Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deforestation and tropical insect extinctions

In a study comparing historical and recent records of forest-dwelling Helictopleurus dung beetles across Madagascar, [Hanski et al. (2007)][1] reported that species not found in Madagascar-wide sampling in 2002–2006 have experienced a significantly higher level of deforestation within their known
Women Offenders : Programming Needs and Promising Approaches

Issues and Findings Discussed in this Brief: Results of an NIJ-sponsored survey of Statelevel correctional administrators, prison and jail administrators, and program administrators to determine the special needs of incarcerated women in the areas of management, screening, assessment, and programming. The survey also sought information on innovative correctional programming for women and specific program elements conducive to success.
Input-aware statistical timing analysis for VLSI delay test and average design

Nanoscale VLSI systems are subject to an ever increasing performance variability, which hinders performance scaling and increases verification complexity. In this paper, we study an often neglected source of performance variability, namely logic inputs or system workload. We present input-aware statistical timing analysis, which gives not only critical path delays but also critical path activating input patterns and critical path activation probabilities. We further present its applications in delay test for improved fault coverage and better-than-worst-case design for improved average performance.
Propagation of Quantification Error Over Convolutional Neural Network layers: PhD Forum

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have become a real standard in computer vision as they achieved state-of-the art results in detection, classification and scene understanding. However, training and accelerating large-scale deep neural networks is often constrained by the available computational resources. Using fixed point arithmetic could lighten this at the price of quantification error. This work shows how this error variate at different stages along a neural network for various fixed point representation schemes.
R&D on dummy load prototype for ITER coil power supply system

This paper mainly introduces the research and development (R&D) of the dummy load prototype, whose functions are to verify the capability of the ITER magnetic power supply systems to operate at their rated power levels without energizing the superconducting coils. The rated inductance is 6.73 mH and the extreme pulse operation mode is 68 kA/15 s on and 900 s off. Therefore, in order to meet the special requirements of the large inductance and the thermal and dynamic stability, a new structure of dry-type air-core watercooling prototype with epoxy resin casting technique is presented, which has a higher energy density in comparison with the traditional structures. The finite-element simulation analysis is introduced in detail, focusing on the thermal performance of coil and water-cooling system during the whole operation and the dynamic stability, especially under the extreme pulse operation condition. In addition, the electromagnetic environment (EME) around the dummy load is also analyzed under normal and pulse operation, which is the input for the instrumentations selection and the delimitation of personal safe area.
Inverse Problem of Electrocardiography: estimating the location of cardiac isquemia in a 3D geometry

The inverse problem in cardiology (IPC) has been formulated in diﬀerent ways in order to non invasively obtain valuable infor-mations about the heart condition. Most of the formulations solve the IPC under a quasistatic assumption neglecting the dynamic behavior of the electrical wave propagation in the heart. In this work we take into account this dynamic behavior by constraining the cost function with the monodomain model. We use an iterative algorithm combined with a level set formulation allowing us to localize an ischemic region in the heart. The method has been presented by Alvarez et al in [1] and [4], in which the authors developed a method for localize ischemic regions using a simple phenomenological model in a 2D cardiac tissue. In this work, we analyze the performance of this method in diﬀerent 3D geometries. The inverse procedure exploits the spatiotemporal correlations contained in the observed data, which is formulated as a parametric adjust of a mathematical model that minimizes the misﬁt between the simulated and the observed data. We start by testing this method on two concentric spheres and then analyze the performance in a 3D real anatomical geometry. Both for analytical and real life geometries, numerical results show that using this algorithm we are capable of identifying the position and, in most of the cases, approximate the size of the ischemic regions.
Design of a Fixed‐Order RST Controller for Interval Systems: Application to the Control of Piezoelectric Actuators

This paper presents a technique for designing a robust polynomial RST controller for parametric uncertain systems. The uncertain parameters are assumed to be bounded by intervals. The computation of the controller is addressed by introducing the interval arithmetic. The controller synthesis is formulated as a set inversion problem that can be solved using the SIVIA algorithm. The proposed method is afterwards applied to design a robust controller for a piezoelectric microactuator. The experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed method. Finally, a fine stability analysis is performed to analytically prove the robustness of the designed controller.
A Conserved Insulator That Recruits CTCF and Cohesin Exists between the Closely Related but Divergently Regulated Interleukin-3 and Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Genes

ABSTRACT The human interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating-factor (GM-CSF, or CSF2) gene cluster arose by duplication of an ancestral gene. Although just 10 kb apart and responsive to the same signals, the IL-3 and GM-CSF genes are nevertheless regulated independently by separate, tissue-specific enhancers. To understand the differential regulation of the IL-3 and GM-CSF genes we have investigated a cluster of three ubiquitous DNase I-hypersensitive sites (DHSs) located between the two genes. We found that each site contains a conserved CTCF consensus sequence, binds CTCF, and recruits the cohesin subunit Rad21 in vivo. The positioning of these sites relative to the IL-3 and GM-CSF genes and their respective enhancers is conserved between human and mouse, suggesting a functional role in the organization of the locus. We found that these sites effectively block functional interactions between the GM-CSF enhancer and either the IL-3 or the GM-CSF promoter in reporter gene assays. These data argue that the regulation of the IL-3 and the GM-CSF promoters depends on the positions of their enhancers relative to the conserved CTCF/cohesin-binding sites. We suggest that one important role of these sites is to enable the independent regulation of the IL-3 and GM-CSF genes.
Protective Efficacy of a Human Endogenous Retrovirus Envelope-Coated, Nonreplicable, Baculovirus-Based Hemagglutin Vaccine against Pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009

Despite the advantages of DNA vaccines, overcoming their lower efficacy relative to that of conventional vaccines remains a challenge. Here, we constructed a human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) envelope-coated, nonreplicable, baculovirus-based HA vaccine against swine influenza A/California/04/2009(H1N1) hemagglutin (HA) (AcHERV-sH1N1-HA) as an alternative to conventional vaccines and evaluated its efficacy in two strains of mice, BALB/c and C57BL/6. A commercially available, killed virus vaccine was used as a positive control. Mice were intramuscularly administered AcHERV-sH1N1-HA or the commercial vaccine and subsequently given two booster injections. Compared with the commercial vaccine, AcHERV-sH1N1-HA induced significantly higher levels of cellular immune responses in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Unlike cellular immune responses, humoral immune responses depended on the strain of mice. Following immunization with AcHERV-sH1N1-HA, C57BL/6 mice showed HA-specific IgG titers 10- to 100-fold lower than those of BALB/c mice. In line with the different levels of humoral immune responses, the survival of immunized mice after intranasal challenge with sH1N1 virus (A/California/04/2009) depended on the strain. After challenge with 10-times the median lethal dose (MLD50) of sH1N1 virus, 100% of BALB/c mice immunized with the commercial vaccine or AcHERV-sH1N1-HA survived. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice immunized with AcHERV-sH1N1-HA or the commercial vaccine showed 60% and 70% survival respectively, after challenge with sH1N1 virus. In all mice, virus titers and results of histological analyses of lung tissues were consistent with the survival data. Our results indicate the importance of humoral immune response as a major defense system against influenza viral infection. Moreover, the complete survival of BALB/c mice immunized with AcHERV-sH1N1-HA after challenge with sH1N1 virus suggests the potential of baculoviral vector-based vaccines to achieve an efficacy comparable to that of killed virus vaccines.
A review on advanced nanofiber technology for membrane distillation

The importance of the nanofiber webs increases rapidly due to their highly porous structure, narrow pore size, and distribution; specific surface area and compatibility with inorganics. Electrospinning has been introduced as one of the most efficient technique for the fabrication of polymeric nanofibers due to its ability to fabricate nanostructures with unique properties such as a high surface area and porosity. The process and the operating parameters affect the nanofiber fabrication and the application of nanofibers in various fields, such as sensors, tissue engineering, wound dressing, protective clothes, filtration, desalination, and distillation. In this review, a comprehensive study is presented on the parameters of electrospinning system including applications. More emphasis is given to the application of nanofibers in membrane distillation (MD). The research developments and the current situation of the nanofiber webs in MD are also discussed.
Talking to Strangers: Authentication in Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks

In this paper we address the problem of secure communication and authentication in ad-hoc wireless networks. This is a difficult problem, as it involves bootstrapping trust between strangers. We present a user-friendly solution, which provides secure authentication using almost any established public-key-based key exchange protocol, as well as inexpensive hash-based alternatives. In our approach, devices exchange a limited amount of public information over a privileged side channel, which will then allow them to complete an authenticated key exchange protocol over the wireless link. Our solution does not require a public key infrastructure, is secure against passive attacks on the privileged side channel and all attacks on the wireless link, and directly captures users’ intuitions that they want to talk to a particular previously unknown device in their physical proximity. We have implemented our system in Java for a variety of different devices, communication media, and key
Late Periprosthetic Joint Infection due to Staphylococcus lugdunensis Identified by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Staphylococcus lugdunensis, member to the group of coagulase-negative staphylococci, is previously thought to be rarely isolated. Recently other staphylococci have been described, which were supposedly related to S. lugdunensis, such as Staphylococcus pseudolugdunensis and Staphylococcus pettenkoferi. To decrease the rate misidentifications, an accurate identification method, such as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry or molecular methods, should be used. S. lugdunensis is usually associated with severe infections similar to those caused by S. aureus. Moreover, it has been described that skin infections due to S. lugdunensis are severely underreported and could be also underreported in periprosthetic joint infections. Ours is the first case of a late periprosthetic infection of the hip due to S. lugdunensis, identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A periprosthetic infection due to S. lugdunensis should be treated according to protocols of S. aureus periprosthetic infections, and therefore an accurate species identification is desirable.
Improving end-to-end performance of call classification through data confusion reduction and model tolerance enhancement

Two major challenges in the rapid deployment of automated natural language call routing system are the minimization of the manual effort in tagging data and reducing the impact of speech recognition errors on the call classification. In this paper we explore some novel approaches which target at these two challenges. One of our approaches enriches the training set with additional speech recognition hypotheses, automatically splits the neighboring data with its original classes, retags the training data based on a similarity measure, and elects the final result among multiple classifiers which are trained from the split data; the other approach incorporates the acoustical confusable information into call classifier to reduce the impact of the speech recognition error on the call classification accuracy. The experimental results show that our new approaches can reduce the classification error rate of an automated natural language call routing system by relative 10% in the end to end performance, using the live data collected from an enterprise call center.
Helminth Communities of an Introduced Hare (Lepus granatensis) and a Native Hare (Lepus europaeus) in Southern France

We investigated the parasite communities of introduced Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) and native European hares (Lepus europaeus) in southern France, where Iberian hares were introduced locally 20 yr ago as a game animal. Parasite communities of sympatric populations of the two hare species and of allopatric populations of European hares were compared. Iberian hares in France harbored a depauperate community of parasites relative to the population in its native habitat in Spain. European hares in areas of sympatry also were infected by Nematodiroides zembrae, which normally infects Iberian hares on their native range.
Assessing the Health Literacy Levels of Patients Using Selected Hospital Services

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the health literacy abilities of patients in an urban and suburban hospital. Background: Inadequate health literacy is a widespread problem that is associated with insufficient self-care knowledge and behavior, inappropriate use of emergency services, higher rates of hospitalization, and increased healthcare costs. Knowledge of patients' reading ability is necessary to ensure that appropriately leveled printed health education materials are available. Methods: The health literacy of a convenience sample of 21 inpatients and 34 outpatients from an urban and suburban hospital was measured using the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults and the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine. Variables for analysis included demographic characteristics, perceived health status, highest grade of school completed, socioeconomic status, healthcare costs, and number of inpatient and outpatient admissions over the previous year. Results: Based on the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, 33% of patients had health literacy levels that were eighth grade or below, whereas according to the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults, 23% had marginal or inadequate functional health literacy. Literacy was significantly related to socioeconomic status (P < .001) and education (P < .001), although 30% of participants had a reading level below the highest grade completed. No other significant correlations were found. Implications: Clinical nurse specialists should ensure that health information materials are written at appropriate levels and educate nurses and other healthcare professionals to use effective communication and teaching strategies.
Super Long Green Persistent Luminescence from X-Ray Excited β-NaYF4: Tb3+

Here, we have discovered a X-ray excited long afterglow phosphor β-NaYF4: Tb3+. After the irradiation of X-ray, the green emission can persist for more than 240 h. After 36 h, the afterglow intensity arrived at 0.69 mcd•m-2, which can clearly be observed by naked eyes. Even after 84 h, the afterglow emission brightness still reached 0.087 mcd•m-2. Also, combined with the results of thermoluminescence and photoluminescence, the super long afterglow emission of β-NaYF4: Tb3+ can be ascribed to the tunneling model associated with F centers. More importantly, the super long green afterglow emission of β-NaYF4: Tb3+ has been successfully used as in vivo light source to activate g-C3N4 for photodynamic therapy（PDT）and bacteria destruction. Furthermore, super long persistent luminescence of β-NaYF4: Tb3+ could be repeatedly charged by X-ray for many circulations, which indicates that the phosphors have high photo stability under repeated cycles of alternating X-ray irradiation.
Reliability and validity of the Ocular Surface Disease Index.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. METHODS Participants (109 patients with dry eye and 30 normal controls) completed the OSDI, the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25), the McMonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire, the Short Form-12 (SF-12) Health Status Questionnaire, and an ophthalmic examination including Schirmer tests, tear breakup time, and fluorescein and lissamine green staining. RESULTS Factor analysis identified 3 subscales of the OSDI: vision-related function, ocular symptoms, and environmental triggers. Reliability (measured by Cronbach alpha) ranged from good to excellent for the overall instrument and each subscale, and test-retest reliability was good to excellent. The OSDI was valid, effectively discriminating between normal, mild to moderate, and severe dry eye disease as defined by both physician's assessment and a composite disease severity score. The OSDI also correlated significantly with the McMonnies questionnaire, the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire, the physical component summary score of the Short Form-12, patient perception of symptoms, and artificial tear usage. CONCLUSIONS The OSDI is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the severity of dry eye disease, and it possesses the necessary psychometric properties to be used as an end point in clinical trials.
Effect of Experimental Parameters on Nanofiber Diameter from Electrospinning with Wire Electrodes

Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers were electrospun by Nanospider equipment with wire electrodes. The parameters which would influence the fiber diameter were investigated in terms of solution concentration, cartridge speed (feed rate of solution), voltage, electrode distance, rotating wire speed, winding speed and slit diameter. The morphology and diameter of fibers were observed by scanning electron microscope. The results revealed that the solution concentration had significant influence on both fiber morphology and fiber diameter; the cartridge speed, voltage, electrode distance and slit diameter had slight effect on fiber diameter since the standard deviations were large; the rotating wire speed and the winding speed had insignificant influence on fiber diameter.
Towards a framework for robot cognition

This work describes a framework for control of attention and for pattern categorization using a robot platform consisting of an articulated stereo-head with four degrees of freedom (pan, tilt, left verge, and right verge). As a practical result of this work, the system can select a region of interest, perform attention shifts involving saccadic movements, perform efficient feature extraction and recognition, incrementally construct a world map, and keep the map consistent with a current perception of the world. Another important result for the attentional mechanism is that the system is capable of analyzing all regions of its world, selected according to a salience map.
Preoperative hematocrit levels and postoperative outcomes in older patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.

CONTEXT Elderly patients are at high risk of both abnormal hematocrit values and cardiovascular complications of noncardiac surgery. Despite nearly universal screening of patients for abnormal preoperative hematocrit levels, limited evidence demonstrates the adverse effects of preoperative anemia or polycythemia. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of preoperative anemia and polycythemia and their effects on 30-day postoperative outcomes in elderly veterans undergoing major noncardiac surgery. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study using the VA National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Based on preoperative hematocrit levels, we stratified patients into standard categories of anemia (hematocrit <39.0%), normal hematocrit (39.0%-53.9%), and polycythemia (hematocrit > or =54%). We then estimated increases in 30-day postoperative cardiac event and mortality risks in relation to each hematocrit point deviation from the normal category. SETTING AND PATIENTS A total of 310,311 veterans aged 65 years or older who underwent major noncardiac surgery between 1997 and 2004 in 132 Veterans' Affairs medical centers across the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality; a secondary outcome measure was composite 30-day postoperative mortality or cardiac events (cardiac arrest or Q-wave myocardial infarction). RESULTS Thirty-day mortality and cardiac event rates increased monotonically, with either positive or negative deviations from normal hematocrit levels. We found a 1.6% (95% confidence interval, 1.1%-2.2%) increase in 30-day postoperative mortality associated with every percentage-point increase or decrease in the hematocrit value from the normal range. Additional analyses suggest that the adjusted risk of 30-day postoperative mortality and cardiac morbidity begins to rise when hematocrit levels decrease to less than 39% or exceed 51%. CONCLUSIONS Even mild degrees of preoperative anemia or polycythemia were associated with an increased risk of 30-day postoperative mortality and cardiac events in older, mostly male veterans undergoing major noncardiac surgery. Future studies should determine whether these findings are reproducible in other populations and if preoperative management of anemia or polycythemia decreases the risk of postoperative mortality.
A clipping-based adaptive filtering approach for stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation

The use of partial-updating algorithm for reducing interchannel coherence in stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation has been proposed recently. In this work, we show that this algorithm suffers from the lack of robustness against source positions in the transmission room. To address this, we present an insight into this problem and propose a center clipping algorithm that improves the joint optimization between reducing interchannel coherence and increasing energies of selected taps for different source positions. Simulation results using both colored and speech inputs verify the robustness of the proposed algorithm against source positions.