Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fire history in western Patagonia from paired tree-ring fire-scar and charcoal records

Fire history reconstructions are typically based on tree ages and tree-ring fire scars or on charcoal in sedimentary records from lakes or bogs, but rarely on both. In this study of fire history in western Patagonia (47–48° S) in southern South America (SSA) we compared three sedimentary charcoal records collected in bogs with tree-ring fire-scar data collected at 13 nearby sample sites. We examined the temporal and spatial correspondence between the two fire proxies and also compared them to published charcoal records from distant sites in SSA, and with published proxy reconstructions of regional climate variability and large-scale climate modes. Two of our three charcoal records record fire activity for the last 4 ka yr and one for the last 11 ka yr. For the last ca. 400 yr, charcoal accumulation peaks tend to coincide with high fire activity in the tree-ring fire scar records, but the charcoal records failed to detect some of the fire activity recorded by tree rings. Potentially, this discrepancy reflects low-severity fires that burn in herbaceous and other fine fuels without depositing charcoal in the sedimentary record. Periods of high fire activity tended to be synchronous across sample areas, across proxy types, and with proxy records of regional climatic variability as well as major climate drivers. Fire activity throughout the Holocene in western Patagonia has responded to regional climate variation affecting a broad region of southern South America that is teleconnected to both tropical- and high-latitude climate drivers-El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Southern Annular Mode. An early Holocene peak in fire activity pre-dates any known human presence in our study area, and consequently implicates lightning as the ignition source. In contrast, the increased fire activity during the 20th century, which was concomitantly recorded by charcoal from all the sampled bogs and at all fire-scar sample sites, is attributed to human-set fires and is outside the range of variability characteristic of these ecosystems over many centuries and probably millennia.
Energy expenditure and muscle activity in active and passive commute among elderly

Kuula, Anna-Stina 2011. Energy expenditure and muscle activity in active and passive commute among elderly. Department of Biology of Physical Activity, University of Jyvaskyla. Master’s Thesis in Biomechanics. 55 pp. Since the amount of elderly people and people being overweight are increasing, there should be means to prevent people from getting weight and to ensure longer independency and ability in everyday living among elderly people to decrease the costs that are caused by these trends. Purpose of the study was to compare muscle activity and oxygen consumption in an active and passive commute to demonstrate the effectiveness of active way of living. Thigh muscle EMG activity and oxygen consumption (VO2) during different daily activities such as walking and stair negotiation in unloaded and loaded conditions were measured from 16 elderly individuals, but due to incomplete data nine subjects were included to the analyses. Measurements consisted of two laboratory measurement days during which body composition, muscle strength and maximal VO2 test were measured in addition to the daily activities. VO2 and EMG activities were compared in two conditions 1) commute by bus vs. walking 1 km and 2) ascending and descending floors using stairs vs. lift. Results showed that in an active way of commute (i.e. walking) an elderly person can use over 3 times the amount of oxygen and muscle activity that is present in passive commute (using bus). Using stairs requires over 11 times the amount of oxygen and muscle activity than when using lift. During stair ascend the mean peak EMG activity exceeded 120 %MVC while mean peak VO2 was about 70% VO2max. Further, those who were able to ascend all the five flights did not reach 100% MVC muscle activity level but the others did. It seems that active way of commute provides one effective way of preventing individuals from weight gain.
Semantic interference in a randomized naming task: Effects of age, order, and category

Lexical retrieval in production is a competitive process, requiring activation of a target word from semantic input and its selection from amongst coactivated items. Competitors are automatically primed through spreading activation within the lexicon, but competition may be increased by the prior presentation of related items: the semantic interference effect. This has been demonstrated in tasks in which pictures grouped by semantic category are compared to unrelated pictures (blocked naming) and in tasks involving successive naming of items from the same semantic category (continuous naming). Such highly structured tasks may not be representative of the processes at work under more natural word retrieval conditions. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective examination of naming latencies from a randomized picture naming task containing a wide variety of items and categories. Our large sample of adults, ranging in age from 22 to 89 years, also allowed us to test the hypothesis that older adults, who are particularly susceptible to word-retrieval problems, experience increased difficulty resolving competition among lexical items. Semantic interference effects were evident in the interaction between semantic category and order of presentation within a block—miscellaneous items were named more quickly, whereas related items were named more slowly. This interference effect did not vary with participant age, contrary to the hypothesis that older adults are more susceptible to semantic interference.
The hypotrichous ciliate Euplotes octocarinatus has only one type of tRNACys with GCA anticodon encoded on a single macronuclear DNA molecule.

Deviations from the universal genetic code have evolved independently several times in ciliated protozoa. Thus, in some species UAA and UAG are no longer used as termination codons, but are read as glutamine, whereas in the genus Euplotes , UGA is translated as cysteine. We have investigated the nature of the tRNACys isoacceptor responsible for decoding UGA in Euplotes cells. Southern hybridization analyses indicated that a single DNA molecule of 630 bp encoding tRNACys exists in the macronucleus of Euplotes octocarinatus . Cloning and sequencing of this fragment revealed that it contains only one copy of a tRNACys gene, which codes for a normal tRNACys with GCA anticodon. This is the first report of the characterization of a tRNA gene in any hypotrichous ciliate. It contains putative signals for initiation and termination of transcription by RNA polymerase III and can be transcribed efficiently in vitro in HeLa cell nuclear extract. Intensive studies on the DNA and tRNA level involving PCR analyses have not disclosed the existence of any tRNA Cys isoacceptor with UCA or ICA anticodons. Translation of the UGA codon by tRNA sub GCA sup Cys necessitates a G:A mispairing in the first anticodon position. We discuss a number of aspects which might contribute to the finding that a near-cognate tRNA isoacceptor efficiently translates the UGA stop codon.
The Spatio-Temporal Pattern Evolution of Climate Technology Innovation of China's Potential Strategic Docking Countries

Technology provides effective means for response to the climate change while technology innovation is a headspring and strong driving force for national development. In this paper we examined the Spatio-Temporal dynamic evolution process, pattern and character of climate technology innovation of China's strategic docking state by evaluation of the invention patents authorization using Theil index method and spatial econometric model. The analysis was conducted explored on the three levels of time, space and the effect of geographically proximate base on national space unit. The result indicated that the difference in climate technology innovation of different countries is expanding and shows a strong stability high and low level convergence club. The lower the gaps in innovation level of different countries, the higher probability of climate technology transfer and vice versa. There is geographical proximity effect of climate technology innovation, particularly among low innovation countries.
Modeling of Non-Salient PM Synchronous Machines under Stator Winding Inter-turn Fault Condition: Dynamic Model - FEM Model

In this paper a simple dynamic model for a rotor surface mounted PMSM with inter-turn winding fault is derived using the reference frame theory. Finite element analysis is used for parameter determination and study of pole number influence. The proposed model is validated by time stepping FEM analysis. The dynamic model results exhibit the same trend as predicted by FEM analysis for different fault insulation resistances.
Fatigue in immune-mediated polyneuropathies. European Inflammatory Neuropathy Cause and Treatment (INCAT) Group.

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence and severity of ongoing fatigue and to investigate the internal consistency, reliability, and validity of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) in patients with immune-mediated polyneuropathies. METHODS The FSS was assessed in 113 patients who either experienced Guillain-Barré syndrome in the past or currently have a stable, chronic, inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy or a polyneuropathy associated with a monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, and in 113 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Data on four additional scales (Medical Research Council sumscore, functional grading scale [f-score], INCAT sensory sumscore, medical outcome study 36-items health survey [SF-36]) were obtained in all patients. SF-36 also was assessed in 59 controls. RESULTS "Severe" fatigue (FSS scores > or =95th percentile values in controls) was present in 80% of the patients. Fatigue was not significantly related to general strength, sensory deficits, f-score, and duration of symptoms. Severe fatigue was reported in 81% to 86% of patients with normal strength or sensation. Eighty percent of the patients (controls, 12%) reported their fatigue being among the three most disabling symptoms. SF-36 health status scores in the patient group were significantly lower than the obtained values of the controls and partially related to the FSS scores. Good internal consistency, significant reliability, and validity were obtained for the FSS. CONCLUSION Fatigue is a major symptom in patients with immune-mediated polyneuropathies and may persist for years after apparent recovery. The Fatigue Severity Scale seems appropriate for assessing fatigue in these patients because good internal consistency, reliability, and validity were demonstrated.
Comparison of muscle synergies before and after 10 minutes of running

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the modular control of locomotor tasks and compared the modules before and after a running intervention. [Subjects and Methods] Electromyographic measurements were performed on eight young, healthy males engaged in a 60s run on a treadmill at 2.8 m/s before and immediately after the 600s of running intervention. Electromyographic data for 15 trunk and lower-limb muscles on the right side were recorded. Muscle synergies were extracted from the electromyography signals using non-negative matrix factorization. [Results] Four modules explained the electromyographic activity of all muscles and had the functions of load acceptance (module 1), push-off (module 2), preparation of landing (module 3), and trunk-stabilization activity during the stance phase (module 4). Modules 1, 2, and 3 matched the basic modules reported in previous studies; whereas, module 4 was different before and after the intervention. [Conclusion] Before the intervention, module 4 engaged the trunk muscles and it was activated in the stance phase during running. However, after the intervention, module 4 engaged the muscles around the pelvis and it was activated after landing. This result suggests that the posture control changes from the trunk muscles to the lower-limb muscles after 10 minutes running.
X and Y chromosome inheritance and mixtures of rDNA intergenic spacer regions in Anopheles gambiae

We observed Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto stocks that contained both Mopti (M) and Savanna (S) rDNA intergenic spacers (IGS). ASEMBO1 male IGS sequences consistently had a mixture. A diagnostic M and S Hha I restriction enzyme site in these fragments was concordant with two SNPs associated with M and S. Standard M and S stocks demonstrated X‐chromosome‐only inheritance of the rDNA form, but the ASEMBO1 males showed X and Y chromosome linkage of mixed rDNA. The metaphase Y chromosomes of ASEMBO1 contained a significantly larger amount of DNA relative to the X than a standard S stock. Analysis of wild A. gambiae males from the putative location of origin of the ASEMBO1 stock did not detect the same pattern of polymorphism observed in the laboratory stock but did detect heterogeneous arrays including some missing a diagnostic Hha I restriction site. These results demonstrate that M and S IGS types can occur within the rDNA arrays of a chromatid in laboratory A. gambiae stocks, and some A. gambiae s.s. have rDNA on the Y chromosome.
Endorectal MR imaging and MR spectroscopic imaging for locally recurrent prostate cancer after external beam radiation therapy: preliminary experience.

PURPOSE To evaluate endorectal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and MR spectroscopic imaging for the depiction of locally recurrent prostate cancer after external beam radiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Endorectal MR imaging and MR spectroscopic imaging were performed in 21 patients with biochemical failure after external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Two readers independently and retrospectively reviewed MR images and rated the likelihood of recurrent tumor on a five-point scale. Spectroscopic voxels were considered suspicious for malignancy if the choline level was elevated and citrate was absent. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess cancer detection in each side of the prostate with endorectal MR imaging and spectroscopic imaging at different thresholds based on the scores assigned by the two readers and on the number of suspicious voxels in each hemiprostate, respectively. The presence or absence of cancer at subsequent transrectal biopsy was used as the standard of reference. RESULTS Biopsy demonstrated locally recurrent prostate cancer in nine hemiprostates in six patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the detection of locally recurrent cancer with MR imaging was 0.49 and 0.51 for readers 1 and 2, respectively. By using the number of suspicious voxels to define different diagnostic thresholds, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for MR spectroscopic imaging was significantly (P < .005) higher, at 0.81. In particular, the presence of three or more suspicious voxels in a hemiprostate showed a sensitivity and specificity of 89% and 82%, respectively, for the diagnosis of local recurrence. Seven hemiprostates demonstrated complete metabolic atrophy at spectroscopic imaging and only postirradiation atrophy at biopsy. CONCLUSION Preliminary data suggest that MR spectroscopic imaging, but not endorectal MR imaging, may be of value for the depiction of locally recurrent prostate cancer after radiation therapy.
Applied Theatre/Drama: an e-debate in 2004

It comes out of education departments and then meets up with what was happening in Theatre for Development or the Theatre of the Oppressed . So Geese Theatre’s work would now be called ‘Applied Theatre’ [. ] It’s a good marketing term to link this kind of work into social and health services rather than TfD or TO, and also marks a difference from the connotations of Educational Drama. So many of us who have been working with Boal’s work, for example, with different client groups would have been doing Applied Theatre for years without calling it that.
Multipath Parameter Estimation for Radio Propagation Channel Measurements With a Vector Network Analyzer

This paper proposes a new approach to estimating multipath parameters such as time delays and attenuation factors for channel measurements using a vector network analyzer. In the proposed scheme, we introduce a coarse-and-fine time-delay-estimation scheme and attenuation-factor-estimation schemes. The coarse time-delay estimation employs a superresolution technique based on the generalized eigenvalues utilizing signal subspace eigenvectors (GEESE) algorithm, and the fine time-delay estimation is derived to exploit real-valued attenuation factors. For attenuation-factor estimation, we focus on the least squares estimator (LSE) and the simplified estimator (SE). Numerical results show that the proposed time-delay-estimation scheme outperforms the multiple-signal classification (MUSIC)-based time-delay-estimation scheme. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations are used in the comparisons of the LSE and the SE.
Fault-tolerant Agreement in Synchronous Message-passing Systems

Understanding distributed computing is not an easy task. This is due to the many facets of uncertainty one has to cope with and master in order to produce correct distributed software. A previous book Communication and Agreement Abstraction for Fault-tolerant Asynchronous Distributed Systems (published by Morgan & Claypool, 2010) was devoted to the problems created by crash failures in asynchronous message-passing systems. The present book focuses on the way to cope with the uncertainty created by process failures (crash, omission failures and Byzantine behavior) in synchronous message-passing systems (i.e., systems whose progress is governed by the passage of time). To that end, the book considers fundamental problems that distributed synchronous processes have to solve. These fundamental problems concern agreement among processes (if processes are unable to agree in one way or another in presence of failures, no non-trivial problem can be solved). They are consensus, interactive consistency, k-set agreement and non-blocking atomic commit. Being able to solve these basic problems efficiently with provable guarantees allows applications designers to give a precise meaning to the words "cooperate" and "agree" despite failures, and write distributed synchronous programs with properties that can be stated and proved. Hence, the aim of the book is to present a comprehensive view of agreement problems, algorithms that solve them and associated computability bounds in synchronous message-passing distributed systems. Table of Contents: List of Figures / Synchronous Model, Failure Models, and Agreement Problems / Consensus and Interactive Consistency in the Crash Failure Model / Expedite Decision in the Crash Failure Model / Simultaneous Consensus Despite Crash Failures / From Consensus to k-Set Agreement / Non-Blocking Atomic Commit in Presence of Crash Failures / k-Set Agreement Despite Omission Failures / Consensus Despite Byzantine Failures / Byzantine Consensus in Enriched Models
A Parameterized Region-Growing Programme for Site Allocation on Raster Suitability Maps

In assigning suitability scores to individual cells suitability maps do not solve the question of optimally locating regions of a particular size, shape and orientation. This paper describes a parameterized region-growing (PRG) programme for locating sites with particular spatial characteristics on raster suitability maps. PRG is an heuristic which trades off underlying cell suitability and region suitability to locate near optimal regions. The size, boundary configuration, elongation and orientation of an ideal shape are specified by a set of parameters which control a shape growing programme. Two simulations show how parameterized region-growing can locate wildlife reserves with different spatial characteristics.
Primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma: a review of pathology and management.

PURPOSE Primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBL) is recognized as a separate disease entity in the REAL classification. There is uncertainty about the relevance and especially the optimal management of this disorder. In this review, we discuss clinical presentation, pathology, pathobiology, and management of PMBL in order to provide a platform for initiation of further clinical and biologic studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Studies were identified through a MEDLINE search and from the bibliographies of relevant articles. RESULTS PMBL is a tumor of young adults who present with a rapidly proliferating tumor. At diagnosis, the tumor is usually limited to intrathoracic organs. Spread to parenchymal organs such as liver, kidneys, and CNS is common at recurrence. Fibrosis and the presence of so-called clear cells are distinctive morphologic features of PMBL, although they are not pathognomonic or even necessary for diagnosis. On the other hand, biologic features relating to oncogene rearrangement and overexpression as well as cytogenetic features clearly differentiate PMBL from other types of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Phase II studies and retrospective series indicate cure rates that range from 38% to 88%. The role of chemotherapy, radiation, and high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue in the management of PMBL is reviewed. CONCLUSION PMBL has unique clinical and biologic characteristics that are radically different from those of other types of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Although relatively rare, its aggressive growth and its occurrence in young patients increase the clinical relevance of this entity. The consistent recognition and study of PMBL will allow the development of new approaches to its management.
Plot preservation approach for video summarization

This paper presents an effective method for summarizing content of the video with plot preserved. The proposed method provides static video summary and consists of three major procedures (1) extracting keyframes regarding temporal information, (2) estimating Region of Interest (ROI) from the extracted frames, and (3) assembling the ROI into one image by arranging them according to the temporal order and their size, while they blend each other smoothly. In each process, we make the method concise for computational complexity. Experiment on various types of video (e.g. movie, animation, home video) demonstrates that the proposed method generates expressive video summarization and conserves the plot information. The main contribution relies on reflecting temporal information in video summarization.
Intracellular targeting of truncated secretory peptides in the mammalian heart and brain

Secretory polypeptides are vital for nervous system function, sleep, reproduction, growth, and metabolism. Ribosomes scanning the 5′‐end of mRNA usually detect the first AUG site for initiating translation. The nascent propeptide chain is then directed via a signal‐peptide into the endoplasmic reticulum, processed through the Golgi stacks, and packaged into secretory vesicles. By expressing prepropeptide‐EGFP fusion proteins, we observed unusual destinations, mitochondria, nucleus, and cytoplasm, of neuropeptide Y (NPY), atrial natriuretic peptide, and growth hormone in living murine cardiac cells and hypothalamic slices. Subcellular expression was modulated by Zn++ or mutations of N‐terminal prohormone sequences but was not due to overexpression in the trans‐Golgi network. Mitochondrial targeting of NPY also occurred without the EGFP tag, was enhanced by site‐directed mutagenesis of the first AUG initiation site, and abolished by mutation of the second AUG. Immunological methods indicated the presence of N‐terminal truncated NPY in mitochondria. Imaging studies showed depolarization of NPY‐containing mitochondria. P‐SORT software correctly predicted the secondary intracellular destinations and suggested such destinations for many neuropeptides and peptide hormones known. Thus, mammalian cells may retarget secretory peptides from extracellular to intracellular sites by skipping the first translation‐initiation codon and thereby alter mitochondrial function, gene expression, and secretion.