Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D registration of aerial and ground robots for disaster response: An evaluation of features, descriptors, and transformation estimation

Global registration of heterogeneous ground and aerial mapping data is a challenging task. This is especially difficult in disaster response scenarios when we have no prior information on the environment and cannot assume the regular order of man-made environments or meaningful semantic cues. In this work we extensively evaluate different approaches to globally register UGV generated 3D point-cloud data from LiDAR sensors with UAV generated point-cloud maps from vision sensors. The approaches are realizations of different selections for: a) local features: key-points or segments; b) descriptors: FPFH, SHOT, or ESF; and c) transformation estimations: RANSAC or FGR. Additionally, we compare the results against standard approaches like applying ICP after a good prior transformation has been given. The evaluation criteria include the distance which a UGV needs to travel to successfully localize, the registration error, and the computational cost. In this context, we report our findings on effectively performing the task on two new Search and Rescue datasets. Our results have the potential to help the community take informed decisions when registering point-cloud maps from ground robots to those from aerial robots.
A Multimicronutrient-Fortiﬁed Seasoning Powder Enhances the Hemoglobin, Zinc, and Iodine Status of Primary School Children in North East Thailand: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Efﬁcacy 1,2

Anemia and co-existing deﬁciencies of zinc, iron, iodine, and vitamin A occur among children in many developing countries including NE Thailand, probably contributing to impairments in growth, immune competence, and cognition. Sustainable strategies are urgently required to combat these deﬁciencies. We assessed the efﬁcacy of a micronutrient-fortiﬁed seasoning powder served with a school lunch on reducing anemia and improving the micronutrient status of rural NE Thai children. Children ( n ¼ 569) aged 5.5–13.4y from 10 schools were randomly assigned to receive a seasoning powder either unfortiﬁed or fortiﬁed with zinc (5 mg), iron (5 mg), vitamin A (270 m g), and iodine (50 m g) (per serving) and incorporated into a school lunch prepared centrally and delivered 5 d/wk for 31 wk. Teachers monitored school lunch consumption. Baseline and ﬁnal micronutrient status, hemoglobinopathies, and infection or inﬂammation were assessed from blood and urine samples. For the primary outcome, anemia (based on hemoglobin), no intervention effect was apparent (odds ratio: 1.02 95% CI: 0.69, 1.51) after adjustment for design strata. The odds of zinc (based on serum zinc) and urinary iodine deﬁciency in the fortiﬁed group were 0.63 (0.42, 0.94) and 0.52 (0.38, 0.71) times those in the unfortiﬁed group, respectively. Fortiﬁcation had no effect on serum retinol (0.61: 0.25,1.51), ferritin (1.12: 0.43, 2.96), or mean red cell volume (1.16: 0.82, 1.64). Therefore, a micronutrient-fortiﬁed seasoning powder is a promising vehicle for improving zinc, iodine, and hemoglobin status, and its potential for incorporation into lunch programs in day care centers and schools in NE Thailand warrants investigation. J. Nutr. 136: 1617–1623, 2006. ferritin was determined using the IMx system (Abbott Laboratories), serum C-reactive protein (CRP) using an immunotur-bidimetric assay Diagnostics), serum retinol by HPLC (23), and serum zinc using ﬂame atomic absorption spectrometry (Perkin 2690) using a standardized procedure (24). Urinary iodine concentrations were measured using a spectrophotometric assay based on the method of Benotti et al. (25). The precision of all of the biochemical assays checked using a pooled serum or urine sample and their accuracy established using certiﬁed reference materials or appropriate manufacturer’s controls. The between-assay CV for serum ferritin, serum retinol, and serum zinc and 4.1%, Corresponding between-assay urinary iodine respectively, for low, medium, and high urinary iodine controls. For serum CRP, values for a certiﬁed Serum
Multiple imputation using an iterative hot‐deck with distance‐based donor selection

Hot‐deck imputation offers advantages in reflecting salient features of data distributions in missing‐data problems, but previous implementations have lacked the appeal associated with modern Bayesian statistical‐computing techniques. We outline a strategy of iterative hot‐deck multiple imputation with distance‐based donor selection. With distance defined as a monotonic function of the difference in predictive means between cases, donors are chosen with probability inversely proportional to their distance from the donee. This method retains the implementation ease of ad hoc techniques, while incorporating the desirable features of Bayesian approaches. Special cases of our method include nearest‐neighbor imputation and a simple random hot‐deck. Iterating the procedure provides an analogy to Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods and is intended to mitigate dependence on starting values. Results from imputing missing values in a longitudinal depression treatment trial as well as a simulation study are presented. We evaluate how different definitions of distance, choices of starting values, the order in which variables are chosen for imputation, and the number of iterations impact inferences. We show that our measure of distance controls the tradeoff between bias and variance of our estimates. We find that inferences from the depression treatment trial are not sensitive to most definitions of distance. In addition, while differences exist between 1 iteration and 10 iterations, there are no meaningful differences between inferences based on 10 iterations and those based on 500 iterations. The choice of starting value did not have an impact on inferences but the order in which the variables were chosen for imputation was significant even after iteration. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess posthepatic glucose appearance after carbohydrate loading. 2. Evaluation of corn and mung bean starches in healthy men.

BACKGROUND The rate of absorption of glucose from carbohydrates is important in several aspects of health. We recently validated a noninvasive technique in pigs, euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp plus oral carbohydrate loading (OC-Clamp), to quantify the rate of net posthepatic appearance of glucose after ingestion of carbohydrates. OBJECTIVE The OC-Clamp procedure was performed in 8 healthy men to compare the net posthepatic appearance of glucose after ingestion of 1 of 3 carbohydrates. DESIGN Human volunteers underwent the OC-Clamp procedure at an insulin infusion rate of 1.5 mU x kg(-1) x min(-1) (n = 5). The oral carbohydrate load (1 g/kg) consisted of glucose, cornstarch, or mung bean starch. During the OC-Clamp procedure, the glucose infusion rate decreased during absorption to maintain plasma glucose steady state and the decrease reflected the net posthepatic appearance of glucose. In addition, carbohydrates were loaded without insulin infusion (n = 6) and glycemic indexes were calculated (with glucose as the reference). RESULTS The mean (+/-SEM) glycemic index of cornstarch was higher (95 +/- 18) than that of mung bean starch (51 +/- 13). In the OC-Clamp experiments, the posthepatic appearance of glucose and cornstarch did not differ significantly and represented 79.4 +/- 5.0% and 72.6 +/- 4.0%, respectively, of the load after complete absorption (within 3 h). In contrast, the net posthepatic appearance of glucose from mung bean starch was significantly lower (35.6 +/- 4.6% of the load, P < 0.001) than that from glucose and cornstarch, even 4.5 h postprandially. CONCLUSIONS The OC-Clamp technique allows a continuous assessment of net posthepatic appearance of glucose after ingestion of carbohydrates and significant discrimination between corn and mung bean starches.
hMuLab: A Biomedical Hybrid MUlti-LABel Classifier Based on Multiple Linear Regression

Many biomedical classification problems are multi-label by nature, e.g., a gene involved in a variety of functions and a patient with multiple diseases. The majority of existing classification algorithms assumes each sample with only one class label, and the multi-label classification problem remains to be a challenge for biomedical researchers. This study proposes a novel multi-label learning algorithm, hMuLab, by integrating both feature-based and neighbor-based similarity scores. The multiple linear regression modeling techniques make hMuLab capable of producing multiple label assignments for a query sample. The comparison results over six commonly-used multi-label performance measurements suggest that hMuLab performs accurately and stably for the biomedical datasets, and may serve as a complement to the existing literature.
The Interaction between Competition and Predation: A Meta‐analysis of Field Experiments

Ecologists working with a range of organisms and environments have carried out manipulative field experiments that enable us to ask questions about the interaction between competition and predation (including herbivory) and about the relative strength of competition and predation in the field. Evaluated together, such a collection of studies can offer insight into the importance and function of these factors in nature. Using a new factorial meta‐analysis technique, we combined the results of 20 articles reporting on 39 published field experiments to ask whether the presence of predators affects the intensity of competitive effects and to compare the average effects of competition and predation. Across all studies, the effects of competition in the presence of predators were less than in the absence of predators, and the interaction between competition and predation for most response variables was statistically significant. Removal of competitors had much more positive effects on organisms’ growth and mass than did exclusion of predators. Predator exclusion had much more beneficial effects on organisms’ survival than did competition. The mean effects of competition and predation on density did not differ from one another. The results differed among trophic levels. Further understanding would benefit greatly from more field experiments that manipulate both competition and predation, that focus on a wider range of organisms and environments, that focus on population‐level parameters such as density, and that report results more completely, including data such as sample sizes and variances.
A comparison of infectivity between polyhedra of the Spodoptera litura multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus before and after passage through the gut of the stink bug, Eocanthecona furcellata

Abstract Infectivity of polyhedra of Spodoptera litura multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus before and after passage through the gut of the predatory stink bug, Eocanthecona furcellata Wolff (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) was compared through field bioassay studies. Three sets of E. furcellata were used for bioassays and these were allowed to feed on a single meal of five third instar Oriental leaf worm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), that were infected with polyhedra before passage, after passage, and healthy (control) larvae 1 day prior to the trial. The predators were subsequently released on cabbage plants that were infested with 100 healthy S. litura larvae. The median lethal dose (LD50) and survival time (ST50) values before and after passage through the gut were not significantly different. Additional mortality due to virus infection increased 13–17% before and after treatments but within these treatments the mortality did not vary significantly. It was concluded that E. furcellata disseminated the virus through their feces into the ecosystem and infectivity of the SpltMNPV was not altered after passage through the gut of the predator.
Inverse association between the effect of carbohydrates on blood glucose and subsequent short-term food intake in young men.

BACKGROUND A primary mechanism by which carbohydrates are thought to regulate satiety and food intake is through their effect on blood glucose. OBJECTIVES The objectives were to describe the effect of defined carbohydrate preloads on food intake and blood glucose and to determine the association between food intake and blood glucose. DESIGN Three experiments were conducted in which selected carbohydrates as 1255-kJ isovolumetric beverages were administered to young men after an overnight fast. Measurements of blood glucose and appetite were made at specified times during the next 60 min. Food intake was measured at 60 min. RESULTS Glucose resulted in the highest glycemic response, which was followed, in order, by the responses to polycose, sucrose, amylopectin, a fructose-glucose mixture, and amylose. The high-glycemic-index preloads (glucose, polycose, and sucrose) resulted in lower mealtime energy intake during a test meal at 1 h, but the low-glycemic-index preloads (amylose, amylopectin, and a fructose-glucose mixture) did not. An inverse relation was observed between the blood glucose concentrations in the area under the curve and the subjective appetite (r = -0.23, P < 0.05) and food intake at 60 min (r = -0.24, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Food intake and subjective appetite are inversely associated with blood glucose response in the 60 min after consumption of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates with a high glycemic index (glucose, polycose, and sucrose) suppress subjective appetite and food intake in the short term, but those with a low glycemic index (amylose and amylopectin) do not.
Micellar polymerization: Computer simulations by dissipative particle dynamics

Nowadays, micellar polymerization is widely used in different fields of industry and research, including modern living polymerization technique. However, this process has many variables and there is no comprehensive model to describe all features. This research presents simulation methodology which describes key properties of such reactions to take a guide through a variety of their modifications. Dissipative particle dynamics is used in addition to Monte Carlo scheme to simulate initiation, propagation, and termination events. Influence of initiation probability and different termination processes on final conversion and molecular‐weight distribution are presented. We demonstrate that prolonged initiation leads to increasing in polymer average molecular weight, and surface termination events play major role in conversion limitation, in comparison with recombination. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Monte Carlo simulations used to calculate the energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen as a function of iodine concentration and photon energy

Abstract Purpose: To better understand the risks of cumulative medical X-ray investigations and the possible causal role of contrast agent on the coronary artery wall, the correlation between iodinated contrast media and the increase of energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen as a function of iodine concentration and photon energy is investigated. Materials and methods: The calculations of energy deposition have been performed using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation codes, namely PENetration and Energy LOss of Positrons and Electrons (PENELOPE) and Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX). Exposure of a cylinder phantom, artery and a metal stent (AISI 316L) to several X-ray photon beams were simulated. Results and discussion: For the energies used in cardiac imaging the energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen increases with the quantity of iodine. Monte Carlo calculations indicate a strong dependence of the energy enhancement factor (EEF) on photon energy and iodine concentration. The maximum value of EEF is equal to 25; this factor is showed for 83 keV and for 400 mg Iodine/mL. No significant impact of the stent is observed on the absorbed dose in the artery for incident X-ray beams with mean energies of 44, 48, 52 and 55 keV. Conclusion: A strong correlation was shown between the increase in the concentration of iodine and the energy deposited in the coronary artery lumen for the energies used in cardiac imaging and over the energy range between 44 and 55 keV. The data provided by this study could be useful for creating new medical imaging protocols to obtain better diagnostic information with a lower level of radiation exposure.
Heavy coffee consumption and plasma homocysteine: a randomized controlled trial in healthy volunteers.

BACKGROUND An elevated plasma concentration of total homocysteine is considered to be a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Heavy coffee drinking has been related to high homocysteine concentrations in epidemiologic studies and in one experiment in which healthy subjects drank unfiltered, boiled coffee. OBJECTIVE Our goal was to determine whether daily consumption of paper-filtered coffee raises plasma concentrations of total homocysteine in healthy subjects. DESIGN Twenty-six volunteers (18-53 y of age) consumed 1 L/d of paper-filtered coffee brewed with 70 g regular ground beans or no coffee for 4 wk each in a randomized, crossover design. RESULTS The mean (+/-SD) plasma concentration of total homocysteine in fasting blood was 8.1 +/- 1.8 micromol/L after abstention from coffee and 9.6 +/- 2.9 micromol/L after 3-4 wk of coffee drinking, a difference of 1.5 micromol/L (95% CI: 0.9, 2.1 micromol/L) or 18% (P: < 0.001). Coffee increased homocysteine concentrations in 24 of 26 individuals. Circulating concentrations of vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, and folate were unaffected. CONCLUSION Drinking large quantities of paper-filtered coffee raises fasting plasma concentrations of total homocysteine in healthy individuals.
Fat-mass-related hormone, plasma leptin, predicts brain volumes in the elderly

Leptin, a hormone produced by body fat tissue, acts on hypothalamic receptors in the brain to regulate appetite and energy expenditure, and on neurons in the arcuate nucleus to signal that an individual has had enough to eat. Leptin enters the central nervous system at levels that depend on an individual’s body fat. Obese people, on average, show greater brain atrophy in old age, so it is valuable to know whether brain atrophy relates to leptin levels, which can be targeted by interventions. We therefore determined how plasma leptin levels, and BMI, relate to brain structure, and whether leptin levels might account for BMI’s effect on the brain. We measured regional brain volumes using tensor-based morphometry, in MRI scans of 517 elderly individuals with plasma leptin measured (mean: 13.3±0.6 ng/ml; mean age: 75.2±7.3 years; 321 men/196 women). We related plasma leptin levels to brain volumes at every location in the brain after adjusting for age, sex, and diagnosis and, later, also BMI. Plasma leptin levels were significantly higher (a) in women than men, and (b) in obese versus overweight, normal or underweight individuals. People with higher leptin levels showed deficits in frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes, brainstem, and the cerebellum, irrespective of age, sex, or diagnosis. These associations persisted after controlling for BMI. Greater brain atrophy may occur in people with central leptin insufficiency, a marker of obesity. Therapeutic manipulation of leptin may be a promising direction for slowing brain decline.
Thermal stability of nanocrystalline materials: thermodynamics and kinetics

ABSTRACT As nanocrystalline (NC) materials exhibit many unique properties, which are often superior to the properties of their coarse-grained counterparts, they offer significant potential for use in a variety of applications. Owing to their high volume fraction of grain boundaries, however, the intrinsic problem of poor thermal stability substantially limits the potential application of these materials. To solve this problem, thermal stability has become an important issue in the field of NC materials. This paper reviews the progress in the investigation of the thermal stability of NC materials with emphasis on the fundamentals of grain size stabilization by different approaches. First, the stabilizing approaches are classified into two categories, namely, thermodynamic stabilization and kinetic stabilization. Second, within the framework of thermodynamics and kinetics, the progress in theoretical models, experiments, and computer simulations is comprehensively reviewed. Third, strategies that are proposed to stabilise the grain size are summarised and discussed. This paper shows that the stabilization of NC materials is feasible and can be tailored by the selection of suitable strategies to satisfy the demands of different practical applications. Finally, several issues that require further investigation are identified.
Thermo-mechanical vibration of orthotropic cantilever and propped cantilever nanoplate using generalized differential quadrature method

ABSTRACT In this article, the vibration frequency of an orthotropic nanoplate under the effect of temperature change is investigated. Using nonlocal elasticity theory, governing equations are derived. Based on the generalized differential quadrature method for cantilever and propped cantilever boundary conditions, the frequencies of orthotropic nanoplates are considered and the obtained results are compared with valid reported results in the literature. The effects of temperature variation, small scale, different boundary conditions, aspect ratio, and length on natural nondimensional frequencies are studied. The present analysis is applicable for the design of rotating and nonrotating nano-devices that make use of thermo-mechanical vibration characteristics of nanoplates.
Investigating heterogeneity in studies of resting energy expenditure in persons with HIV/AIDS: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND There is conflict in the literature about the extent of alterations of resting energy expenditure (REE) in persons with HIV. OBJECTIVE The study was conducted to ascertain the mean difference in REE (in kJ) per kilogram of fat-free mass (FFM; REE/FFM) between HIV-positive subjects and control subjects and to investigate heterogeneity in the literature. DESIGN A meta-analysis comparing classical and Bayesian methods was conducted. Heterogeneity was investigated by using subgroup analysis, metaregression, and a mixed indirect comparison. RESULTS Of 58 studies meeting the inclusion criteria, 32 included both HIV-positive and control groups; 24 of these 32 were included. Thirty-seven studies were used in the mixed indirect comparison, and 30 were used in the subgroup comparisons of the HIV-symptomatic, lipodystrophy, weight-losing, and weight-stable subgroups and the healthy (HIV-negative) control group. Mean REE/FFM was significantly higher in 732 HIV-positive subjects than in 340 control subjects [11.93 kJ/kg (95% CI: 8.44,15.43 kJ/kg) and 12.47 kJ/kg (95% CI: 8.19,16.57 kJ/kg), classical and Bayesian random effects, respectively]; the test for heterogeneity was significant (P < 0.001). Both the mixed indirect comparison and the subgroup analysis indicated that REE/FFM was highest in the symptomatic subgroup; however, the small number of studies investigating symptomatic subjects limited statistical comparisons. The presence of lipodystrophy, use of highly active antiretroviral therapy, subject age, and method of body-composition measurement could not explain the heterogeneity in the data with the use of metaregression. CONCLUSIONS REE/FFM (kJ/kg) is significantly higher in HIV-positive subjects than in healthy control subjects. Symptomatic HIV infection may contribute to the variations reported in the literature.