Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Why, How, and When of the Siloam Tunnel Reevaluated: A Reply to Sneh, Weinberger, and Shalev

In a recent article in this journal, geologists Amihai Sneh, Ram Weinberger, and Eyal Shalev proposed a new model for the why, how, and when of the Iron Age II Siloam Tunnel in ancient Jerusalem. Here we focus on the how of their contribution. Offered without presentation of new data or discussion of recently published evidence, their model is a refinement of ideas introduced since the early 20th century, mostly by scholars who had little geological knowledge and/or who failed to observe the internal features of the tunnel. Their model suggests that the tunnel follows a natural winding route of interconnected karstic cavities along fissures and bedding planes by jumping from one into the other close to the water table. Although theoretically possible in other karstic terrains, such a model is not applicable to the Siloam Tunnel because it clashes with the geological and other field evidence manifested along the tunnel. Our field observations show no indications of a groundwater water table close to the tunnel, nor does the tunnel follow fissures, bedding planes, or karstic voids for longer than a few meters. Such geological features, where existent, are accidentally crossed by the tunnel, whose route was determined by other considerations.
The effect of directional net stresses on the directional permeability of coal

Many researchers have found that coal permeability is strongly inversely proportional to the net stress levels. However, most of the supporting lab data was gathered with hydrostatic/isotropic external stresses, quite unrepresentative of in situ conditions. It is well known that the in situ stress vectors are quite anisotropic, with the maximum principal stress (usually horizontal tectonic) being as much as 50% greater than the minimum principal stress (whether horizontal or vertical). Also, most coal basins exhibit face cleat orientation parallel to the maximum principal stress. The inferred stress-shear strain relationship poses the question of how would the directional permeability of a coal seam be affected by changing directional external net stresses, when these are parallel, perpendicular or oblique to the face cleats or other directions? This paper addresses the question and summarises tests done on Permian age coal from China’s Sunan Basin and Australia’s Bowen Basin, utilising a True Triaxial Stress Coal Permeameter. This test facility delivers three independently controlled external stresses on cubic or prismatic specimens, with flow along any one of the three specimen axes. Investigations were carried out on 40, 80 and 200 mm cubes and on an 80x80x160 mm prism. Our results indicate that an increase of the net stress along the flowing face cleat direction actually increases cleat permeability significantly. An increase of the net stress in the butt cleat direction generally reduces face cleat permeability at an exponential rate, while an increase in the vertical net stress generally results in a mild increase in both face cleat and vertical permeability. An important conclusion is that laboratory investigations of coal permeability need to provide for the orientation of the maximum principal stress and the orientation of face cleats corresponding to the in situ condition for the coal reservoir under study. The resulting more accurate profiling of permeability behaviour over time can be applied to aid exploration, to engineering design of well trajectories and to forecasts of gas drainage, production profiles and reserves, including reservoir modelling.
Prevalence of Nutritional Anaemia among College Students and its Correlation with their Body Mass Index

Nutritional anaemia affects all age and sex groups in India. Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common micronutrient deficiency in the world affecting more than 2 billion persons. The Present study is an attempt to assess the prevalence of nutritional anaemia among College students in order to sensitize the masses about its impacts. 120 college students in the age group of 18-27 years studying in the UG and PG Classes of Zoology of JCDAV College, Dasuya, Punjab were the subjects of study. They came from different socio economic, cultural backgrounds and various geographical regions of the country. Haemoglobin estimation was performed by sahli’s Haemoglobinometer and observations were interpreted as per WHO criteria. The study showed that only 29.17 % students were normal and 70.83 % were affected with various grades of anaemia condition. 50% subjects being mildly anaemic and 20% moderately anaemic while 0.83% suffered from severe anaemia. Various socio-demographic characteristics like age, sex, social class, dietary habits and infections are the etiological factors for nutritional anaemia. Further studies with a large sample size are needed to draw out the exact proportion for prevalence of anaemia so that appropriate remedial measures can be taken.
Rate of Performance Change in American Female Weightlifters Over Ten Years of Competition

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rates of performance change for American female weightlifters over 10 years of competition. Athlete performance results were gathered from the United States Weightlifting open access, results archive, database. Data was delimited to athletes (N ≥ 750) that competed in Youth or Junior Nationals to ensure athletes were <21yrs old at the first recorded competition. Competition results were converted to strength to mass (SM) ratios to control for the effect of bodyweight on performance. Starting with the first competition date, the highest SM for the snatch (SNT), clean and jerk (CJ) and combined total (T), in three month segments for three years, and six month segments over 10 years, were recorded. Observed percentage change in SM and Cohen’s d effect size (ES) between each 3-and 6-month segment and the first competition (baseline), for the SNT, CJ and T, was determined. Positive change in rate of performance peaked between time segments baseline-6mo and 7mo–12mo for the SNT (+8.7%, SM 0.68±0.19 to 0.74±0.19, ES=0.34), CJ (+7.7%, SM 0.90±0.24 to 0.97±0.24, ES=0.31) and T (+8.2%, SM 1.57±0.41 to 1.71±0.42 ES=0.34). Total performance increase over 10yrs for the SNT was 27.7% (Year 1 SM 0.68±0.18, year 10 SM 1.13±0.24, ES=0.96), the CJ 22.2% (Year 1 SM 0.90±0.23, year 10 SM 1.40±0.30, ES=0.84), and T 25.0% (Year 1 SM 1.56±0.41, year 10 SM 2.53±0.53, ES=0.91). Observed rates in performance change could be useful for weightlifting coaches as a barometer for evaluating training program outcomes over time.
Radiographic Landmarks for Locating the Femoral Origin of the Superficial Medial Collateral Ligament

Background: Little has been written about the use of radiographic landmarks for locating the origin of the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL). A standardized radiographic landmark for the sMCL origin using intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging may be of value in aiding the surgeon in accurate femoral tunnel placement in the setting of extensive soft tissue disruption and bony attrition. Purpose: To determine a reproducible radiographic landmark that will assist in correct femoral tunnel placement in sMCL repair and reconstruction. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Ten fresh-frozen unmatched human cadaveric knees were dissected, and the origin of the sMCL was exposed. A 2-mm metallic marker was then placed at the center of the femoral origin of the sMCL. True lateral fluoroscopically assisted digital radiographs were obtained of the knee with the posterior and distal femoral condyles overlapping in a standardized fashion. With the use of computer software, reference lines were drawn on the images, creating 4 quadrants. Two independent examiners performed quantitative measurements of the sMCL origin in relation to this axis and to the Blumensaat line. Results: Mean measurements showed the sMCL origin to be closely related to the intersection point of the Blumensaat line and a line drawn distally from the posterior femoral cortex on a true lateral radiograph. The sMCL origin was found at a mean point 1.6 ± 4.3 mm posterior and 4.9 ± 2.1 mm proximal to the intersection of a line paralleling the posterior femoral cortex and a line drawn perpendicular to the posterior femoral cortical line, where it intersects the Blumensaat line. In 5 of 10 specimens, the center of the sMCL origin fell precisely on the Blumensaat line. The remaining specimens had sMCL origins anterior to the Blumensaat line. The femoral origin of the sMCL was found in the proximal and posterior quadrants in 8 of 10 specimens. Conclusion: With a relatively small amount of deviation, the sMCL origin can be consistently identified on a true lateral radiograph of the knee using reproducible reference lines on fluoroscopic imaging. Clinical Relevance: Accurate identification of the femoral origin of the sMCL can be accomplished by intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging. This information may be of significant benefit in repairing acute injuries and in reconstructive procedures complicated by bony attrition and soft tissue loss.
Dynamic Search on a Tree with Information-Directed Random Walk

The problem of detecting a few anomalous processes among a large number of data streams is considered. At each time, aggregated observations can be taken from a chosen subset of the processes, where the chosen subset conforms to a given tree structure. The random observations are drawn from a general distribution that may depend on the size of the chosen subset and the number of anomalous processes in the subset. We propose a sequential search strategy by devising an information-directed random walk (IRW) on the tree-structured observation hierarchy. The sample complexity of the IRW policy is shown to be asymptotically optimal with respect to the detection accuracy and order optimal with respect to the number of data streams. The results also find applications in noisy group testing, active learning, and channel coding with feedback.
A Generic Bet-and-Run Strategy for Speeding Up Stochastic Local Search

A common strategy for improving optimization algorithms is to restart the algorithm when it is believed to be trapped in an inferior part of the search space. However, while specific restart strategies have been developed for specific problems (and specific algorithms), restarts are typically not regarded as a general tool to speed up an optimization algorithm. In fact, many optimization algorithms do not employ restarts at all. Recently, "bet-and-run" was introduced in the context of mixed-integer programming, where first a number of short runs with randomized initial conditions is made, and then the most promising run of these is continued. In this article, we consider two classical NP-complete combinatorial optimization problems, traveling salesperson and minimum vertex cover, and study the effectiveness of different bet-and-run strategies. In particular, our restart strategies do not take any problem knowledge into account, nor are tailored to the optimization algorithm. Therefore, they can be used off-the-shelf. We observe that state-of-the-art solvers for these problems can benefit significantly from restarts on standard benchmark instances.
Exploring Normalization in Deep Residual Networks with Concatenated Rectified Linear Units

Deep Residual Networks (ResNets) have recently achieved state-of-the-art results on many challenging computer vision tasks. In this work we analyze the role of Batch Normalization (BatchNorm) layers on ResNets in the hope of improving the current architecture and better incorporating other normalization techniques, such as Normalization Propagation (NormProp), into ResNets. Firstly, we verify that BatchNorm helps distribute representation learning to residual blocks at all layers, as opposed to a plain ResNet without BatchNorm where learning happens mostly in the latter part of the network. We also observe that BatchNorm well regularizes Concatenated ReLU (CReLU) activation scheme on ResNets, whose magnitude of activation grows by preserving both positive and negative responses when going deeper into the network. Secondly, we investigate the use of NormProp as a replacement for BatchNorm in ResNets. Though NormProp theoretically attains the same effect as BatchNorm on generic convolutional neural networks, the identity mapping of ResNets invalidates its theoretical promise and NormProp exhibits a significant performance drop when naively applied. To bridge the gap between BatchNorm and NormProp in ResNets, we propose a simple modification to NormProp and employ the CReLU activation scheme. We experiment on visual object recognition benchmark datasets such as CIFAR-10/100 and ImageNet and demonstrate that 1) the modified NormProp performs better than the original NormProp but is still not comparable to BatchNorm and 2) CReLU improves the performance of ResNets with or without normalizations.
Exacerbation recovery patterns in newly diagnosed or maintenance treatment-naïve patients with COPD: secondary analyses of TICARI 1 trial data

Background Little is known about the recovery patterns from acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in newly diagnosed or maintenance treatment-naïve patients with COPD. This study describes the course of AECOPD in these patients at the time of treatment for the symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection (RTI). Methods This study was a secondary analysis of data from a 12-week, randomized clinical trial (TICARI 1) testing the efficacy and safety of once-daily tiotropium 18 µg maintenance therapy versus placebo in newly diagnosed or maintenance treatment-naïve COPD patients with acute RTI symptoms for ≤7 days. Patients received standard care for AECOPD and RTI. Due to under-recruitment, the trial ended early and hence was underpowered to detect treatment differences. Data were pooled and exacerbation recovery patterns examined by using the EXAcerbation of Chronic Pulmonary Disease Tool (EXACT), forced expiratory volume in 1 second, rescue medication use, COPD Assessment Test™, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy–Short Form, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire: Respiratory Symptoms. Results Of 140 patients, 73.6% had a prior COPD diagnosis without maintenance therapy; 80.0% had moderate-to-severe airflow obstruction. In addition to study drug, 40.0% were prescribed pharmacologic therapy (corticosteroids [34.3%], antibiotics [16.4%], and short-acting β2-adrenergic agonists [5.0%]) within ±7 days of randomization. Over 12 weeks, 78.6% exhibited symptomatic recovery (EXACT score) in a median of 5.0 days. Across all patients, 49.3% recovered without relapse, 29.3% recovered and then relapsed, and 21.4% had persistent symptoms (recovery criteria unmet). Conclusion A substantial portion of newly diagnosed or maintenance treatment-naïve patients with COPD experience relapse or persistent symptoms following a clinic visit for AECOPD with symptoms of RTI. Whether initiating maintenance therapy could improve outcomes and reduce exacerbation risk requires further study.
Effects of Dietary Punica granatum L. By-products on Performance, Immunity, Intestinal and Fecal Microbiology, and Odorous Gas Emissions from Excreta in Broilers

The fruit Punica granatum L. has been used for years in traditional medicine owing to the presence of several phytobiotics with antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with Punica granatum L. by-products (PGB) on performance, immunity, intestinal and excreta microflora, and odorous gas emissions from excreta of broiler chickens. Three experimental diets containing 0, 0.5 and 1.0% PGB were fed to 240 one-day-old broiler chicks until 35 days. Dietary PGB linearly reduced the average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio of broilers. Supplementation with 1% PGB led to a linear increase in the relative weight of the spleen and bursa of Fabricius. The concentration of serum IgA and IgG increased linearly in response to dietary PGB. In the ileal digesta, the concentration of Saccharomyces cerevisiae increased linearly and quadratically in response to dietary PGB. Moreover, dietary PGB led to a linear decrease in Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. alongside reducing the pH of the ileal digesta. In the cecal digesta, the concentration of Bacillus bacteria increased linearly in response to both levels of dietary PGB, while the concentrations of E. coli and Salmonella decreased when the diet was supplemented with 1% PGB, as did cecal pH. At 35 day, both levels of PGB increased the concentration of fecal Bacillus, whereas only 1% PGB increased the concentration of S. cerevisiae at 21 day. Increasing levels of PGB induce a linear reduction in fecal E. coli at 21 and 35 day, whereas Salmonella only at 21 day. Regarding the average of 48 h, dietary PGB effectively reduced the emissions of ammonia and methanethiol from broiler excreta. In conclusion, the results suggest that, dietary PGB improved immunity and the intestinal microbial ecosystem of broilers along with reduced odorous gas emissions from excreta.
Jussara palm seed germination under different shade levels

Jussara palm (Euterpe edulis) is a native plant of the Atlantic rainy forest, with large economic interest. The species is shade-tolerant and currently it is restricted to certain areas of difficult access. The most effective way to reintroduce it into the environment or increase the population density for conservation and commercial exploitation is promoting seed propagation. Considering that the jussara palm is an ombrophylous species, this experiment aimed to simulate forest conditions, with different shade levels, to analyze its influence on seed germination. After processing the seeds (depulping), 500 seeds were sown in containers (20 x 30 x 8 cm) filled with forest ground and grown in five shade levels (0, 20, 40,60, and 80%, simulated using black shadenet). The experimental design was blocks at random, with four 25-seed replications. We evaluated the percentage of seed germination and the Emergence Speed Index (ESI). Seed germination started 103 days after sowing. Although the percentage of germinated seeds in the different treatments varied between 53 (0% shade) and 72% (60% shade), there was no significant shade influence over percentage of seed germination and ESI.
Les ingestions de caustiques chez l'enfant étude épidémiologique : à propos de 589 cas

L'ingestion de caustiques chez l'enfant est un accident frequent. La stenose oesophagienne constitue la complication majeure des oesophagites caustiques. But: etudier les caracteristiques epidemiologiques, cliniques et endoscopiques de l'ingestion des caustiques et d'evaluer les modalites therapeutiques des oesophagites. Patients et methodes: les auteurs analysent retrospectivement 589 observations d'ingestion de caustiques colligees dans un service de Pediatrie generale de Tunis sur une periode de dix ans (1990-1999). Resultats: la prevalence hospitaliere de l'ingestion de caustiques est de 2,25%. La tranche d'âge la plus vulnerable se situe entre 1et 3 ans (53,3%. Les produits menagers sont les caustiques les plus incrimines en l'occurrence l'eau de javel (80,5%). La fibroscopie digestive est realisee chez 435 enfants (79,6%). Elle a revele des lesions caustiques chez 112 patients (25,7%). Ces lesions se repartissent en 72 cas d'oesophagites, neuf cas de gastrites et 32 cas de lesions mixtes. Seulement 20 cas d'oesophagites sont consideres graves. Neuf parmi eux ont developpe une stenose oesophagienne dont quatre enfants seulement ont ete traites a la phase aigue par des mega doses de corticoides. Sur les neuf cas de stenose,quatre ont eu recours a un remplacement oeso-colique dont deux apres echec des seances de dilatation oesophagienne. Conclusion: Le risque evolutif vers la stenose oesophagienne incite a developper des nouveaux protocoles therapeutiques et a insister davantage sur les mesures preventives de l'ingestion de caustiques.
How to Uncover Sources of Unwarranted Practice Variation: A Case Study in Emergency Medicine

Forty years of statistical database analyses have demonstrated the existence of unwarranted practice variation in care delivery, that is, variations independent of medical need, evidence, or patient preference. Alas, little is known about the underlying mechanisms and thus finding interventions to reduce unwarranted variations remains difficult, hampering quality, equity, and efficiency of care. Whereas statistical analyses describe deviations from ideal patterns, ethnographically inspired analyses aim at understanding when, how, and why variations occur in practice. Based on case studies derived from shadowing emergency physicians, I demonstrate that analyzing practice variation in practice helps to (a) advance the understanding of mechanisms and (b) evaluate/expand the existing repertoire of interventions. Results revealed unmet expectations and new sources of known variations as well as interventions complementing systemic changes with those that empower individuals to better cope with the existing system. These findings highlight the benefits of mixed-methods for understanding and tackling practice variation.
Scalable Multitask Policy Gradient Reinforcement Learning

Policy search reinforcement learning (RL) allows agents to learn autonomously with limited feedback. However, such methods typically require extensive experience for successful behavior due to their tabula rasa nature. Multitask RL is an approach, which aims to reduce data requirements by allowing knowledge transfer between tasks. Although successful, current multitask learning methods suffer from scalability issues when considering large number of tasks. The main reasons behind this limitation is the reliance on centralized solutions. This paper proposes to a novel distributed multitask RL framework, improving the scalability across many different types of tasks. Our framework maps multitask RL to an instance of general consensus and develops an efficient decentralized solver. We justify the correctness of the algorithm both theoretically and empirically: we first proof an improvement of convergence speed to an order of O(1/k) with k being the number of iterations, and then show our algorithm surpassing others on multiple dynamical system benchmarks.
Occupational moral injury and mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Many people confront potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs) in the course of their work which can violate deeply held moral values or beliefs, putting them at risk for psychological difficulties (e.g. post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, etc.). Aims We aimed to assess the effect of moral injury on mental health outcomes. Method We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between work-related PMIEs and mental health disorders. Studies were independently assessed for methodological quality and potential moderator variables, including participant age, gender and PMIE factors, were also examined. Results Thirteen studies were included, representing 6373 participants. PMIEs accounted for 9.4% of the variance in PTSD, 5.2% of the variance in depression and 2.0% of the variance in suicidality. PMIEs were associated with more symptoms of anxiety and behavioural problems (e.g. hostility), although this relationship was not consistently significant. Moderator analyses indicated that methodological factors (e.g. PMIE measurement tool), demographic characteristics and PMIE variables (e.g. military v. non-military context) did not affect the association between a PMIE and mental health outcomes. Conclusions Most studies examined occupational PMIEs in military samples and additional studies investigating the effect of PMIEs on civilians are needed. Given the limited number of high-quality studies available, only tentative conclusions about the association between exposure to PMIEs and mental health disorders can be made. Declaration of interest None.