Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organic zero-till in the northern US Great Plains Region: Opportunities and obstacles

Abstract The use of killed cover crop mulch for weed suppression, soil erosion prevention and many other soil and crop benefits has been demonstrated in organic no-till or zero-till farming systems in eastern US regions and in Canada. Implements have been developed to make this system possible by terminating cover crops mechanically with little, if any, soil disturbance. Ongoing research in the US northern Great Plains is being conducted to identify cover crop species and termination methods for use in organic zero-till (OZ) systems that are adapted to the crop rotations and climate of this semi-arid region. Current termination strategies must be improved so that cover crop species are killed consistently and early enough in the growing season so that subsequent cash crops can be grown and harvested successfully. Delaying termination until advanced growth stages improves killing efficacy of cover crops and may provide weed-suppressive mulch for the remainder of the growing season, allowing no-till spring seeding of cash crops during the next growing season. Excessive water use by cover crops, inability of legume cover crops to supply adequate amounts of N for subsequent cash crops and failure of cover crops to suppress perennial weeds are additional obstacles that must be overcome before the use of killed cover crop mulch can be promoted as a weed control alternative to tillage in the US northern Great Plains. Use of vegetative mulch produced by killed cover crops will not be a panacea for the weed control challenges faced by organic growers, but rather one tool along with crop rotation, novel grazing strategies, the judicious use of high-residue cultivation equipment, such as the blade plow, and the use of approved herbicides with systemic activity in some instances, to provide organic farmers with new opportunities to incorporate OZ practices into their cropping systems. Emerging crop rotation designs for organic no-till systems may provide for more efficient use of nutrient and water resources, opportunities for livestock grazing before, during or after cash crop phases and improved integrated weed management strategies on organic farms.
Developing an Energy based Poverty Line for South Africa

The issue of energy poverty or the lack of access to modern energy has received increasing attention in the development literature, including specific reference in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Measures based on just energy expenditures (‘energy burden’) are shown to be rather inadequate when identifying energy-poor households. This paper uses an access-adjusted energy poverty measure that allows for varying energy efficiencies and access to different fuel types used by sampled households from a 2008/9 Department of Energy survey. Taking three pre-assigned thresholds of household energy use among LSM1-LSM3 households, all the South African provinces are mapped showing spatial incidences of energy poverty for electrified households. It is proposed that these access-adjusted indicators are methodologically more robust and informative for policy than conventional, purely expenditure-based indicators.
IoT Security: An End-to-End View and Case Study

In this paper, we present an end-to-end view of IoT security and privacy and a case study. Our contribution is three-fold. First, we present our end-to-end view of an IoT system and this view can guide risk assessment and design of an IoT system. We identify 10 basic IoT functionalities that are related to security and privacy. Based on this view, we systematically present security and privacy requirements in terms of IoT system, software, networking and big data analytics in the cloud. Second, using the end-to-end view of IoT security and privacy, we present a vulnerability analysis of the Edimax IP camera system. We are the first to exploit this system and have identified various attacks that can fully control all the cameras from the manufacturer. Our real-world experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the discovered attacks and raise the alarms again for the IoT manufacturers. Third, such vulnerabilities found in the exploit of Edimax cameras and our previous exploit of Edimax smartplugs can lead to another wave of Mirai attacks, which can be either botnets or worm attacks. To systematically understand the damage of the Mirai malware, we model propagation of the Mirai and use the simulations to validate the modeling. The work in this paper raises the alarm again for the IoT device manufacturers to better secure their products in order to prevent malware attacks like Mirai.
Characterization of costal cartilage and its suitability as a cell source for articular cartilage tissue engineering

Costal cartilage is a promising donor source of chondrocytes to alleviate cell scarcity in articular cartilage tissue engineering. Limited knowledge exists, however, on costal cartilage characteristics. This study describes the characterization of costal cartilage and articular cartilage properties and compares neocartilage engineered with costal chondrocytes to native articular cartilage, all within a sheep model. Specifically, we (a) quantitatively characterized the properties of costal cartilage in comparison to patellofemoral articular cartilage, and (b) evaluated the quality of neocartilage derived from costal chondrocytes for potential use in articular cartilage regeneration. Ovine costal and articular cartilages from various topographical locations were characterized mechanically, biochemically, and histologically. Costal cartilage was stiffer in compression but softer and weaker in tension than articular cartilage. These differences were attributed to high amounts of glycosaminoglycans and mineralization and a low amount of collagen in costal cartilage. Compared to articular cartilage, costal cartilage was more densely populated with chondrocytes, rendering it an excellent chondrocyte source. In terms of tissue engineering, using the self‐assembling process, costal chondrocytes formed articular cartilage‐like neocartilage. Quantitatively compared via a functionality index, neocartilage achieved 55% of the medial condyle cartilage mechanical and biochemical properties. This characterization study highlighted the differences between costal and articular cartilages in native forms and demonstrated that costal cartilage is a valuable source of chondrocytes suitable for articular cartilage regeneration strategies.
Right Ventricular Remodeling and Dysfunction in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis

Background Recent studies have reported that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients present alterations in right ventricular (RV) structure and function. However, large randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of OSA on the right ventricle are lacking. Methods A comprehensive electronic database (PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) and reference search up to October 30, 2016, was performed. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to assess RV structure and function in OSA patients based on conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging. Results Twenty-five studies with 1,503 OSA patients and 796 controls were included in this study. OSA patients exhibited an increase in RV internal diameter (weighted mean difference (WMD) (95% confidence intervals (CIs)) 2.49 (1.62 to 3.37); p = 0.000) and RV wall thickness (WMD (95% CIs) 0.82 (0.51 to 1.13); p = 0.000). Furthermore, OSA patients had a significantly elevated RV myocardial performance index (WMD (95% CI) 0.08 (0.06 to 0.10); p = 0.000), decreased RV S' (WMD (95% CI) −0.95 (−1.59 to −0.32); p = 0.003), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (WMD (95% CI) −1.76 (−2.73 to −0.78); p = 0.000), and RV fractional area change (WMD (95% CI) −3.16 (−5.60 to −0.73); p = 0.011). Conclusion OSA patients display RV dilatation, increased wall thickening, and altered RV function.
Prosocial Response to Client-Instigated Victimization: The Roles of Forgiveness and Workgroup Conflict

We investigate forgiveness as a human service employee coping response to client-instigated victimizations and further explore the role of workgroup conflict in (a) facilitating this response, and (b) influencing the relationship between victimization and workplace outcomes. Using the theoretical lens of Conservation of Resources (Hobfoll, 1989), we propose that employees forgive clients—especially in the context of low workgroup conflict. From low to moderate levels of client-instigated victimization, we suggest that victimization and forgiveness are positively related; however, this positive relationship does not prevail when individuals confront egregious levels of victimization (i.e., an inverted-U shape). This curvilinear relationship holds under low but not under high workgroup conflict. Extending this model to workplace outcomes, findings also demonstrate that the indirect effects of victimization on job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intentions are mediated by forgiveness when workgroup conflict is low. Experiment- and field-based studies provide evidence for the theoretical model.
Vascularization of the trachea in the bottlenose dolphin: comparison with bovine and evidence for evolutionary adaptations to diving

The rigid structure of the mammalian trachea is functional to maintain constant patency and airflow during breathing, but no gas exchange takes place through its walls. The structure of the organ in dolphins shows increased rigidity of the tracheal cartilaginous rings and the presence of vascular lacunae in the submucosa. However, no actual comparison was ever made between the size and capacity of the vascular lacunae of the dolphin trachea and the potentially homologous structures of terrestrial mammals. In the present study, the extension of the lacunae has been compared between the bottlenose dolphin and the bovine, a closely related terrestrial Cetartiodactyla. Our results indicate that the extension of the blood spaces in the submucosa of dolphins is over 12 times larger than in the corresponding structure of the bovines. Furthermore, a microscopic analysis revealed the presence of valve-like structures in the walls of the cetacean lacunae. The huge difference in size suggests that the lacunae are not merely a product of individual physiological plasticity, but may constitute a true adaptive evolutionary character, functional to life in the aquatic environment. The presence of valve-like structures may be related to the regulation of blood flow, and curtail excessive compression under baric stress at depth.
Childhood abuse in adults in primary care: Empirical findings and clinical implications

In the healthcare setting, adult patients with histories of childhood abuse are of significant concern and are frequently encountered in the primary care setting. However, there is a dearth of studies investigating the relationships between psychopathology, overall health, healthcare utilization, physician ratings of patient difficulty, and childhood abuse. The present study examines these relationships in primary care patients with (N = 45) and without (N = 129) histories of childhood abuse (physical, sexual, and both). Findings revealed that adult patients with histories of childhood abuse generally scored significantly higher on measures of psychopathology, emergency room use, and doctor–patient relationship difficulty, and lower on a measure of mental and physician-rated physical health. In a multiple regression analysis, income and a history of childhood sexual abuse significantly predicted overall mental health. In a second multiple regression analysis, income, depression, somatization, borderline personality disorder, and difficult doctor–patient relationship ratings significantly predicted physician-rated physical health. Overall, these findings suggest that a history of childhood abuse is associated with a host of negative health outcomes. Findings also suggest that negative feelings about a patient may help physicians identify patients with histories of childhood abuse. It is especially important for physicians to routinely include an assessment of childhood abuse during the psychosocial portion of the medical interview or through screening instruments.
Are tourists animal spirits? Evidence from a field experiment exploring the use of non-market based interventions advocating sustainable tourism

ABSTRACT Tourists' travel decisions can be influenced by appropriate policies that seek to encourage them to choose travel plans leading to more sustainable tourism practices. Based on using conventional cognitive decision-making models, most current policy recommendations employ market-based economic incentives (e.g. taxes). This paper employs a dual emotional-cognitive decision-making model to represent tourists' choices. This framework allows comparing the efficacy of taxing emission levels against non-market sustainability policies including: (1) environmental information labelling; (2) emotional communication messages, and (3) limiting time pressure marketing practices. A field experiment (N = 509) was used to test the effectiveness of both market- and non-market-based sustainability policies in reducing overall CO2 emission levels by affecting destination choice. It found that the sensitivity of the choice decision to price is overestimated if and when emotions are not considered in the choice context. Tourists' decisions can not only be guided by rational financial calculations but also by the interplay of their emotions or the “animal spirits” cited by John Maynard Keynes. Therefore, effective policies to change behaviour towards more sustainable practices in tourism can be induced by working through non-market interventions like shaping positive emotional messages (but avoiding negative ones) and limiting time pressure marketing techniques.
Selective Cluster Presentation on the Search Results Page

Web search engines present, for some queries, a cluster of results from the same specialized domain (“vertical”) on the search results page (SERP). We introduce a comprehensive analysis of the presentation of such clusters from seven different verticals based on the logs of a commercial Web search engine. This analysis reveals several unique characteristics—such as size, rank, and clicks—of result clusters from community question-and-answer websites. The study of properties of this result cluster—specifically as part of the SERP—has received little attention in previous work. Our analysis also motivates the pursuit of a long-standing challenge in ad hoc retrieval, namely, selective cluster retrieval. In our setting, the specific challenge is to select for presentation the documents most highly ranked either by a cluster-based approach (those in the top-retrieved cluster) or by a document-based approach. We address this classification task by representing queries with features based on those utilized for ranking the clusters, query-performance predictors, and properties of the document-clustering structure. Empirical evaluation performed with TREC data shows that our approach outperforms a recently proposed state-of-the-art cluster-based document-retrieval method as well as state-of-the-art document-retrieval methods that do not account for inter-document similarities.
Minimising central line‐associated bloodstream infection rate in inserting central venous catheters in the adult intensive care units

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To investigate the procedural aspects in inserting central venous catheters that minimise central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in adult intensive care units through a structured literature review. BACKGROUND In adult intensive care units, central line-associated bloodstream infections are a major cause of high mortality rates and increased in costs due to the consequences of complications. METHODS Eligible articles were identified by combining indexed keywords using Boolean operator of "AND" under databases of Ovid and CINAHL. Titles and abstract of retrieved papers were screened and duplicates removed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to derive the final papers, which contained seminal studies. The quality of papers was assessed using a special data extraction form. RESULTS The number of papers retrieved from all databases was 337, reduced to 302 after removing duplicates. Papers were scanned for titles and abstract to locate those relevant to the review question. After this, 250 papers were excluded for different reasons and a total of 52 papers were fully accessed to assess for eligibility. The final number of papers included was 10 articles. CONCLUSION Many interventions can be implemented in the adult intensive care unit during the insertion of a central venous catheter to minimise central line-associated bloodstream infections rates. These include choosing the subclavian site to insert the catheters as the least infectious and decolonising patients' skin with alcoholic chlorhexidine gluconate preparation due to its broad antimicrobial effect and durability. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Choosing optimal sites for central venous catheter insertion is a complex process that relies on many factors. Furthermore, the introduction of chlorhexidine gluconate preparations should be accompanied with multifaceted interventions including quality improvement initiatives to improve healthcare workers' compliance. As a quality marker in adult intensive care units, healthcare sectors should work on establishing benchmarks with other sectors around the world.
Climate reconstruction and the making of authoritative scientific knowledge

Because the authority of science is thought to legitimise governmental regulations to restrict the emission of so-called greenhouse gases (GHGs), in this thesis I study the making of authoritative scientific knowledge through the lens of a controversy about climate reconstruction. While controversies in climate science are typically explained with vested interests that have turned an innocent form of knowledge into the victim of the political opponent’s misuse, I draw on insights from science studies to illuminate a more nuanced and symmetrical critique on climate science, the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and climate reconstruction in particular. To that end the thesis focuses on three interconnected ideas which dominate the controversy: the idea of an objective scientific method, which places emphasis on the empirical testing of theory, the idea of an unbiased expert, which shifts my analytical focus onto norms and markers of expertise, and the overarching idea of science legitimising political programmes of action, which all of the protagonists subscribe to. First, climate reconstruction promises to be an empirical test for the scientific theory of AGW, but in the controversy over an iconic reconstruction so-called climate sceptics accuse scientists of having violated the scientific method. Second, in public investigations examining these allegations, the scientists and their critics draw on scientific norms to contest respective claims to expertise. Third, in consequence of these inquiries and the so-called ‘Climategate’ affair, which corroborated the critics, independent scientists re-analyse climate reconstruction: if climate science legitimises policies aiming at the restriction of GHG emissions, its authority qua science will have to be re-established. This dependence on science in difficult political decision-making puts a heavy burden on the former and obstructs the latter, and it characterises the climate change debate in the United States. Further research on the role of science in the politics of climate change would benefit from taking more explicitly political cultures into account.
Cooperative Secret Sharing Using QR Codes and Symmetric Keys

Secret sharing is an information security technique where a dealer divides a secret into a collection of shares and distributes these to members of a group. The secret will only be revealed when a predefined number of group members cooperate to recover the secret. The purpose of this study is to investigate a method of distributing shares by embedding them into cover Quick Response (QR) codes in a secure manner using cryptographic keys. The advantage of this approach is that the shares can be disseminated over public channels, as anyone who scans the QR codes will only obtain public information. Only authorized individuals who are in possession of the required keys will be able to recover the shares. This also means that when group members cooperate to recover a secret, the group can determine the presence of an illegitimate participant if the person does not produce a valid share. This study proposes a protocol for accomplishing this and discusses the underlying security of the protocol.
A Dynamic Simulation of Musculoskeletal Function in the Mouse Hindlimb During Trotting Locomotion

Mice are often used as animal models of various human neuromuscular diseases, and analysis of these models often requires detailed gait analysis. However, little is known of the dynamics of the mouse musculoskeletal system during locomotion. In this study, we used computer optimization procedures to create a simulation of trotting in a mouse, using a previously developed mouse hindlimb musculoskeletal model in conjunction with new experimental data, allowing muscle forces, activation patterns, and levels of mechanical work to be estimated. Analyzing musculotendon unit (MTU) mechanical work throughout the stride allowed a deeper understanding of their respective functions, with the rectus femoris MTU dominating the generation of positive and negative mechanical work during the swing and stance phases. This analysis also tested previous functional inferences of the mouse hindlimb made from anatomical data alone, such as the existence of a proximo-distal gradient of muscle function, thought to reflect adaptations for energy-efficient locomotion. The results do not strongly support the presence of this gradient within the mouse musculoskeletal system, particularly given relatively high negative net work output from the ankle plantarflexor MTUs, although more detailed simulations could test this further. This modeling analysis lays a foundation for future studies of the control of vertebrate movement through the development of neuromechanical simulations.
Gene expression analyses reveal metabolic specifications in acute O2‐sensing chemoreceptor cells

Glomus cells in the carotid body (CB) and chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla (AM) are essential for reflex cardiorespiratory adaptation to hypoxia. However, the mechanisms whereby these cells detect changes in O2 tension are poorly understood. The metabolic properties of acute O2‐sensing cells have been investigated by comparing the transcriptomes of CB and AM cells, which are O2‐sensitive, with superior cervical ganglion neurons, which are practically O2‐insensitive. In O2‐sensitive cells, we found a characteristic prolyl hydroxylase 3 down‐regulation and hypoxia inducible factor 2α up‐regulation, as well as overexpression of genes coding for three atypical mitochondrial electron transport subunits and pyruvate carboxylase, an enzyme that replenishes tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates. In agreement with this observation, the inhibition of succinate dehydrogenase impairs CB acute O2 sensing. The responsiveness of peripheral chemoreceptor cells to acute hypoxia depends on a ‘signature metabolic profile’.