Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3-D Imaging Systems for Agricultural Applications—A Review

Efficiency increase of resources through automation of agriculture requires more information about the production process, as well as process and machinery status. Sensors are necessary for monitoring the status and condition of production by recognizing the surrounding structures such as objects, field structures, natural or artificial markers, and obstacles. Currently, three dimensional (3-D) sensors are economically affordable and technologically advanced to a great extent, so a breakthrough is already possible if enough research projects are commercialized. The aim of this review paper is to investigate the state-of-the-art of 3-D vision systems in agriculture, and the role and value that only 3-D data can have to provide information about environmental structures based on the recent progress in optical 3-D sensors. The structure of this research consists of an overview of the different optical 3-D vision techniques, based on the basic principles. Afterwards, their application in agriculture are reviewed. The main focus lays on vehicle navigation, and crop and animal husbandry. The depth dimension brought by 3-D sensors provides key information that greatly facilitates the implementation of automation and robotics in agriculture.
Cutting Edge: C1q Binds Deoxyribose and Heparan Sulfate through Neighboring Sites of Its Recognition Domain

C1q, the recognition subunit of the C1 complex of complement, is an archetypal pattern recognition molecule with the striking ability to sense a wide variety of targets, including a number of altered self-motifs. The recognition properties of its globular domain were further deciphered by means of x-ray crystallography using deoxy-d-ribose and heparan sulfate as ligands. Highly specific recognition of deoxy-d-ribose, involving interactions with Arg C98, Arg C111, and Asn C113, was observed at 1.2 Å resolution. Heparin-derived tetrasaccharide interacted more loosely through Lys C129, Tyr C155, and Trp C190. These data together with previous findings define a unique binding area exhibiting both polyanion and deoxy-d-ribose recognition properties, located on the inner face of C1q. DNA and heparin compete for C1q binding but are poor C1 activators compared with immune complexes. How the location of this binding area in C1q may regulate the level of C1 activation is discussed.
Food consumption by yellowtail flounder in relation to production of its benthic prey

Yellowtail flounder Lvnanda ferruginea consumes a small but significant propobon of the production of its invertebrate prey. Using 2 different methods, 1 calculated rate of food consumption by yellowtail flounder at 3 sites off the New England coast, USA. The bioenergetic method sums the food required to satisfy the metabolic needs of the fish. The second method is based on weight of stomach contents and rate of food evacuation from the stomach. The bioenergetic method gave consistently higher results (1.4 to 1.6 kg fish-' yr-l) than the stomach-content method (0.5 to 0.8 kg fish-' yr-'1. Yellowtail flounder abundance was estimated with a method that uses commercial-catch data to standardize a survey: relative-abundance index. I multiplied consumption rates per fish by flounder density to obtain estimates of consumption per unit area, which range from 1.2 to 6.3 g wet wt m-' yr-'. Annual production of 6 important prey species was calculated from benthic samples collected concurrently at the same sites. Yellowtail flounder consumphon as a percentage of prey production was 6 to 12 %, 2 to 5 %, and 1 to 3 %, for the amph~pods Uncjola inermis, Encthonius fasciatus and Ampelisca agassizi, respectively; 11 to 34 O/O and 7 to 21 O/ O for the polychaetes Chone infundibuliformis and Nephtys incisa, respectively; and less than 1 % for the sand dollar Echinarachnius parma.
Inflammatory Biomarkers and Clinical Judgment in the Emergency Diagnosis of Urgent Abdominal Pain.

BACKGROUND The early diagnosis of urgent abdominal pain (UAP) is challenging. Most causes of UAP are associated with extensive inflammation. Therefore, we hypothesized that quantifying inflammation using interleukin-6 and/or procalcitonin would provide incremental value in the emergency diagnosis of UAP. METHODS This was an investigator-initiated prospective, multicenter diagnostic study enrolling patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute abdominal pain. Clinical judgment of the treating physician regarding the presence of UAP was quantified using a visual analog scale after initial clinical and physician-directed laboratory assessment, and again after imaging. Two independent specialists adjudicated the final diagnosis and the classification as UAP (life-threatening, needing urgent surgery and/or hospitalization for acute medical reasons) using all information including histology and follow-up. Interleukin-6 and procalcitonin were measured blinded in a central laboratory. RESULTS UAP was adjudicated in 376 of 1038 (36%) patients. Diagnostic accuracy for UAP was higher for interleukin-6 [area under the ROC curve (AUC), 0.80; 95% CI, 0.77-0.82] vs procalcitonin (AUC, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.62-0.68) and clinical judgment (AUC, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.65-0.72; both P < 0.001). Combined assessment of interleukin-6 and clinical judgment increased the AUC at presentation to 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80-0.85) and after imaging to 0.87 (95% CI, 0.84-0.89) and improved the correct identification of patients with and without UAP (net improvement in mean predicted probability: presentation, +19%; after imaging, +15%; P < 0.001). Decision curve analysis documented incremental value across the full range of pretest probabilities. A clinical judgment/interleukin-6 algorithm ruled out UAP with a sensitivity of 97% and ruled in UAP with a specificity of 93%. CONCLUSIONS Interleukin-6 significantly improves the early diagnosis of UAP in the ED.
Evaluation of the Efficacy of Cancer Drugs by Using the Second Largest Eigenvalue of Metabolic Cancer Pathways

Cancer is a system with thousands of genes and proteins with the complex interactions between them. By examining the cancer drug activity on only part of this system, we do not know in which direction the whole system will evolve, and whether therapy will be useful or not. This is one of the main reasons why cancer therapies still do not meet our expectations. In order to find more effective anticancer therapies, it is important to consider the impact of drugs on the entire cancer system. The second largest eigenvalue plays a key role in complex systems optimization. The algorithms minimizing the second largest eigenvalue of graphs have been already used to speed up processes in computer networks and differential cryptanalysis. Based on the aforementioned, it could be assumed that maximizing the second highest eigenvalue could slow down the processes in metabolic networks that describe processes in cancer. To verify our hypothesis, we have built the in silico model of cancer Vini and run it on a supercomputer. Vini transformed the metabolic pathways of cancer from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes into the binding energy matrices representing binding energies between the genes and proteins on one side and drugs being investigated on another side. Some matrix elements also represent interactions between proteins and genes. Then, it calculated the second largest eigenvalues of these matrices. In the end, we compared the calculated results against the existing in vitro and in vivo experimental results. The calculated efficacy of cancer drugs was confirmed in 79.31% of in vivo experimental cases, and in 92.30% of in vitro experimental cases. These results show that the second largest eigenvalue plays an important role in metabolic cancer networks and that the Vini model can be an effective aid in finding more effective cancer therapies.
Pension Actuarial Incentives for Earnings Management

This study investigates whether financially distressed firms exploit the pension actuarial assumptions of the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 87 (Employers’ Accounting for Pension) as a tool for earnings management. For a sample of 587 firm-year observations over the period of 1988-2002, the solution for detecting earnings management is the use of a system of four simultaneous equations. By using three-stage-least-square (3SLS), this study demonstrates that taking account of simultaneity is important for three of the seven modelled incentives, namely, the discount rate, expected rate of return on plan assets, and salary progression rate. All three behave as if they are used to manipulate pension costs, and discretion in each of these incentives depends on the levels of the other two. In contrast, the remaining four incentives are used as control variables in this study, namely: debt covenant, bonus plan, cash flow, and funding status incentives, which appear to be determined independently of the other incentives. The parameter estimates indicate that the discount rate and the expected rate of return on plan assets are used to manage earnings, and salary progression rate is used, perhaps secondarily, to offset the total pension costs. Therefore, managers of financially distressed firms may have smoothed reported earnings by jointly changing the pension rates to change the corresponding pension costs and cash requirements.
Outcome postponement as a potential patient centred measure of therapeutic benefit: examples in cardiovascular medicine

Abstract Background: The impact of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) depends heavily on the presentation of the findings. Objective: Classically, RCT findings are presented in the form of absolute risk reduction (ARR), number needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one adverse outcome, and relative risk reduction (RRR) or hazard ratio (the most favourable means for drug marketing). However, the estimation of average survival gain (i.e. outcome postponement between a trial intervention and comparator) is an alternative and informative means of presenting the findings of RCTs. Study selection: Recent cardiovascular RCTs evaluating ezetimibe added to simvastatin, evolocumab, canakinumab, ticagrelor, rivaroxaban, ivabradine, LCZ 696 (sacubitril/valsartan), and transfemoral aortic valve replacement are analysed and discussed. Findings: The average survival gains ranged between 4.9 days on a composite end point with ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in randomised patients with acute coronary syndrome and 117 days of life expectancy obtained with TAVR versus standard therapy in patients with severe aortic stenosis deemed ineligible for surgery. Conclusions: Using outcome postponement as an additional measure of treatment effect is likely to be more easily understood than hazard ratio or RRR by both patients and physicians and could help when evaluating drugs.
Administrative Reform in Guilan Province, Iran: An Analysis of Advantages and Shortcomings

The purpose of this paper is to explore administrative reform outcomes in state organisations in terms of public managers’ perspective as reform executives in Guilan Province of Iran. Guilan Province has been selected as research site of this study because it is one of a few successful provinces in Iran that participated in administrative Reform Program, and productivity movement. This study was conducted from 2005 to 2008. The assessment was completed using a multi scale survey based on the Second and the Third Development Plan of Iran. A total of 314 public managers stated their perspective about reform efforts during the Plans. As reform executives managers in different level rated the extent of reform objectives’ performance. The objectives such as the role of Development and Planning Council in Guilan province, public participation in public activities, and attraction and retaining the experts and professionals did not fare well in the Development Plans. Managers believe that the objectives of human resources development and structural Reorganisation have been generally achieved. Nevertheless, there is a considerable gap between actual results and stated objectives of the Plans. Furthermore, public managers pointed out that programs associated with the structural reform dimension has been more successful than plans implemented within human resources development dimension. Keywords: administrative reform, development plans, public managers, Human Resource Development, Iran ABSTRAK Makalah ini bertujuan mengkaji keberhasilan reformasi pentadbiran dari perspektif pengurus yang berkhidmat di agensi kerajaan di Daerah Guilan, Iran. Agensi di daerah menjadi pilihan kerana mempunyai kadar kejayaan yang agak membanggakan dalam usaha reformasi pentadbiran ke arah peningkatan produktiviti. Jangka masa kajian ialah di antara 2005-2008. Kajian dijalankan dengan menggunakan instrumen survei yang meliputi Pelan Pembangunan Iran yang Kedua dan Ketiga. Seramai 314 pengurus agensi awam telah memberi maklumbalas tentang pencapaian objektif reformasi Pentadbiran tersebut. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa peranan yang dimainkan oleh Majlis Perancangan dan Pembangunan Guilan, penyertaan awam dalam aktiviti awam serta kebolehan untuk mengekalkan pekerjaan tidak mencapai tahap yang membanggakan. Walau bagaimanapun, objektif reformasi struktural dan pembangunan sumber manusia mencapai tahap yang memuaskan. Umumnya pencapaian reformasi struktural berbanding pembangunan sumber manusia lebih memberangsangkan kerana jangka masa yang lebih lama diperlukan untuk merealisasikan objektifnya. Kata kunci: reformasi pentadbiran, pelan pembangunan, pengurus awam, Pembangunan Sumber Manusia, Iran
Semantic Trails of City Explorations: How Do We Live a City

The knowledge of city exploration trails of people is in short supply because of the complexity in defining meaningful trails representative of individual behaviours and in the access to actionable data. Existing datasets have only recorded isolated check-ins of activities featured by opaque venue types. In this paper, we fill the gaps in defining what is a semantic trail of city exploration and how it can be generated by integrating different data sources. Furthermore, we publicly release two datasets holding millions of semantic trails each and we discuss their most salient characteristics. We finally present an application using these datasets to build a recommender system meant to guide tourists while exploring a city.
Clinical outcomes after whole-genome sequencing in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer

The Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) program at BC Cancer integrates whole-genome (DNA) and RNA sequencing into practice for metastatic malignancies. We examined the subgroup of patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and report the prevalence of actionable targets, treatments, and outcomes. We identified patients who were enrolled in the POG program between 2012 and 2016 who had a tumor biopsy and blood samples with comprehensive DNA (80×, 40× normal) and RNA sequencing followed by in-depth bioinformatics to identify potential cancer drivers and actionable targets. In NSCLC cases, we compared the progression-free survival (PFS) of “POG-informed therapies” with the PFS of the last regimen prior to POG (PFS ratio). In 29 NSCLC cases, 11 were male (38%), the median age was 60.2 yr (range: 39.4–72.6), and histologies included were adenocarcinoma (93%) and squamous cell carcinoma (7%). Potential molecular targets (i.e., cancer drivers including TP53 mutations) were identified in 26 (90%), and 21 (72%) had actionable targets. Therapies based on standard-of-care mutation analysis, such as EGFR mutations, were not considered POG-informed therapies. Thirteen received POG-informed therapies, of which three had no therapy before POG; therefore a comparator PFS could not be obtained. Of 10 patients with POG-informed therapy, median PFS ratio was 0.94 (IQR 0.2–3.4). Three (30%) had a PFS ratio ≥1.3, and three (30%) had a PFS ratio ≥0.8 and <1.3. In this small cohort of NSCLC, 30% demonstrated longer PFS with POG-informed therapies. Larger studies will help clarify the role of whole-genome analysis in clinical practice.
Modification of the Fundamental Properties of Light Through Interaction with Nanostructured Materials

The field of photonics has been growing rapidly over the last few decades as it has endeavored to harness the potential of nanostructured materials to utilize the energy and momentum of electromagnetic radiation on the nanoscale. Using metal nanostructures provides the ability to take advantage of the sub-field of plasmonics which holds the promise of opening the world to vast increases in computational power by circumventing the limitations of conventional current that plague today’s processors. With a thorough understanding of this subject we also get one step closer to increasing the efficiency of solar technology, developing a finer scale of sensing technology, and a new area of minute scale mechanical manipulation of materials. There is still much work to be done before we attain these lofty goals. As such, here we present another step in the never ending journey of exploration. INDEX WORDS: Metamaterial, Plasmon, Wave plate, Polarization, Nanotechnology, Photonics TRANSFORMATION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF LIGHT THROUGH INTERACTION WITH NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS
[The psychometric properties of three self-report screening instruments for identifying frail older people in the community].

BACKGROUND Frailty can lead towards serious adverse consequences, such as disability. With regard to prevention valid screening instruments are needed to identify frail older people. The aim was to evaluate and compare the psychometric properties of three screening instruments: the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) and the Sherbrooke Postal Questionnaire (SPQ). For validation purposes the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS) was added. METHODS A questionnaire was sent to 687 older people (> or = 70 years). (1) Agreement between instruments, (2) internal consistency, (3) cumulative scalability according to Mokken scale analysis and (4) construct validity were evaluated. RESULTS The response rate was 77%. Prevalence estimates of frailty ranged from 40% to 59%. The highest agreement was found between the GFI and TFI (Cohen's kappa = 0.74). Cronbach's alpha for the GFI, TFI and SPQ was 0.73, 0.79 and 0.26, respectively. The scalability of the three instruments was inadequate (Loevinger's H: 0.28, 0.30 and 0.09 for GFI, TFI and SPQ, respectively). Frailty scores correlated significantly with each other and with the GARS scores. CONCLUSION Especially the GFI and TFI seem to be useful to identify frail older people. Further research regarding their predictive validity is still needed.
Watermarking Medical Images with Anonymous Patient Identification to Verify Authenticity

When dealing with medical image management, there is a need to ensure information authenticity and dependability. Being able to verify the information belongs to the correct patient and is issued from the right source is a major concern. Verification can help to reduce the risk of errors when identifying documents in daily practice or when sending a patient's Electronic Health Record. At the same time, patient privacy issues may appear during the verification process when the verifier accesses patient data without appropriate authorization. In this paper we discuss the combination of watermarking with different identifiers ranging from DICOM standard UID to an Anonymous European Patient Identifier in order to improve medical image protection in terms of authenticity and maintainability.
Folate metabolism genetic polymorphisms and meningioma and glioma susceptibility in adults

Polymorphic variants of genes involved in folate metabolism are implicated in the susceptibility to meningioma and glioma, but the results from published articles are controversial and inconclusive. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis including all studies available to evaluate the relationship between folate metabolism genetic polymorphisms and the susceptibility to meningioma and glioma in adults. We searched the literature in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Library for relevant articles published up to August 2016. The odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95%Cls) were used to evaluate the associations of two folate metabolism genetic variants MTRR A66G (rs1801394) and MTHFR A1298C (rs1801131) with the risk of meningioma and glioma in adults. We found significant association of MTHFR A1298C (rs1801131) variant genotypes with increased incidence of meningioma and glioma in this study population (CA vs. AA: OR=1.22, P<0.001; CA+CC vs. AA: OR=1.18, P=0.002). Moreover, we found that MTRR A66G (rs1801394) variant genotypes was associated with increased risk of meningioma and glioma (G vs. A: OR=1.11, P=0.020; GG vs. AA+AG: OR=1.17, P=0.043; GG vs. AA: OR=1.22, P=0.023). In conclusion, our meta-analysis suggests that two folate metabolism genetic variants MTRR A66G (rs1801394) and MTHFR A1298C (rs1801131) contribute to genetic susceptibility to meningioma and glioma in adults.
On the terminology for phases and stages in the life history of teleostean fishes

The terminology generally used for describing the different stages of the life history of teleostean fishes is discussed and suggestions are given for categorizing it under phases and stages. Four phases, viz, embryonic, larval, juvenile and adult are recognized. Of these, the embryonic phase is divided into precleavage, cleavage, shield and postshield stages, and the larval phase is divided into prolarval and postlarval stages. Juveniles and adult phases are not subdivided but the latter could be grouped under different year classes.
DETERMINATION OF MOLECULAR MASSES FOR PETROLEUM DISTILLATES BY SIMULATED DISTILLATION

Determination of Molecular Mass (MM) for petroleum distillates is explored for selected samples via High Temperature Simulated Distillation (HTSD). MM is determined as a by-product from routine HTSD carried out using open wall capillary columns coated with apolar stationary phases. No sample pre-separation into hydrocarbon group-types is required. Determined MM values were validated with results achieved via correlations based on specific gravity and refractive index. Furthermore, determined MM with the former methodologies were found to match mass spectrometric determinations carried out for the basic polar components present within the studied samples. Moreover, HTSD analyzed petroleum distillates are proposed as more representative calibration standards for size exclusion chromatographic separations, thus opening the feasibility of extrapolating MM determination for non volatile petroleum residua.
Compensation in response to energy deficits induced by exercise or diet

Obesity is an extremely resilient condition. Weight loss is most challenging, and weight recidivism is rampant. There is accumulating evidence highlighting that energy deficits meant to produce increased mobilization of energy stores trigger a number of somewhat persistent adaptations that together increase the drive to eat and decrease energy output. These adaptations ostensibly enable a context where the likelihood of energy compensation is heightened. In fact, energy compensation is present for both diet and exercise induced energy deficits although at different magnitudes. For the most part, the energy compensation in response to exercise induced energy deficits seems to be larger. Interestingly, energy compensation appears to be greater for longer interventions, an effect independent of whether the energy deficit is induced through diet or exercise. The latter suggests that the increased drive to eat and the reduced energy expenditure that accompany weight loss might be successfully fought off initially. However, with time there seems to be increasing erosion of the behaviours that initially opposed adaptations to weight loss and increased energy compensation progressively sets in. Under such conditions, it would seem prudent to propose weight loss targets that align with a level of behaviour modifications that can be sustained indefinitely.