Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of atelectasis and arterial to end-tidal PCO2-difference in a porcine model of pneumoperitoneum.

BACKGROUND Intraperitoneal insufflation of carbon dioxide (CO2) may promote collapse of dependent lung regions. The present study was undertaken to study the effects of CO2-pneumoperitoneum (CO2-PP) on atelectasis formation, arterial oxygenation, and arterial to end-tidal PCO2-gradient (Pa-E'(CO2)). METHODS Fifteen anaesthetized pigs [mean body weight 28 (SD 2) kg] were studied. Spiral computed tomography (CT) scans were obtained for analysis of lung tissue density. In Group 1 (n=5) mechanical ventilation (V(T)=10 ml kg (-1), FI(O2)=0.5) was applied, in Group 2 (n=5) FI(O2) was increased for 30 min to 1.0 and in Group 3 (n=5) negative airway pressure was applied for 20 s in order to enhance development of atelectasis. Cardiopulmonary and CT data were obtained before, 10, and 90 min after induction of CO2-PP at an abdominal pressure of 12 mmHg. RESULTS Before CO2-PP, in Group 1 non-aerated tissue on CT scans was 1 (1)%, in Group 2 3 (2)% (P<0.05, compared with Group 1), and in Group 3 7 (3)% (P<0.05, compared with Group 1 and Group 2). CO2-PP significantly increased atelectasis in all groups. PaO2/FI(O2) fell and venous admixture ('shunt') increased in proportion to atelectasis during anaesthesia but CO2-PP had a varying effect on PaO2/FI(O2) and shunt. Thus, no correlation was seen between atelectasis and PaO2/FI(O2) or shunt when all data before and during CO2-PP were pooled. Pa-E'(CO2), on the other hand correlated strongly with the amount of atelectasis (r2=0.92). CONCLUSIONS Development of atelectasis during anaesthesia and PP may be estimated by an increased Pa-E'(CO2).
A preconditioned Krylov subspace method for the solution of least squares problems Report 94-56

A selection of these reports is available in PostScript form at the Faculty's anonymous ftp-Abstract We present an iterative method of preconditioned Krylov type for the solution of large least squares problems. We prove that the method is robust and investigate its rate of convergence. For an important application, originating from seismic inverse scattering, we derive a suitable preconditioner using asymptotic theory. Numerical experiments are used to compare the method with other iterative methods. It appears that the preconditioned Krylov method can be much more eecient than CG applied to the normal equations.
Quantum Inference on Bayesian Networks

Performing exact inference on Bayesian networks is known to be #P-hard. Typically approximate inference techniques are used instead to sample from the distribution on query variables given the values $e$ of evidence variables. Classically, a single unbiased sample is obtained from a Bayesian network on $n$ variables with at most $m$ parents per node in time $\mathcal{O}(nmP(e)^{-1})$, depending critically on $P(e)$, the probability the evidence might occur in the first place. By implementing a quantum version of rejection sampling, we obtain a square-root speedup, taking $\mathcal{O}(n2^mP(e)^{-\frac12})$ time per sample. We exploit the Bayesian network's graph structure to efficiently construct a quantum state, a q-sample, representing the intended classical distribution, and also to efficiently apply amplitude amplification, the source of our speedup. Thus, our speedup is notable as it is unrelativized -- we count primitive operations and require no blackbox oracle queries.
Can two specular pixels calibrate photometric stereo?

Lambertian photometric stereo with unknown light source parameters is ambiguous. Provided that the object imaged constitutes a surface, the ambiguity is represented by the group of generalised bas-relief (GBR) transformations. We show that this ambiguity is resolved when specular reflection is present in two images taken under two different light source directions. We identify all configurations of the two directional lights which are singular and show that they can easily be tested for. While previous work used optimisation algorithms to apply the constraints implied by the specular reflectance component, we have developed a linear algorithm to achieve this goal. Our theory can be utilised to construct fast algorithms for automatic reconstruction of smooth glossy surfaces
Major infectious diseases affecting the Afghan immigrant population of Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: As Afghans make up the largest group of foreign nationals in Iran, the aim of this study was to assess the proportion of Afghan immigrants among those afflicted by the most prevalent infectious diseases in Iran. METHODS: National and international online scientific databases were searched through November 2013. The reference lists of included studies were also searched. All descriptive studies concerning the most common infectious diseases in Iran, including tuberculosis, multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, leishmaniasis, and hepatitis B were retrieved. The nationality of patients was not considered. The selection of studies and data extraction was performed separately by two authors. Results were reported using a random effect model with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The overall proportion of Afghan immigrants with the aforementioned infectious diseases was 29% (95% CI, 21 to 37). According to a stratified analysis, the proportion of Afghan immigrants afflicted with tuberculosis was (29%), multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis (56%), malaria (40%), cholera (8%), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (25%), leishmaniasis (7%), and hepatitis B (14%). CONCLUSIONS: It is highly recommended to monitor the health status of the Afghan immigrants when entering Iran, to reduce the spread of communicable diseases, which are viewed as serious in international health regulations.
Decentralized nonlinear model predictive control of multiple flying robots

In this paper, we present a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for multiple autonomous helicopters in a complex environment. The NMPC provides a framework to solve optimal discrete control problems for a nonlinear system under state constraints and input saturation. Our approach combines stabilization of vehicle dynamics and decentralized trajectory generation, by including a potential function that reflects the state information of possibly moving obstacles or other vehicles to the cost function. We present various realistic scenarios which show that the integrated approach outperforms a hierarchical structure composed of a separate controller and a path planner based on the potential function method. The proposed approach is combined with an efficient numerical algorithm, which enables the real-time nonlinear model predictive control of multiple autonomous helicopters.
Intra- and inter-species interactions in microbial communities

In this Special Topic we explore some of the novel mechanisms interconnecting microbes within and across species, and to their physical environment, across vastly different scales. As developments in various “OMICs” fields have revolutionized our understanding of the vast diversity and ubiquity of microbes in the biosphere, we have also developed new holistic ways of thinking about them. Human microbiome scientists are currently thinking about the whole set of microorganisms in the human intestine as a single entity or as one organism (Li, 2014). In the confined environment of the human body and subjected to a tight interaction with the host, this conceptual shift from individual microbes and “species” to their integrated set of inputs and outputs may seem natural. Individual microbes react individually tothehostenvironmentinthecontextofothermicrobesandtheir mutual interactions, producing as a result an integrated collective behavior. The human body in turn processes and reacts to this aggregated result, the behavior and actions of the whole microbial community. Thus, while individual bacteria interactions occur at the nanoscale size range, bacterial communities are shaped by landscape structures from the microscale or larger and produce collective behavior at such a scale as well.
VLT Detection of a Red Supergiant Progenitor of the Type II-P Supernova 2008bk

We report the identification of a source coincident with the position of the nearby Type II-P supernova (SN) 2008bk in high-quality optical and near-infrared preexplosion images from the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT). The SN position in the optical and near-infrared preexplosion images is identified to within about ±70 and ±40 mas, respectively, using postexplosion Ks-band images obtained with the NAOS CONICA adaptive optics system on the VLT. The preexplosion source detected in four different bands is precisely coincident with SN 2008bk and is consistent with being dominated by a single point source. We determine the nature of the point source using the STARS stellar evolutionary models and find that its colors and luminosity are consistent with the source being a red supergiant progenitor of SN 2008bk with an initial mass of 8.5 ± 1.0 M☉.
Cognitive behaviour therapy for improving social recovery in psychosis: a report from the ISREP MRC Trial Platform study (Improving Social Recovery in Early Psychosis)

Background This study reports on a preliminary evaluation of a cognitive behavioural intervention to improve social recovery among young people in the early stages of psychosis showing persistent signs of poor social functioning and unemployment. The study was a single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two arms, 35 participants receiving cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) plus treatment as usual (TAU), and 42 participants receiving TAU alone. Participants were assessed at baseline and post-treatment. Method Seventy-seven participants were recruited from secondary mental health teams after presenting with a history of unemployment and poor social outcome. The cognitive behavioural intervention was delivered over a 9-month period with a mean of 12 sessions. The primary outcomes were weekly hours spent in constructive economic and structured activity. A range of secondary and tertiary outcomes were also assessed. Results Intention-to-treat analysis on the combined affective and non-affective psychosis sample showed no significant impact of treatment on primary or secondary outcomes. However, analysis of interactions by diagnostic subgroup was significant for secondary symptomatic outcomes on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) [F(1, 69)=3.99, p=0.05]. Subsequent exploratory analyses within diagnostic subgroups revealed clinically important and significant improvements in weekly hours in constructive and structured activity and PANSS scores among people with non-affective psychosis. Conclusions The primary study comparison provided no clear evidence for the benefit of CBT in a combined sample of patients. However, planned analyses with diagnostic subgroups showed important benefits for CBT among people with non-affective psychosis who have social recovery problems. These promising results need to be independently replicated in a larger, multi-centre RCT.
Logit and Principal Component Analyses on the Management of Marine Protected Area (MPA) in North-Eastern Iloilo, Philippines

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered a common tool for the protection of coastal, marine and fishery resources. Recently, literature on fishery management has been paying attention to the importance of the social dimensions of MPAs and their impacts on MPA success. This paper presents an overview of the management of MPAs in the region of North-Eastern Iloilo, Philippines, and examines the interaction between the civil society and market forces of different institutional arrangements. Using the logit and principal component analyses, the paper shows that the conflicts between economic actors are still in existence today, and knowledge appears as a key factor for evaluating MPA success. Moreover, having MPAs does not seem to bring the communities any other benefit than the stated objectives, such as food security and marine conservation. The paper also discusses how contrasting objectives and expectations from various stakeholders could exacerbate conflict in the management of MPAs.
Detecting Directional Selection in the Presence of Recent Admixture in African-Americans

We investigate the performance of tests of neutrality in admixed populations using plausible demographic models for African-American history as well as resequencing data from African and African-American populations. The analysis of both simulated and human resequencing data suggests that recent admixture does not result in an excess of false-positive results for neutrality tests based on the frequency spectrum after accounting for the population growth in the parental African population. Furthermore, when simulating positive selection, Tajima's D, Fu and Li's D, and haplotype homozygosity have lower power to detect population-specific selection using individuals sampled from the admixed population than from the nonadmixed population. Fay and Wu's H test, however, has more power to detect selection using individuals from the admixed population than from the nonadmixed population, especially when the selective sweep ended long ago. Our results have implications for interpreting recent genome-wide scans for positive selection in human populations.
An Adaptive Random Search for Unconstrained Global Optimization

Adaptive Gibbs Sampling (AGS) algorithm is a new heuristic for unconstrained global optimization. AGS algorithm is a population-based method that uses a random search strategy to generate a set of new potential solutions. Random search combines the one-dimensional Metropolis-Hastings algorithm with the multidimensional Gibbs sampler in such a way that the noise level can be adaptively controlled according to the landscape providing a good balance between exploration and exploitation over all search space. Local search strategies can be coupled to the random search methods in order to intensify in the promising regions. We have performed experiments on three well known test problems in a range of dimensions with a resulting testbed of 33 instances. We compare the AGS algorithm against two deterministic methods and three stochastic methods. Results show that the AGS al- gorithm is robust in problems that involve central aspects which is the main reason of global optimization problem difficulty including high-dimensionality, multi-modality and non-smoothness.
‘There is always this feeling of otherness’: exploring the lived experiences of visually impaired immigrant women in Canada

Abstract This paper explores the experiences of immigrant women with visual impairment in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) of Canada. Conceptually, the paper draws from feminist disability theory and critical scholarship on blindness to consider the discursive and material processes shaping women’s experiences across different socio-cultural contexts. Empirically, the paper draws from in-depth interviews with seven women. The analysis is organized around three themes. The first explores women’s understandings of visual impairment. The second examines the ways in which women’s experiences of visual impairment are shaped by meanings and attitudes that circulate within their cultural communities, and the extent to which immigration might challenge or reinforce these meanings. The third examines the shifting barriers and opportunities women face with respect to social and economic participation. We close by identifying the conceptual implications of our research.
Gsk3β/PKA and Gli1 regulate the maintenance of neural progenitors at the midbrain-hindbrain boundary in concert with E(Spl) factor activity

Neuronal production in the midbrain-hindbrain domain (MH) of the vertebrate embryonic neural tube depends on a progenitor pool called the `intervening zone' (IZ), located at the midbrain-hindbrain boundary. The progressive recruitment of IZ progenitors along the mediolateral (future dorsoventral) axis prefigures the earlier maturation of the MH basal plate. It also correlates with a lower sensitivity of medial versus lateral IZ progenitors to the neurogenesis inhibition process that maintains the IZ pool. This role is performed in zebrafish by the E(Spl) factors Her5 and Her11, but the molecular cascades cooperating with Her5/11, and those accounting for their reduced effect in the medial IZ, remain unknown. We demonstrate here that the kinases Gsk3β and cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) are novel determinants of IZ formation and cooperate with E(Spl) activity in a dose-dependent manner. Similar to E(Spl), we show that the activity of Gsk3β/PKA is sensed differently by medial versus lateral IZ progenitors. Furthermore, we identify the transcription factor Gli1, expressed in medial IZ cells, as an antagonist of E(Spl) and Gsk3β/PKA, and demonstrate that the neurogenesis-promoting activity of Gli1 accounts for the reduced sensitivity of medial IZ progenitors to neurogenesis inhibitors and their increased propensity to differentiate. We also show that the expression and activity of Gli1 in this process are, surprisingly, independent of Hedgehog signaling. Together, our results suggest a model in which the modulation of E(Spl) and Gsk3β/PKA activities by Gli1 underlies the dynamic properties of IZ maintenance and recruitment.
The rapid structured literature review as a research strategy

A diversity of sources of literature encompassed by the management disciplines appears to result in a growing need for a systematic methodology to map the territory of management theory. As such, when scoping out a study, structured literature review (SLR) can be considered as a means by which any critical, central literature might be considered. However, there is little guidance, or evidence, of this being undertaken for the purposes of small scale projects such as undergraduate or masters’ dissertations. This paper reports four case studies of master’s degree students following management programmes of undertaking a structured literature review (SLR) and the issues and problems they had to encounter during their journey. The findings from the case studies suggest that in terms of time to complete and the volume of output required in terms of word count, Tranfield, et al’s approach to SLRs, whilst suited to doctoral level research is not appropriate generally when dealing with undergraduate and masters research projects. Therefore, this paper provides accounts of the experiences of four students who undertook SLR for their undergraduate or master’s degree dissertation. The paper identifies that these students had to deal with a new set of conceptual problems relating to this “unorthodox” approach to a postgraduate research dissertation in coming to terms with new paradigms of enquiry that are not normally taught as part of a traditional research methods course. This was despite gaining a greater depth of insight into the subject area through a more rigorous and structured manner. The paper presents alternative remedies by way of a rapid structured literature review (RSLR) model. This would appear to be more appropriate to the conducting of small scale literature based research projects when used with undergraduate and master’s degree students than SLR identified for other research activities.
Effects of neutral selection on the evolution of molecular species

We introduce a new model of evolution on a fitness landscape processing a tunable degree of neutrality. The model allows us to study the general properties of molecular species undergoing neutral evolution. We find that a number of phenomena seen in RNA sequence-structure maps are present also in our general model. Examples are the occurrence of "common" structures which occupy a fraction of the genotype space which tends to unity as the length of the genotype increases, and the formation of percolating neutral networks which cover the genotype space in such a way that a member of such a network can be found within a small radius of any point in the space. We also describe a network can be found within a small radius of any point in the space. We also describe a number of new phenomena which appear to be general properties of naturally evolving systems. In particular, we show that the maximum fitness attained during the adaptive walk of a population evolving on such a fitness landscape increases with an increasing degree of neutrality, and is directly related to the fitness of the most fit percolating network.
EFFECTS OF ARGININE DEPRIVATION, ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION, AND X-RADIATION ON CULTURED KB CELLS

Cultured KB cells (derived from a human oral carcinoma) grown in monolayers were injured by one of three agents: starvation by arginine deprivation or treatment with high doses of either ultraviolet radiation or x-radiation. The different agents produced changes in nucleolar structure and varying accumulations of triglyceride and glycogen. All three agents produced an increase in number and size of lysosomes. These were studied in acid phosphatase preparations, viewed by both light and electron microscopy, and, occasionally, in vital dye, esterase, and aryl sulfatase preparations. Ultrastructurally, alterations in lysosomes suggested that "residual bodies" developed in a variety of ways, i.e., from the endoplasmic reticulum, multivesicular bodies, or autophagic vacuoles. Following all three agents the endoplasmic reticulum assumed the form of "rough" or "smooth" whorls, and, after two of the agents, arginine deprivation or ultraviolet radiation, it acquired cytochemically demonstrable acid phosphatase activity. Near connections between the endoplasmic reticulum and lysosomes raise the possibility that in KB cells, at least when injured, the endoplasmic reticulum is involved in the formation of lysosomes and the transport of acid phosphatase to them.
Street children's use of social support against everyday abuse in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores how the estimated 1–3 million street children of Bangladesh cope with the verbal, physical, and sexual violence inflicted on them on an almost daily basis. Drawing on a sample of 75 street children ages 10–17 in the capital city of Dhaka, the study is based on multiple interviews with participants. Interview data and social network theory yielded insights about the types of violence endured and how age, gender, and location impacted risks faced by street children. The study also highlights the complex and varied roles that social networks and group solidarity, as well as the actions of individual peers, play in the survival of this vulnerable population.
Testing character correlation using pairwise comparisons on a phylogeny.

In comparative biology, pairwise comparisons of species or genes (terminal taxa) are used to detect character associations. For instance, if pairs of species contrasting in the state of a particular character are examined, the member of a pair with a particular state might be more likely than the other member to show a particular state in a second character. Pairs are chosen so as to be phylogenetically separate, that is, the path between members of a pair, along the branches of the tree, does not touch the path of any other pair. On a given phylogenetic tree, pairs must be chosen carefully to achieve the maximum possible number of pairs while maintaining phylogenetic separation. Many alternative sets of pairs may have this maximum number. Algorithms are developed that find all taxon pairings that maximize the number of pairs without constraint, or with the constraint that members of each pair have contrasting states in a binary character, or that they have contrasting states in two binary characters. The comparisons chosen by these algorithms, although phylogenetically separate on the tree, are not necessarily statistically independent.