective-based segmentation of the date-stamped event log. CPAM enables the clinical pathway analyst to effectively and efficiently acquire a profound insight into the clinical pathways. By comparing the specific medical conditions of patients with the factors used for characterising the different clinical pathway variants, the medical expert can identify the best therapeutic option. Process mining-based analytics enables the acquisition of valuable insights into clinical pathways, based on the complete audit traces of previous clinical pathway instances. Additionally, the methodology is suited to assess guideline compliance and analyse adverse events. Finally, the methodology provides support for eliciting tacit knowledge and providing treatment selection assistance.
Application of biowaste (waste generated in biodiesel plant) as an adsorbent for the removal of hazardous bye - methylene blue - from aqueous phase

Solid waste (SW) from a biodiesel plant has been successfully used for the removal of the hazardous cationic water soluble dye - methylene blue (MB) - from an aqueous phase. Batch adsorption studies were carried out by monitoring the pH, amount of adsorbent, initial dye concentration and contact time. Attempts have also been made to monitor the adsorption process through Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and D-R adsorption isotherm models. Relevant thermodynamic parameters were calculated and it was found that the adsorption process was exothermic and feasible at low temperatures. The nature and randomness of the adsorption process was determined by calculating the thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (∆Go), change in entropy (∆So) and heat of adsorption (∆Ho). The kinetics of the adsorption indicates that the process is pseudo-second-order and also reveals the involvement of bulk diffusion and intraparticle diffusion mechanisms.
Caffeinated Gum Maintains Vigilance, Marksmanship, and PVT Performance During a 55 Hour Field Trial

Abstract : In a 2001 report the Committee on Military Nutrition Research (CMNR) stated that military personnel are often placed in unique situations in which extended alertness is required. This is most evident in situations involving sentry duty, radar monitoring, communications, long-range air support missions, and logistical supply requirements as well as in combat itself. In addition, personnel are often required to forgo sleep in order to meet mission requirements and this inevitably leads to various degrees of sleep deprivation. It is well accepted that restricted and/or total sleep deprivation will result in a concomitant impairment in cognitive performance (for reviews see Angus et al., 1992; Dinges and Kribbs, 1991). Caffeine's ability to maintain or improve mental performance in rested, fatigued, and/or sleep deprived individuals has been well documented (for reviews see Fredholm et al., 1999; Lieberman et al., 2001; and Smith, 2002) and the CMNR (2001) has recommended caffeine for use as a fatigue countermeasure. Two important areas of concern with caffeine are how it can be delivered and the duration of its effects. Kamimori et al. (2002) have demonstrated that caffeine, administered in a chewing gum formulation, can be delivered three times faster in comparison to a capsule formulation.
TSA: Time Series Adaptation for enhanced Cell Reselection in UMTS

Mobile Stations (MSs) operate in either idle mode or connected mode. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the connected mode even though the MSs remain their most of time in the idle mode. In this paper, we propose an efficient Cell Reselection algorithm, namely TSA (Time Series Adaptation), to decide the best cell in UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems). The proposed algorithm has the advantage of selecting the strongest RSCP cell out of neighboring cells for the cell reselection by utilizing time series parameters (e.g., β0 and β1). We evaluate the proposed cell reselection with TSA through the real-system testbed (Stand Alone Simulator). As a result, the TSA provides a proper decision for the cell reselection thereby avoiding the occurrence of unnecessary ping-pong cell reselection.
Serum asparaginase activities and asparagine concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid after a single infusion of 2,500 IU/m2 PEG asparaginase in children with ALL treated according to protocol COALL‐06‐97

Pharmacological surrogate parameters are considered a useful tool in estimating the treatment intensity of asparaginase (ASNase) preparations. When a pegylated ASNase (single infusion of 2,500 IU/m2 polyethylene glycol (PEG)‐ASNase, Oncaspar™) was introduced into the treatment protocols of the German Cooperative Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (COALL) study group, this was accompanied by a drug monitoring programme measuring serum ASNase activity and asparagine (ASN) concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in 70 children.
The Role of Septal Surgery in Management of the Deviated Nose

The deviated nose represents a complex cosmetic and functional problem. Septal surgery plays a central role in the successful management of the externally deviated nose. This study included 260 patients seeking rhinoplasty to correct external nasal deviations; 75 percent of them had various degrees of nasal obstruction. Septal surgery was necessary in 232 patients (89 percent), not only to improve breathing but also to achieve a straight, symmetrical, external nose as well. A graduated surgical approach was adopted to allow correction of the dorsal and caudal deviations of the nasal septum without weakening its structural support to the dorsum or nasal tip. The approach depended on full mobilization of deviated cartilage, followed by straightening of the cartilage and its fixation in the corrected position by using bony splinting grafts through an external rhinoplasty approach.
Violating Assumptions with Fuzzing

Fuzzing is a highly automated testing technique that covers numerous boundary cases using invalid data (from files, network protocols, API calls, and other targets) as application input to better ensure the absence of exploitable vulnerabilities. Fuzzing lets developers or quality assurance (QA) teams test large numbers of boundary cases when doing so with techniques such as functional testing would be cost prohibitive. Comprehensive negative test cases - those that verify that a product does not do something it shouldn't do, rather than that it does something it is supposed to (positive test cases) - are difficult to construct because the number of possible permutations is astronomical. Yet, fuzzing covers a significant portion of negative test cases without forcing the tester to deal with each specific test case for a given boundary condition.
The Criminal Careers of Arsonists

This paper replicates a 1973 study of the criminal careers of arsonists (Soothill and Pope, 1973). It compares the original series of those convicted at the high court of arson in England and Wales in 1951 (n=74) with three new series of all those convicted in any court in England and Wales in 1963-5 (n=1352), in 1980-1 (n=5584) and in 2000-1 (n=3335). The profile of convicted arsonists has significantly shifted over the years, with an increasing proportion of females and a rise in the average age of both males and females. Previous convictions for violence and criminal damage (including arson) are much more evident in the later series. The proportion of medical disposals has declined, while the 1:2 ratio for custodial/non-custodial sentences has remained constant. With a 20-year follow-up the proportion reconvicted for arson has more than doubled – from 4.5% in the 1951 series to 10.7% for the 1980-1 series. The indications are that the situation in relation to arson has deteriorated significantly over the past forty years.
Energy drink consumption among medical high school students in Serbia

Energy drinks have become very popular among adolescents. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of energy drink consumption alone and in combination with alcohol among medical high school students according to gender and grade, as well as to evaluate their knowledge of its adverse eff ects. The cross-sectional survey was conducted using an anonymous questionnaire. A total of 258 medical high school students, 162 female and 96 male, were surveyed. The χ 2 -test was used to test age and gender diff erences in energy drink consumption. Study results showed nearly half of the students to take energy drinks, 1.56% of them taking these beverages every day. A higher percentage of female students did not take these drinks (54%), while 32% of male students reported taking these drinks once a week. Also, 28% of consumers of these beverages reported taking alcohol mixed with energy drinks. In conclusion, a signifi cant proportion of medical high school students used energy drinks. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of long-term energy drink consumption. It is also necessary to focus on the problem of mixing energy drinks with alcohol and to implement appropriate school based health promotion programs among medical high school students that will help them gain knowledge and skills for applying health promotion in their future medical profession.
Molecular definition of chromosome arm 5q deletion end points and detection of hidden aberrations in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes and isolated del(5q) using oligonucleotide array CGH

Isolated deletions of the long arm of chromosome 5, del(5q), are observed in 10% of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and are associated with a more favorable prognosis, although the clinical course varies considerably. If one or more additional chromosomal aberrations are present, this correlates with a significantly shorter overall survival. To assess the frequency of hidden abnormalities in cases with an isolated cytogenetic del(5q), we have performed a genome wide high resolution 44 K 60mer oligonucleotide array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) study using DNA from bone marrow cells of 12 MDS and one AML patient. In one case a single additional hidden 5.6 Mb deletion of 13q14 and in another case multiple larger aberrations involving many chromosomes were found. Fluorescence in situ hybridization demonstrated that aberrations present in 35% of the bone marrow cells can be detected by aCGH. Furthermore with oligonucleotide aCGH the deletion end points in 5q were mapped precisely, revealing a cluster of proximal breakpoints in band q14.3 (n = 8) and a distal cluster between bands q33.2 and q34 (n = 11). This study shows the high resolution of oligonucleotide CGH arrays for precisely mapping genomic alterations and for refinement of deletion end points. In addition, the high sensitivity of this method enables the study of whole bone marrow cells from MDS patients, a disease with a low blast count. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Exploratory wavelet analysis of dengue seasonal patterns in Colombia.

INTRODUCTION Dengue has a seasonal behavior associated with climatic changes, vector cycles, circulating serotypes, and population dynamics. The wavelet analysis makes it possible to separate a very long time series into calendar time and periods. This is the first time this technique is used in an exploratory manner to model the behavior of dengue in Colombia. OBJECTIVE To explore the annual seasonal dengue patterns in Colombia and in its five most endemic municipalities for the period 2007 to 2012, and for roughly annual cycles between 1978 and 2013 at the national level. MATERIALS AND METHODS We made an exploratory wavelet analysis using data from all incident cases of dengue per epidemiological week for the period 2007 to 2012, and per year for 1978 to 2013. We used a first-order autoregressive model as the null hypothesis. RESULTS The effect of the 2010 epidemic was evident in both the national time series and the series for the five municipalities. Differences in interannual seasonal patterns were observed among municipalities. In addition, we identified roughly annual cycles of 2 to 5 years since 2004 at a national level. CONCLUSIONS Wavelet analysis is useful to study a long time series containing changing seasonal patterns, as is the case of dengue in Colombia, and to identify differences among regions. These patterns need to be explored at smaller aggregate levels, and their relationships with different predictive variables need to be investigated.