Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Exposure to Transportation Noise in Relation to Development of Obesity—a Cohort Study

Background: Exposure to transportation noise is widespread and has been associated with obesity in some studies. However, the evidence from longitudinal studies is limited and little is known about effects of combined exposure to different noise sources. Objectives: The aim of this longitudinal study was to estimate the association between exposure to noise from road traffic, railways, or aircraft and the development of obesity markers. Methods: We assessed individual long-term exposure to road traffic, railway, and aircraft noise based on residential histories in a cohort of 5,184 men and women from Stockholm County. Noise levels were estimated at the most exposed façade of each dwelling. Waist circumference, weight, and height were measured at recruitment and after an average of 8.9 y of follow-up. Extensive information on potential confounders was available from repeated questionnaires and registers. Results: Waist circumference increased 0.04cm/y (95% CI: 0.02, 0.06) and 0.16cm/y (95% CI: 0.14, 0.17) per 10 dB Lden in relation to road traffic and aircraft noise, respectively. No corresponding association was seen for railway noise. Weight gain was only related to aircraft noise exposure. A similar pattern occurred for incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of central obesity and overweight. The IRR of central obesity increased from 1.22 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.39) in those exposed to only one source of transportation noise to 2.26 (95% CI: 1.55, 3.29) among those exposed to all three sources. Conclusion: Our results link transportation noise exposure to development of obesity and suggest that combined exposure from different sources may be particularly harmful. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1910
Polyhedral Outer Approximations in Convex Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming

This thesis is focused on a specific type of optimization problems commonly referred to as convex MINLP problems. The goal has been to investigate and develop efficient methods for solving such optimization problems. The thesis focuses on decompositionbased algorithms in which a polyhedral outer approximation is used for approximating the integer relaxed feasible set. An introduction and summary of different types of optimization problems are given in Chapter 2, and a summary of work previously done within the field is given in Chapter 3. The thesis is written as a collection of articles, and the results presented in the papers are summarized in Chapter 4. Different approaches for constructing and utilizing polyhedral outer approximations are presented and analyzed within the thesis. An algorithm, called the extended supporting hyperplane (ESH) algorithm, which uses supporting hyperplanes to the integer relaxed feasible set to construct the polyhedral approximation is presented. The ESH algorithm is utilized in a new solver, called SHOT, which is described in the thesis and presented in detail in the enclosed papers. Different techniques for utilizing the polyhedral approximations are presented in the thesis, and numerical test verifies their efficiency. Reformulation techniques for utilizing separability of the nonlinear functions to construct tighter approximations are also described and analyzed.
Intercomparison of Surface Radiative Fluxes in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract Recent satellite data analysis has provided improved data sets relevant to the surface energy budget in the Arctic Ocean. In this paper, surface radiation properties in the Arctic Ocean obtained from the Surface Radiation Budget (SRB3.0) and the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP-FD) during 1984–2007 are analyzed and compared. Our analysis suggests that these datasets show encouraging agreement in basin-wide averaged seasonal cycle and spatial distribution of surface albedo; net surface shortwave and all-wave radiative fluxes; and shortwave, longwave, and all-wave cloud radiative forcings. However, a systematic large discrepancy is detected for the net surface longwave radiative flux between the two data sets at a magnitude of∴23 W m∴2, which is primarily attributed to significant differences in surface temperature, particularly from April to June. Moreover, the largest difference in surface short-wave and all-wave cloud radiative forcings between the two data sets is apparent in early June at a magnitude of 30 W m–2.
“Wet” transepithelial phototherapeutic keratectomy in the management of persistent epithelial defects in the graft

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of “wet” transepithelial phototherapeutic keratectomy (TE-PTK) for treating persistent epithelial defects (PEDs) in the corneal graft following penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). Methods: This study describes a noncomparative, prospective interventional case series. Patients with post-PKP graft epithelial defects lasting . 3 months despite previous treatments with extensive wear soft contact lenses, amniotic membrane transplantation, and tarsorrhaphy were treated with wet TE-PTK. A wet TE-PTK procedure including a “wet ablation” step was performed using the EC-5000 excimer laser. Follow-up visits were at post-PTK days 3, 5, 10, and 30, and at each month thereafter. Results: Eight patients (8 eyes; 5 men and 3 women; mean age, 51.3 ± 14.3 years; mean follow-up period, 9.1 ± 3.0 months) were included in this study. The mean best-corrected visual acuity was 1.76 ± 0.28 log minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) at baseline and improved to 1.1 ± 0.22 logMAR at 10 days postoperatively ( p = 0.0156; the improvement was significant). This effect remained stable throughout the remainder of the follow-up period. The mean time from wet TE-PTK to complete reepithelization was 4.3 ± 1.3 days. Conclusion: Wet TE-PTK appears to be effective for patients with post-PKP PEDs in the corneal graft who have failed conservative measures or previous surgical interventions.
the need for greater opioid pharmacovigilance in COPD

and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). International Journal of COPD 2017:12 189–192 International Journal of COPD Dovepress
Does Consumer Confidence Forecast Household Expenditure? A Sentiment Index Horse Race

This article is the first formal investigation of consumer attitudes that compares the forecasting power of the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment and the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index. The authors find that measures available from the Conference Board have both economically and statistically significant explanatory power for several categories of consumer spending. By contrast, measures available from the University of Michigan generally exhibit weaker forecasting power for most categories of spending. As part of their analysis, the authors examine the ways in which the surveys underlying these measures differ and test whether certain types of survey questions are particularly important for predicting consumer spending.
Extensive recombination-driven coronavirus diversification expands the pool of 1 potential pandemic pathogens 2 3

11 Abstract 12 The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is the third zoonotic coronavirus identified in the last 13 twenty years. Enzootic and epizootic coronaviruses of diverse lineages also pose a significant 14 threat to livestock, as most recently observed for virulent strains of porcine epidemic diarrhea 15 virus (PEDV) and swine acute diarrhea-associated coronavirus (SADS-CoV). Unique to RNA 16 viruses, coronaviruses encode a proofreading exonuclease (ExoN) that lowers point mutation 17 rates to increase the viability of large RNA virus genomes, which comes with the cost of limiting 18 virus adaptation via point mutation. This limitation can be overcome by high rates of 19 recombination that facilitate rapid increases in genetic diversification. To compare dynamics of 20 recombination between related sequences, we developed an open-source computational 21 workflow (IDPlot) to measure nucleotide identity, locate recombination breakpoints, and infer 22 phylogenetic relationships. We analyzed recombination dynamics among three groups of 23 coronaviruses with noteworthy impacts on human health and agriculture: SARSr-CoV, 24 Betacoronavirus-1, and SADSr-CoV. We found that all three groups undergo recombination with 25 highly diverged viruses from sparsely sampled or undescribed lineages, which can disrupt the 26 inference of phylogenetic relationships. In most cases, no parental origin of recombinant regions 27 could be found in genetic databases, suggesting that much coronavirus diversity remains 28 unknown. These patterns of recombination expand the genetic pool that may contribute to future 29 zoonotic events. Our results also illustrate the limitations of current sampling approaches for 30 anticipating zoonotic threats to human and animal health. 31
Investigating the role of pentraxin 3 as a biomarker for bacterial infection in subjects with COPD

Background: Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an acute phase protein, involved in antibacterial resistance. Recent studies have shown PTX3 levels to be elevated in the presence of a bacterial infection and in a murine sepsis model. Objective: We aim to investigate if sputum PTX3 can be used as a biomarker for bacterial infection in subjects with COPD. Materials and methods: Sputum samples from 142 COPD patients (102 men) with a mean (range) age of 69 years (45–85) and mean (SD) post-bronchodilator percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) of 50% (19) were analyzed for PTX3, using a commercial assay at stable state and during an exacerbation. Association with bacteria, from culture, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and colony-forming units (CFU) was investigated. Results: The geometric mean (95% CI) PTX3 level at stable state was 50.5 ng/mL (41.4–61.7). PTX3 levels correlated with absolute neutrophil count in sputum ( r = 0.37; P , 0.01), but not FEV 1 or health status. There was a weak correlation between PTX3 and bacterial load (CFU: r = 0.29, P , 0.01; 16S qPCR: r = 0.18, P = 0.05). PTX3 was a poor predictor of bacterial colonization (defined as . 10 5 CFU/mL at stable state) with a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) of 0.59 and 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43–0.76 ( P = 0.21). During an exacerbation, there was a modest increase in PTX3 (fold difference 0.15, 95% of difference 0.02–0.29; P = 0.02), and PTX3 fared better at identifying a bacteria-associated exacerbation (ROC AUC 0.65, 95% CI 0.52–0.78, P = 0.03). Conclusion: PTX3 is associated with bacterial infection in patients with COPD, but its utility as a biomarker for identifying a bacteria-associated exacerbation warrants further studies.
GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS OF INVASION: THE ANNUAL BROMES

Among conservation biologists, there is great interest in developing rules to predict which alien species are most likely to become serious invaders. Invasion is both an ecological and a geographical process, but mostly ecological rules have been proposed. Studies of several weedy genera have found that invasion success correlates with the size of the species' native distribution. A geographical explanation has been offered: species with broader distributions are more likely to be transported overseas. But several ecologists have countered by arguing that the enormous increase in trade and traffic volume in recent times ensures that all species have already been transported to essentially everywhere. This argument is tested by re-analyzing data from one of the above studies, on the annual bromes (Bromus spp.) The bromes are native to mediterranean (especially) and temperate climates, and have invaded overseas mediterranean climate regions spectacularly. The number of brome species successfully introduced into the mediterranean regions of California, central Chile, South Africa, and southern Australia corresponds to the number of source regions from which trade and traffic formerly flowed to those territories. Also, for each mediterranean region, the brome species that invaded correspond to the source region(s) that existed in early days. In short, invasion correlates with native distribution size because a larger distribution means that there will be a greater number of potential routes by which a species can reach a given land mass.
Proton Pump Inhibitors are Associated with Focal Arrhythmias

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are powerful H/K-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) blockers commonly used to treat gastrointestinal illness. H/K-ATPase is present in myocardial tissue, and PPIs may affect intracellular calcium. We sought to test the hypothesis that PPIs are proarrhythmic. We evaluated PPI use in 80 patients with focal tachycardias attributed to an automatic or triggered rhythm: 40 consecutive focal atrial tachycardia (AT) and 40 consecutive right ventricular outflow tract ventricular tachycardia (RVOT VT) patients. Controls included patients with re-entrant rhythms attributed to anatomic abnormalities: 40 consecutive AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia and 40 consecutive atrial–ventricular reciprocating tachycardia patients. Twenty patients (13%) were taking a PPI. Fifteen (19%) focal arrhythmia patients compared with 5 (6%) of the controls were taking a PPI (p 5 0.034). The proportion of focal AT patients on PPIs alone was significantly greater than controls (p 5 0.009). After adjusting for potential confounders, PPI use was associated with a 3.6 greater odds of focal arrhythmia (95% CI, 1.2–11.1 greater odds, p 5 0.025), a 4.5 greater odds of focal AT (95% CI, 1.3–15.7 greater odds, p 5 0.018), and a nearly significant 3.5 greater odds of RVOT VT (95% CI, 0.89–13.9 greater odds, p 5 0.074). PPI use is associated with focal arrhythmias.
effects of a fall prevention program in elderly: a pragmatic observational study in two orthopedic departments

Purpose: Falls are a common adverse event experienced by elderly in hospitals. This study assessed the effects of a fall prevention program on the rate of fallers, the patient safety culture, and patient-perceived safety. Materials and methods: Two orthopedic departments in different towns in Norway participated in the study. A comprehensive, multifactorial fall prevention program was implemented in one of the departments, the other one was used for control. The changes in the outcomes in the two departments from before to after the intervention were compared. All patients above 64 years of age admitted to the two departments in a 1-year period before and after the intervention were included. All employees at the two departments were invited to participate in surveys measuring the patient safety culture, and a selection of the patients reported patient-perceived safety. The primary outcome was the rate of fallers. Secondary outcomes were the employees’ perceived patient safety culture (measured with the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire) and patient-perceived safety (measured with Norwegian Patient Experience Questionnaire). Results: Falls were registered in 114 out of 3,143 patients (3.6%) with 17,006 days in the hospital. Ten patients had two falls, giving a fall rate of 7.3 falls/1,000 days in the hospital. The number of fallers before and after the intervention in the intervention department were 37/734 (5.04%) and 31/735 (4.22%), P = 0.46, and in the control department, 25/811 (3.08%) and 21/863 (2.43%), P = 0.46. The difference between the changes in the two departments was not statistically significant; 0.17% (95% CI: - 2.49 to 2.84; P = 0.90). There were also no significant differences in the changes in patient safety culture and patient-perceived safety. Conclusion: The fall prevention program revealed no significant effect on the rate of fallers, the patient safety culture, or patient-perceived safety.
Declaration of Authorship

Division of Space Technology Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering Master of Science by Vineel Kumar Kadarla In the recent years, CubeSat’s are evolving from purely educational tools to a standard platform for technology demonstration and miniaturized scientific instrumentation. The use of COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) components aided the ongoing miniaturization of several technologies and demonstrated successfully. Furthermore advantages in this small satellite approach are due to their lesser development times and smaller sizes suitable for multiple CubeSat launches on a single launcher into their respective designated orbits which is cost effective for Universities. These architectures not only promise the combination of both temporal resolution of GEO missions with spatial resolution of LEO missions, but also breaks the trade off in conventional Earth observation satellite designs. A thorough implementation of the firmware of vision payload of the Nano Satellite VELOX-I for the Earth observation and remote sensing purposes, in the near future with high scientific payoff is presented here. In course of implementation various case studies have been learned, current date CCSDS recommendations for image compression have been considered. Effect of key components such as power, memory and data transmission capability for small satellite remote sensing applications are discussed. Implementation of the core firmware of the payload and serial interface development in Java on Linux platform of Payload Processing Unit shall be able to inherit into the future VELOX missions.
alginate oligosaccharide alleviates myocardial reperfusion injury by inhibiting nitrative and oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis

: Alginate oligosaccharide (AOS) has recently demonstrated the ability to protect against acute doxorubicin cardiotoxicity and neurodegenerative disorders by inhibiting oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis, which are both involved in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. In the present study, we investigated whether pretreatment with AOS protects against myocardial I/R injury in mice and explored potential cardioprotective mechanisms. AOS pretreatment significantly decreased the infarct size, reduced the cardiac troponin-I concentration, and ameliorated the cardiac dysfunction. Accompanied with the reduced cardiac injury, AOS pretreatment clearly decreased I/R-induced myocardial apoptosis. With regard to mechanism, AOS pretreatment markedly attenuated nitrative/oxidative stress, as evidenced by decreases in 3-nitrotyrosine content and superoxide generation, and downregulated inducible nitric oxide synthase, NADPH oxidase2, and 4-hydroxynonenal. Moreover, AOS pretreatment decreased myocardial apoptosis by inhibiting the ER stress-mediated apoptosis pathway, which is reflected by the downregulation of C/EBP homologous protein, glucose-regulated protein 78, caspase-12, and Bcl-2-associated X protein, and by the upregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-2. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that AOS renders the heart resistant to I/R injury, at least in part, by inhibiting nitrative/oxidative stress and ER stress-mediated apoptosis. aOs, alginate oligosaccharide; i/r, ischemia/reperfusion; eF, left ventricular ejection fraction; left ventricular fractional shortening; ventricular end-systolic pressure; end-diastolic pressure
University of Birmingham Recovery after stroke

The proportional recovery rule asserts that most stroke survivors recover a ﬁxed proportion of lost function. To the extent that this is true, recovery from stroke can be predicted accurately from baseline measures of acute post-stroke impairment alone. Reports that baseline scores explain more than 80%, and sometimes more than 90%, of the variance in the patients’ recoveries, are rapidly accumulating. Here, we show that these headline effect sizes are likely inﬂated. The key effects in this literature are typically expressed as, or reducible to, correlation coefﬁcients between baseline scores and recovery (outcome scores minus baseline scores). Using formal analyses and simulations, we show that these correlations will be extreme when outcomes are signiﬁcantly less variable than baselines, which they often will be in practice regardless of the real relationship between outcomes and baselines. We show that these effect sizes are likely to be over-optimistic in every empirical study that we found that reported enough information for us to make the judgement, and argue that the same is likely to be true in other studies as well. The implication is that recovery after stroke may not be as proportional as recent studies suggest.
Characterization and classification of red soils from Tamil Nadu.

Four typical pedons representing agriculture, forage and tree crops land uses were studied in red soil region (Kutturavupatti village of Sivagangai district) of Tamil Nadu during 2005-06. Soils were characterized for important morphological, physical and chemical characteristics to define limitations for vegetation establishment at village level. Based on soil characteristics four soil series viz., Sivagangai (P 1 ), Melapoongudi (P 2 ), Tamarakki (P 3 ) and Keelapoongudi (P 4 ) were identified and named. All the soils were found deep in depth and have subangular blocky structure in surface and sub surface. The soils texture varied from loamy sand to clay. Among the pedons, more than 70% gravels were recoreded in pedon 1, whereas more than 10 % free CaCO 3 and high pH of 8.3 was found in pedon 3. The bulk density, available soil moisture, organic carbon and cation exchange capacity ranged from 1.11 to 1.33 Mgm, 4.2 to 16.2%, 0.11 to 0.60% and 8.79 to 41.47 c mol (p+) kg, respectively. The order of dominance of exchangeable bases was Ca> Mg>Na>K. The soils were classified into alfisol (pedon 1 and 4) and Inceptisol (pedon 2 and 3) as per USDA system of classification.
Beethoven's Critics: Aesthetic Dilemmas and Resolutions during the Composer's Lifetime

List of abbreviations Preface Introduction 1. The Leipzig Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung 2. Berlin and A. B. Marx 3. Other German sources: the controversy over the late music 4. French Beethoven criticism 5. The Fifth Symphony Conclusion Appendix A. Index of reviews cited Appendix B. Originals of quotes given in translation Notes Bibliography Index.
Examining Language Teachers' Change in TPACK-HOTS Self-Perception during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

In light of the ongoing concern of the Indonesian Ministry of Education to continuously upgrade teachers’ competence in the use of technology and impart critical thinking as part of 21st-century skills, this study sought to examine language teachers’ self-perception of their TPACK and Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) competence during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, an explanatory sequential mixed-method study was designed to gather data from 137 languages (English and Bahasa Indonesia) teachers from various parts of Indonesia, employing a questionnaire and interview for data collection. The quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that the teachers perceived a rise in all TPACK subdomains, with the highest increment in TK and the smallest for CK. The teachers also rated themselves higher in HOTS and opined that TPACK supported HOTS-based lesson implementation. The implications for teacher training and pedagogy are also discussed.