Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cardiovascular risk assessment beyond SCORE : a role for organ damage markers

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) risk assessment in the clinical practice is mostly based on risk charts, such as Framingham risk score and Systemic Coronary Risk Estimation (SCORE). These enable clinicians to estimate the impact of CV risk factors and to assess individual CV risk profile. Risk charts however do not take into account subclinical organ damage, which exerts independent influence on risk and may amplify the estimated risk profile. Inclusion of organ damage markers in the assessment may thus contribute to improve this process. Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the influence of implementation of SCORE charts with widely available indexes of organ damage, with the purpose to ameliorate individual risk assessment. Methodology: We searched www.Pubmed. gov for evidence about the predictive value of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), microalbuminuria (MAU) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) on different risk profiles estimated by SCORE. Interventional and observational studies with at least 200 subjects included, published after 2000 were selected Results: The presence of organ damage as well as the number of abnormal parameters indicating organ damage are associated with increased CV risk, independently of SCORE. In the area of high risk the impact of different markers of organ damage is heterogeneous. Combined risk models of SCORE and subclinical organ damage have major impact on risk stratification and may impact on recommendation in primary prevention in all SCORE categories. Conclusion: Available evidence suggest a tangible clinical advantage of adding the evaluation of simple organ damage markers to risk charts in cardiovascular risk prediction. Condensed abstract Current evidence suggests that the risk assessment derived by available cardiovascular risk charts may benefit from adding the evaluation of target organ damage indexes, such as left ventricular hypertrophy, microalbuminuria and other simple clinical parameters. The inclusion of these elements in the risk assessment may permit to refine better the estimation of individual risk and to improve practical clinical strategies on a large-scale population.
Local and geographical factors jointly drive elevational patterns in three microbial groups across subarctic ponds

Aim Elevational biodiversity patterns are understudied in high-latitude aquatic systems, even though these systems are important for detecting very early impacts of climatic changes on Earth. The aim of this study was to examine the elevational trends in species richness and local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD) of three biofilm microbial groups in freshwater ponds and to identify the key mechanisms underlying these patterns. Location One hundred and forty-six ponds in subarctic Finland and Norway distributed across the tree line along an elevational gradient of 10–1,038 m a.s. l. , spanning from forested landscape to barren boulder fields. Time period July–August 2015. Major taxa studied Diatoms, cyanobacteria and non-cyanobacteria. Methods Generalized linear models were used to identify the most important pond variables explaining richness and LCBD. Structural equation models were used to explore the direct and indirect effects of multiscale drivers on richness and LCBD. Results Diatom and cyanobacteria richness showed unimodal elevational patterns, whereas non-cyanobacteria richness decreased with increasing elevation. The LCBD–elevation relationship was U-shaped for all three microbial groups. Diatom and cyanobacteria richness and LCBD were best explained by local pond variables, especially by pH. Non-cyanobacteria richness and LCBD were related to pond variables, elevation as a proxy for climatic conditions, and normalized difference vegetation index as a proxy for terrestrial productivity. Main conclusions Aquatic autotrophs were primarily controlled by environmental filtering, whereas heterotrophic bacteria were also affected by terrestrial productivity and elevation. All studied aspects of microbial diversity were directly or indirectly linked to elevation; therefore, climatic changes may greatly alter aquatic microbial assemblages.
Concentrations of Progesterone and the 5 ea-Reduced Progestins , 5 ea-Pregnane-3 , 20-Dione and 3 ca-Hydroxy-5 a-Pregnan-20-One , in Luteal Tissue and Circulating Blood and Their Relationship to Luteal Function in the African Elephant , Loxodonta africana '

The 5ot-reduced metabolites 5-pregnane-3,20-dione (SoaDHP) and 3-hydroxy-5a-pregnan-20-one (5a-P-3ot-OH) are the principal progestins biosynthesized by the African elephant corpus luteum. The aim of the present study was to determine luteal and circulating concentrations of these 5ao-reduced progestins in relation to progesterone (P4) and to examine whether their measurement reflects corpus luteum function. Ovarian (luteal) tissue (30 corpora lutea and 3 corpora rubra from 8 animals) and plasma samples (30 animals) were collected from pregnant and nonpregnant adult elephants shot in the Kruger National Park. Specific immunological measurement for both 5r-reduced progestins and P4 was achieved by enzymeimmunoassay of tissue and plasma extracts following purification by HPLC. Mean (+ SEM) luteal concentrations of 5ot-DHP and 5atP-3et-OH were 79,5 + 9.4 tIg/g and 196.5 24.8 Itg/g, respectively, approximately 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than those of P4 (mean SEM, 0.16 0.01 iLg/g). Whereas 5arreduced progestin concentrations tended to be lower in corpora lutea from late pregnancy compared with earlier stages and were lowest in corpora rubra, P4 levels were similar in all tissues/stages examined. The 5ot-reduced progestins also predominated over P4 in plasma (mean 5ao-DHP:P 4 and 5ao-P-3-OH:P4 ratios 20.3 and 13.4, respectively). Similar to results for luteal tissue, plasma concentrations of 5or-reduced progestins, but not of P4, were lower in late pregnancy than in earlier gestation stages and in nonpregnant animals. Moreover, plasma levels of both 5ar-reduced metabolites were negatively correlated with gestation age, whereas those of P4 were not. Levels of 5ot-reduced metabolites (without chromatography) were also measured in weekly blood samples throughout two complete ovarian cycles in one captive female. Both measurements showed a cyclic profile (similar to that of P4) with a luteal-phase elevation of 10to 15-fold. The results indicate that 5-reduced compounds are the predominant progestins contained within and secreted by the corpus luteum of the African elephant, both during the ovarian cycle and throughout pregnancy. They also provide preliminary evidence to suggest that measurements of 5a-reduced metabolites may reflect corpus luteum function more closely than those of P4.
Research, part of a Special Feature on Urban ecological and social-ecological research in the City of Cape Town Monkey Management: Using Spatial Ecology to Understand the Extent and Severity of Human-Baboon Conflict in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa

Conflict with humans poses one of the greatest threats to the persistence and survival of all wildlife. In the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, human-baboon conflict levels remain high despite substantial investment by conservation authorities in a variety of mitigation measures. Here we explore how spatial ecology can inform wildlife managers on the extent and severity of both current and projected human-baboon conflict. We apply conservative and generous densities—2.3 and 5.9 baboons/km2 —to hypothetical landscape management scenarios to estimate whether the chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) population in the Cape Peninsula is currently overabundant. We correlate conflict indices with spatial variables to explain intertroop differences in conflict levels. We investigate how an understanding of key elements of baboon ecology, including sleeping-site characteristics and intertroop territoriality, can direct management efforts and mitigate conflict. Our findings suggest that the current population of 475 baboons is below even the most conservative density estimate and that the area could potentially sustain up to 799 baboons. Conflict levels correlated positively with the loss of access to low-lying land through habitat transformation (Pearson r = 0.77, p = 0.015, n = 9 troops), and negatively with the distance of sleeping sites from the urban edge (Pearson r = 0.81, p = 0.001, n = 9 troops). Despite the availability of suitable sleeping sites elsewhere, more than half of all troops slept <500 m from the urban edge, resulting in increased spatial overlap and conflict with residents. Evidence for intertroop territoriality suggested that troop removal to mitigate human-baboon conflict would only be a short-term solution because neighboring troops are predicted to usurp the vacated home range and thus perpetuate the cycle of conflict. Together these findings suggest that an understanding of wildlife spatial ecology in a semi-urban context can be used to identify current and predicted landscape-level causes of human-baboon conflict. This information can be used to formulate sustainable long-term landscape management and conservation plans so that less costly and controversial direct wildlife management is required, and so ultimately fewer animals and humans suffer the costs of conflict.
HERSCHEL PACS OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING OF DEBRIS DISKS IN THE TUCANA-HOROLOGIUM ASSOCIATION

We present Herschel PACS photometry of 17 B- to M-type stars in the 30 Myr old Tucana-Horologium Association. This work is part of the Herschel Open Time Key Programme “Gas in Protoplanetary Systems”. 6 of the 17 targets were found to have infrared excesses significantly greater than the expected stellar IR fluxes, including a previously unknown disk around HD30051. These six debris disks were fitted with single-temperature blackbody models to estimate the temperatures and abundances of the dust in the systems. For the five stars that show excess emission in the Herschel PACS photometry and also have Spitzer IRS spectra, we fit the data with models of optically thin debris disks with realistic grain properties in order to better estimate the disk parameters. The model is determined by a set of six parameters: surface density index, grain size distribution index, minimum and maximum grain sizes, and the inner and outer radii of the disk. The best-fitting parameters give us constraints on the geometry of the dust in these systems, as well as lower limits to the total dust masses. The HD105 disk was further constrained by fitting marginally resolved PACS 70 μm imaging.
High School Students’ Intrinsic and Extrinsic Regulation in Learning Biology

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate high school students’ intrinsic and extrinsic regulations whenlearning biology. Participants included 565 high school students in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth gradesfrom different schools in different cities. The data was collected through the motivational regulation scale. In thereliability and validity analysis, the 17-item and four-dimension scale included two dimensions and nine items. Theinternal consistency reliability of the scale was 0.76. The analysis indicated that students learn better because theyenjoy biology, do their homework willingly and find the subject entertaining. On the other hand, it was noted thatthe most important goal for the students centered on attaining high scores. Female students’ intrinsic and extrinsicregulations were higher than those of the male students. It was also found that the ninth grade biology students’extrinsic regulations were higher compared to other students.
Impacts of climate change on Livestock production and productivity and different adaptation strategies in Ethiopia

This review work was conducted to explore the likely impacts of climate change on livestock production and productivity and different adaptation strategies in Ethiopia. National average temperature has increased by 1 0 c since the 1960s. Most of the livestock owners in the country perceive there is a climate change impacts on Livestock production and productivity. The major effects of climate change on livestock production include feed shortage, shortage of water, livestock genetic resources loss, reduced productivity, and decreased mature weight and/or longer time to reach mature weight in their order of importance. Higher temperatures resulting from climate change may increase the rate of development of certain pathogens or parasites that have one or more life cycle stages outside their animal host. Furthermore, the spatial distribution and availability of pasture and water are highly dependent on the pattern and availability of rainfall. Shortage of feed and water contribute to reduced productivity and reproductive performance of livestock. This includes slow growth rate of animals, loss of body condition, reduced milk production and poor reproductive performance in mature animals. Draught oxen that are emaciated and in poor body condition cannot provide adequate draught power for plowing, and thus affects crop cultivation. Bush encroachment as well as population pressure lead to diminishing availability of good pasture and hence to a decline in the total number of animals. Different adaptation options are followed by Livestock owners, such as Conservation of feed, out-migration of some household members to earn additional income, destocking, settlement and intensification of livestock production, undertaking supplementary income generating activities and awareness creation on the factors affecting climate change.
Flash Lidar: Monte Carlo Estimates of Ballistic, Diffuse, and Noise Photons as Recorded by Linear and Geiger Detector Arrays

Abstract : A description is provided of a model that estimates the numbers of ballistic photons, diffuse photons, and "noise photons" arriving at the focal plane array of a lidar, resulting from a series of pulses of laser energy directed at a target, in the presence of obscurant. Inputs to the model include laser wavelength, pulse energy, number of pulses integrated, obscurant optical depth (number of scattering lengths) and forward scattering factor, target range, target structure and reflectivity, lidar aperture diameter and focal length, pixel pitch, time bin, defector noise level, and an efficiency factor related to such parameters as optics transmissivity, beam-spreading factor, defector fill factor, and defector quantum efficiency. Model outputs include three-dimensional plots of numbers of ballistic, diffuse, and noise photons versus focal plane array (FPA) x and y coordinate, and time delay after first ballistic photon arrival, for both linear and Geiger-mode defector arrays. The model can be useful for performance prediction of flash lidars in the presence of obscurants. A procedure is provided for remapping Geiger images, to improve their interpretability. The model is also shown to agree with diffusion theory in the limits of large optical depth and small forward scattering factor.
No . CS-TR-1206 June , 2010 Automatic Software Deployment in the Azure Cloud

For application providers, cloud computing has the advantage that it reduces the administrative effort required to satisfy processing and storage requirements. However, to simplify the task of building scalable applications, some of the cloud computing platforms impose constraints on the application architecture, its implementation and tools that may be used in development; Microsoft Azure is no exception. In this paper we show how an existing drug discovery system --Discovery Bus --can benefit from Azure even though none of its components was built in the . Net framework. Using an approach based on the “Deployment and Configuration of Component-based Applications Specification” (D&C), we were able to assemble and deploy jobs that include different types of process-based tasks. We show how extending D&C deployment models with temporal and spatial constraints provided the flexibility needed to move all the compute-intensive tasks within the Discovery Bus to Azure with no changes to their original code. © 2010 University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Printed and published by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Computing Science, Claremont Tower, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England. Bibliographical details CALA, J., WATSON, P. Automatic Software Deployment in the Azure Cloud [By] J. Cala, P. Watson Newcastle upon Tyne: University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Computing Science, 2010. (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Computing Science, Technical Report Series, No. CS-TR-1206)
The gamma-ray millisecond pulsar deathline, revisited - New velocity and distance measurements

Context. Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) represent nearly half of the more than 160 currently known γ-ray pulsars detected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi satellite, and a third of all known MSPs are seen in γ rays. The least energetic γ-ray MSPs enable us to probe the so-called deathline for high-energy emission, i.e., the spin-down luminosity limit under which pulsars (PSRs) cease to produce detectable high-energy radiation. Characterizing the MSP luminosity distribution helps to determine their contribution to the Galactic diffuse γ-ray emission. Aims. Because of the Shklovskii effect, precise proper motion and distance measurements are key ingredients for determining the spin-down luminosities of MSPs accurately. Our aim is to obtain new measurements of these parameters for γ-ray MSPs when possible, and clarify the relationship between the γ-ray luminosity of pulsars and their spin-down luminosity. Detecting low spin-down luminosity pulsars in γ rays and characterizing their spin properties is also particularly interesting for constraining the deathline for high-energy emission. Methods. We made use of the high-quality pulsar timing data recorded at the Nancay Radio Telescope over several years to characterize the properties of a selection of MSPs. For one of the pulsars, the dataset was complemented with Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope observations. The rotation ephemerides derived from this analysis were also used to search the LAT data for new γ-ray MSPs. Results. For the MSPs considered in this study, we obtained new transverse proper motion measurements or updated the existing ones, and placed new distance constraints for some of them, with four new timing parallax measurements. We discovered significant GeV γ-ray signals from four MSPs, i.e., PSRs J0740+6620, J0931−1902, J1455−3330, and J1730−2304. The latter is now the least energetic γ-ray pulsar found to date. Despite the improved ˙ E and L γ estimates, the relationship between these two quantities remains unclear, especially at low ˙ E values.
Identification of the optical and near-infrared counterpart of GRS 1758-258

Context. Understood to be a microquasar in the Galactic center region, GRS 1758-258 has not yet been unambiguously identified to have an optical/near-infrared counterpart, mainly because of the high absorption and the historic lack of suitable astrometric stars, which led to the use of secondary astrometric solutions. Although it is considered with 1E 1740.7-2942 as the prototypical microquasar in the Galactic center region, the Galactic origin of both sources has not yet been confirmed. Aims. We attempt to improve previous astrometry to identify a candidate counterpart to GRS 1758-258. We present observations with the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC), in which we try to detect any powerful emission lines that would infer an extragalactic origin of this source. Methods. We use modern star catalogues to reanalyze archival images of the GRS 1758-258 field in the optical and near-infrared wavelengths, and compute a new astrometric solution. We also reanalyzed archival radio data of GRS 1758-258 to determine a new and more accurate radio position. Results. Our improved astrometric solution for the GRS 1758-258 field represents a significant advancement on previous works and allows us to identify a single optical/near-infrared source, which we propose as the counterpart of GRS 1758-258. The GTC spectrum of this source is however of low signal-to-noise ratio and does not rule out a Galactic origin. Hence, new spectral observations are required to confirm or discard a Galactic nature.
Loughborough University Institutional Repository Sport policy convergence : a framework for analysis

The growth in the comparative analysis of sport management processes and policy has led to an increased interest in the concept of convergence. However, the concept is too often treated as unproblematic in definition, measurement and operationalisation. It is argued in this paper that a more effective framework for examining claims of convergence is one that analyses the concept in terms of seven dimensions which can be explored through a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. It is also argued that a deeper understanding of the process of convergence can be gained by operationalising the concept in the context of a selected range of meso-level theories of the policy process or of specific aspects of the process. The proposed analytic framework provides not only a definition of convergence, but also the basis for a more nuanced investigation of hypotheses of convergence.
Mobile Robot Path Finding Using Invariant Landmarks

This paper proposes a new path-finding scheme using viewpoint-invariant landmarks. The scheme introduces the concept of landmark detection in images captured with a vision sensor attached to a mobile robot, and provides landmark clues to determine a path. Experiment results show that the scheme efficiently detects landmarks with changes in scenes due to the robot’s movement. The scheme accurately detects landmarks and reduces the overall landmark computation cost. The robot moves in the room to capture different images. It can efficiently detect landmarks in the room from different viewpoints of each scene. The outcome of the proposed scheme results in accurate and obstacle-free path estimation.
Frictions and Investment : Estimation with Structural Restrictions

We investigate how, by affecting financial frictions, country-specific institutions (such as shareholder and creditor rights) influence firm-level investment decisions. Using a structural model, we investigate two channels for the effects of institutions: on the cost of capital at the firm (micro) and on the required rate of return at the country (macro) level. Using a panel of 75,000 firm-years from 48 countries over the period 1990-2007, we find that: (i) countrylevel institutions affect firms’ investment behavior; (ii) shareholder rights affect financial frictions and investment more than other institutions (e.g., product market competition, creditor rights) do; and (iii) the effects are especially pronounced for small firms with large financing needs, suggesting that stronger shareholder rights lead to a more efficient allocation of capital. These results suggest that improved corporate governance is key for reducing productivity dispersion across firms and foster economic growth. JEL Classification Numbers: G30, O16, O43
Do Social Norms Matter to Energy-Saving Behavior? Endogenous Social and Correlated Effects

A growing number of survey-based studies have examined individual environmental behavior and support the idea that social norms are an important determinant of the behavior. We depart from the literature by estimating a structural model of the social interactions in an individual’s decision to engage in energy-saving practices and account for the methodological issues that are inherent in survey data: simultaneity, common shocks, and nonrandom group selection. Using data from a Japanese household survey, we find that the influence of social norms on individuals’ energy-saving practices is small or insignificant and that unobserved individual characteristics are correlated between members in a group. Although based on a specific sample and a particular identification strategy, our results illustrate that reduced-form evidence, of positive correlation among group members, which is abundant in the literature, should be interpreted with caution because it may not reflect causation.