Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sensitivity Experiments with a Model of the Ice Age Cycle: The Response to Milankovitch Forcing

Abstract We address the question of the extent to which a simple one-dimensional time-dependent climate model is able to explain the fluctuations of continental ice volume which have occurred during the last quarter of the Pleistocene epoch. The model includes explicit ice physics based on the Glen flow law and explicit glacial isostatic adjustment based on a realistic viscoelastic field theory. When the model is forced by the Milankovitch variations of insulation it delivers ice volume fluctuations which are very similar to those implied by the specmap δ18O record. In particular, the model appears capable of explaining the observed correlation between eccentricity and ice volume variations, the dominance of the 105 year period in the power spectrum of the ice volume time series, and the thickness and latitudinal extents of the continental ice sheets which existed at Wurm–Wisconsin maximum 18 000 years ago.
Estratigrafía, procedencia, subsidencia y exhumación de las unidades paleógenas en el Sinclinal de Usme, sur de la zona axial de la Cordillera Oriental

Analisis estratigraficos, procedencia y termocronologia en los 2200 metros de la sucesion Paleogena en el sector sur de la zona axial de la Cordillera Oriental (Sinclinal de Usme) permiten establecer la evolucion tectonica y paleogeografica de este sector de la Cordillera Oriental. El analisis sedimentologico permite identificar un dominio de ambientes continentales con leves incursiones salobres y desarrollo de pantanos. La composicion de las areniscas cambian, de base a techo, de cuarzoarenitas a sublitoarenitas para las formaciones Guaduas y Cacho, y a sublitoarenitas y litoarenitas feldespaticas para la Formacion Bogota. Siguiendo hacia el techo, la composicion tiende a ser mas cuarzosa en la unidad mas superior de la Formacion Bogota, y en las formaciones Regadera y Usme son cuarzoareniscas. La asociacion de minerales pesados sigue la misma tendencia de madurez composicional de las areniscas, reportandose minerales inestables (hornblenda, talco, clinozoisita) en la parte media de la Formacion Bogota; este nivel consiste de depositos volcaniclasticos con circones volcanicos de edad 56.2 ± 1.6 Ma . La poblacion de edades circones detriticos, la presencia de glauconita retrabajada, el retrabajamiento de polen de edad Campaniano-Maastrichtiano en la base de la Formacion Bogota y en la Formacion Regadera, y el cambio composicional de las areniscas entre las Formaciones Cacho-Bogota y Regadera-Usme nos permite inferir una procedencia del Occidente (Cordillera Central y estructuras occidentales de la Cordillera Oriental) para las Formaciones Cacho y Bogota (Paleoceno Inferior-Eoceno Inferior). Las areniscas cuarzosas de la Formacion Regadera y Usme (Eoceno medio – Oligoceno Inferior) proceden de cobertera Cretacica involucradas en estructuras al Oriente del Sinclinal de Usme. Las tasas de subsidencia tectonica del Paleoceno-Eoceno inferior son mas altas que las registradas durante el Eoceno medio-Oligoceno temprano. Esta disminucion en la tasa de subsidencia coincide con el inicio de la exhumacion en el Oligoceno temprano y el cese del registro sedimentario en la zona axial de la Cordillera.
Study on pharmacokinetics of puerarin in rats by following different methods of administration of puerariae extract

Objective: To study pharmacokinetics of Puerarin in Rats Following Different Methods of Administration of Puerarin Extract.Methods: Rats received 20 mg/kg puerarin extract by caudal vein injection,20 mg/kg puerarin extract by nasal administration and 200 mg/kg puerarin extract by oral administration.Plasma samples were extracted with methanol and the plasma concentration of puerarin was analyzed by RP-HPLC.The pharmacokinetic parameters and bioavailability were calculated with Kinetica software.Results: Within range of(0.05315-53.1500) mg/L,puerarin presented a fine linear relationship(r=0.9999). The average recovery of puerarin was 95.72% with RSD 2.3%. The main pharmacokinetic parameters were as follows: caudal vein injection: AUC=(795.41±59.85)mg·L-1·min-1,Cmax=(65.74±7.71)μg/mL,MRT=(18.96±2.08)min,t1/2=(16.95±3.55)min,nasal administration: AUC=(227.34±19.42)mg·L-1·min-1,Cmax=(3.78±1.80)μg/mL,Tmax=(7.50±2.74)min,MRT=(117.09±38.37)min,t1/2=(22.50±10.60)min;oraladministration: AUC=(732.48±471.57)mg·L-1·min-1,Cmax=(3.53±1.32)μg/mL,Tmax=(27.00±16.43)min,MRT=(394.22±209.24)min,t1/2=(237.84±112.39)min.Conclusion: There were significant differences among the main pharmacokinetic parameters of puerarin following different methods of administration of puerarin extract,nasal administration could lead to a quick absorption and its bioavailability was higher than oral administration,this result can provide some scientific basises for the method of administration and the reform of dosage form of puerarin extract.
Diagnostic Value of Serum Ferritin in Adult Onset Still's Disease

Objective: Our aim was to determine diagnostic value of serum ferritin (SF) level in adult onset Still's disease (SD) Methods: We divided 122 patients into adult onset SD group and control group. The levels of SF were measured by using chemilumiescence immunoasay. Results: The mean SF level in the SD group (7866±5475 μg/L) was significantly higher than that in the control group (527±365 μg/L, P 0.01). In SD group, the SF level of 20 (74.1%) cases was 5 times higher than normal level. While in the control group, the SF level of 18(19 0%) cases was 5 times higher than normal level. Conclusion: The high level of SF has reliable diagnostic value for the acute adult onset SD, especially valuable when SF levels are higher than 1 500 μg/L. It is also useful to exclude other inflammatory diseases.
Making species distribution models available on the web for reuse in biodiversity experiments: Euterpe edulis species case study

Currently, biodiversity conservation is one of the most urgent and important themes. Biodiversity researchers use species distribution models to make inferences about species occurrences and locations. These models are fundamental for fauna and flora preservation, as well as for decision making processes for urban and regional planning and development. Species distribution modelling tools use large biodiversity datasets which are globally distributed, can be in different computational platforms, and are hard to access and manipulate. The scientific community needs infrastructures in which biodiversity researchers can collaborate and share knowledge. In this context, we present a computational environment that supports the collaboration in species distribution modelling network on the Web. This environment is based on a modelling experiment catalogue and on a set of geoweb services, the Web Biodiversity Collaborative Modelling Services - WBCMS.
Correlation of Videodensitometric Scale and Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography in Assessment of Myocardial Microperfusion

Objective To evaluate the feasibility and the value of videodensitometric scale(VDS)in assessing myocardial microperfusion.Methods11 Beagles were embolized small coronary artery with polystyrene microbubble(100 μm). Coronary angiography was performed after the embolization and the VDS was calculated.Single photon emission computerized tomography(SPECT)was also performed after embolization and SPECT scores were also calculated.ResultsVDS after embolization was(15.2±3.8);and SPECT score was(17.6±6.4). VDS correlated negatively with SPECT scores(r=-0.85,P0.05). ConclusionVDS keeps a closely correlation with SPECT.It can be used to assess myocardial microcirculation in clinical.
Comparative life-cycle air emissions of coal, domestic natural gas, LNG, and SNG for electricity generation.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that in the coming decades the United States' natural gas (NG) demand for electricity generation will increase. Estimates also suggest that NG supply will increasingly come from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Additional supplies of NG could come domestically from the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) via coal gasification−methanation. The objective of this study is to compare greenhouse gas (GHG), SOx, and NOx life-cycle emissions of electricity generated with NG/LNG/SNG and coal. This life-cycle comparison of air emissions from different fuels can help us better understand the advantages and disadvantages of using coal versus globally sourced NG for electricity generation. Our estimates suggest that with the current fleet of power plants, a mix of domestic NG, LNG, and SNG would have lower GHG emissions than coal. If advanced technologies with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are used, however, coal and a mix of domestic NG, LNG, and SNG .
Frequency compounding in multifrequency vibroacoustography

Vibro-acoustography is a speckle-free ultrasound based imaging modality that can visualize normal and abnormal soft tissue through mapping stimulated acoustic emission. The acoustic emission is generated by focusing two ultrasound beams of slightly different frequencies (Δf = f1-f2) to the same spatial location and vibrating the tissue as a result of ultrasound radiation force. Reverberation of the acoustic emission can create dark and bright areas in the image that affect overall image contrast and detectability of abnormal tissue. Using finite length tonebursts yields acoustic emission at Δf and at sidebands centered about Δf that originate from the temporal toneburst gating. Separate images are formed by bandpass filtering the acoustic emission at Δf and the associated sidebands. The data at these multiple frequencies are compounded through coherent or incoherent processes to reduce the artifacts associated with reverberation of the acoustic emission. Experimental results from a urethane breast phantom and in vivo human breast scans are shown. The reduction in reverberation artifacts are analyzed using a smoothness metric which uses the variances of the gray levels of the original images and those formed through coherent and incoherent compounding of image data. This smoothness metric is minimized when the overall image background is smooth while image features are still preserved. The smoothness metric indicates that the images improved by factors from 1.23-4.33 and 1.09-2.68 in phantom and in vivo studies, respectively. The coherent and incoherent compounding of multifrequency data demonstrate, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the efficacy of this method for reduction of reverberation artifacts.
Economic incentives and poaching of the one-horned Indian Rhinoceros in Nepal

Study Area Nepal’s mountainous, hilly and lowland terrain has made its economic development difficult, yet these same geographical features make it a treasuretrove of globally significant biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation began around 40 years ago, in response to the combined threats of habitat loss, population growth and poverty. Conservation was made a priority, not only to maintain healthy ecosystems but also to meet the country’s future socio-economic needs.
Genetic affinity between Ningxia Hui and eastern Asian populations revealed by a set of InDel loci

According to historical records, ethnic Hui in China obtained substantial genetic components from western Eurasian populations during their Islamization. However, some scholars believed that the ancestry of Hui people were native Chinese populations. In this context, the formation of Hui is due to simple cultural diffusion rather than demic diffusion. In this study, we examined the forensic and population genetic application of the 30 InDel loci in Hui population from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China. Genotype analysis of 129 unrelated individuals revealed that all loci were in the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in Ningxia Hui. Forensic indices calculated from genotypes demonstrated that this panel, Qiagen DIPplex® Investigator kit, was powerful enough to be used in individual identification but not in paternity cases. Through population genetic analysis, we found that Ningxia Hui received much more genetic contributions from East Asian populations than those from western Eurasian populations. Finally, we statistically identified the admixture signal of eastern and western Eurasians, although the latter is weak, in Ningxia Hui via the three-population test. All this evidence suggested that the formation of Ningxia Hui was mainly attributed to the cultural transformation of local Chinese residents with minor gene flow from western Eurasian populations.
Small deformation theory for two leaky dielectric drops in a uniform electric field

A small deformation theory for two non-identical spherical drops freely suspended in an ambient fluid and subjected to a uniform electric field is presented. The three phases are assumed to be leaky dielectric (slightly conducting) viscous incompressible fluids and the nonlinear effects of inertia and surface charge convection are neglected. The deformed shapes of the drops are linearized with respect to the electric capillary number that characterizes the balance between the electric stress and the surface tension. When the two drops are sufficiently far apart, their deformed shapes are predicted by Taylor’s small deformation theory—depending on Taylor’s discriminating function, the drops may become prolate, oblate or remain spherical. When the two drops get closer to each other, in addition to becoming prolate/oblate, they start translating and developing an egg shape. (Since there is no net charge, the centre of mass of the two drops remains stationary.) The extent of each of these ‘modes’ of deformation depends on the distance between the drops’ centres and on drop-to-ambient fluid ratios of electric conductivities, dielectric constants and viscosities. The predictions of the small deformation theory for two drops perfectly agree with the existing results of two-drop dynamics simulation based on a boundary-integral equation approach. Moreover, while previous works observed only three types of behaviour for two identical drops—the drops may either become prolate or oblate and move towards each other or become prolate and move away from each other—the small deformation theory predicts that non-identical drops may, in fact, become oblate and move away from each other when the drop-to-ambient fluid conductivity ratios are reciprocal and the drop-to-ambient fluid viscosity ratios are sufficiently large. The presented theory also readily yields an analytical insight into the interplay among different modes of drop deformation and can be used to guide the selection of the phases’ electromechanical properties for two-drop dynamics simulations.
Disentangling the interplay of positive and negative selection forces that shaped mitochondrial genomes of Gammarus pisinnus and Gammarus lacustris

We hypothesized that the mitogenome of Gammarus lacustris (GL), native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, might exhibit genetic adaptations to the extreme environmental conditions associated with high altitudes (greater than 3000 m). To test this, we also sequenced the mitogenome of Gammarus pisinnus (GP), whose native range is close to the Tibetan plateau, but at a much lower altitude (200–1500 m). The two mitogenomes exhibited conserved mitochondrial architecture, but low identity between genes (55% atp8 to 76.1% cox1). Standard (homogeneous) phylogenetic models resolved Gammaridae as paraphyletic, but ‘heterogeneous’ CAT-GTR model as monophyletic. In indirect support of our working hypothesis, GL, GP and Gammarus fossarum exhibit evidence of episodic diversifying selection within the studied Gammaroidea dataset. The mitogenome of GL generally evolves under a strong purifying selection, whereas GP evolves under directional (especially pronounced in atp8) and/or relaxed selection. This is surprising, as GP does not inhabit a unique ecological niche compared to other gammarids. We propose that this rapid evolution of the GP mitogenome may be a reflection of its relatively recent speciation and heightened non-adaptive (putatively metabolic rate-driven) mutational pressures. To test these hypotheses, we urge sequencing mitogenomes of remaining Gammarus species populating the same geographical range as GP.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Quality and Safety

As exponential expansion of computing capacity converges with unsustainable health care spending, a hopeful opportunity has emerged: the use of artificial intelligence to enhance health care quality and safety. These computer-based algorithms can perform the intricate and extremely complex mathematical operations of classification or regression on immense amounts of data to detect intricate and potentially previously unknown patterns in that data, with the end result of creating predictive models that can be utilized in clinical practice. Such models are designed to distinguish relevant from irrelevant data regarding a particular patient; choose appropriate perioperative care, intervention or surgery; predict cost of care and reimbursement; and predict future outcomes on a variety of anchored measures. If and when one is brought to fruition, an artificial intelligence platform could serve as the first legitimate clinical decision-making tool in spine care, delivering on the value equation while serving as a source for improving physician performance and promoting appropriate, efficient care in this era of financial uncertainty in health care.
Robot Opera: Bridging the Anthropocentric and the Mechanized Eccentric

Abstract The recent emergence of robot opera, in which robots and robotic entities have served polyvalent and at times ontologically ambiguous roles, has challenged the distinction made by Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy between anthropocentric and mechanized eccentric theater, as is outlined in his 1924 essay “Theater, Circus, Variety. ” When incorporated into the context of music theater, is the robot dimension intended to replace human activities and modes of expression; to augment, disembody or dislocate them; or rather to absorb them, such that the robot becomes an ersatz human presence in and of itself? If the latter, does the robot adequately emulate human attributes of musical expression, or does it establish its own artificial expressive mode and set of performance techniques? With Moholy-Nagy's criteria for a so-called Theater of Totality and these leading questions in the background, salient robot opera examples of the past several years will be discussed. Repertoire examples include Tod Machover's pioneering Death and the Powers (2010), the Komische Oper Berlin production My Square Lady (2015), Keiichiro Shibuya's Scary Beauty (2018), and works emerging from the University of Sussex Centre for Research in Opera and Music Theatre Robot Opera Mini Symposium, held in 2017.
Identification of PGRMC1 as a Candidate Oncogene for Head and Neck Cancers and Its Involvement in Metabolic Activities

Progesterone Receptor Membrane Component 1 (PGRMC1/Sigma-2 receptor) is located on chromosome Xq21 and encodes a haem-containing protein that interacts with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cytochromes P450, with function in tumor proliferation and chemoresistance. Although the over-expression of PGRMC1 reported in many different types of human cancers, systematic analysis of its oncogenic role of PGRMC1 has not been performed for any cancer. In this work, we analyzed the transcriptomics, genomics, and clinical data of 498 head-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) samples from the public-accessible database, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The Cox regression was performed to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) of PGRMC1 expression as a prognosis feature for overall survival (OS). Our results demonstrated that PGRMC1 expression served as a predictor for worse OS (HR = 1.95, P = 0.0005) in head-neck squamous cell carcinoma. And the over-expression of PGRMC1 was strongly correlated with various metabolic process activity as well as cancer metastasis and cell proliferation features in human head-neck squamous cell carcinoma patient's cohort. Besides, the over-expression and unfavorable prognosis value of PGRMC1 were also observed in many other cancer types. This study provides insights into the potential oncogenic functional significance of PGRMC1 in cancer research.
Image-Based Network Analysis of DNp73 Expression by Immunohistochemistry in Rectal Cancer Patients

Background: Rectal cancer is a disease characterized with tumor heterogeneity. The combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy can reduce the risk of local recurrence. However, there is a significant difference in the response to radiotherapy among rectal cancer patients even they have the same tumor stage. Despite rapid advances in knowledge of cellular functions affecting radiosensitivity, there is still a lack of predictive factors for local recurrence and normal tissue damage. The tumor protein DNp73 is thought as a biomarker in colorectal cancer, but its clinical significance is still not sufficiently investigated, mainly due to the limitation of human-based pathology analysis. In this study, we investigated the predictive value of DNp73 in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma using image-based network analysis. Methods: The fuzzy weighted recurrence network of time series was extended to handle multi-channel image data, and applied to the analysis of immunohistochemistry images of DNp73 expression obtained from a cohort of 25 rectal cancer patients who underwent radiotherapy before surgery. Two mathematical weighted network properties, which are the clustering coefficient and characteristic path length, were computed for the image-based networks of the primary tumor (obtained after operation) and biopsy (obtained before operation) of each cancer patient. Results: The ratios of two weighted recurrence network properties of the primary tumors to biopsies reveal the correlation of DNp73 expression and long survival time, and discover the non-effective radiotherapy to a cohort of rectal cancer patients who had short survival time. Conclusion: Our work contributes to the elucidation of the predictive value of DNp73 expression in rectal cancer patients who were given preoperative radiotherapy. Mathematical properties of fuzzy weighted recurrence networks of immunohistochemistry images are not only able to show the predictive factor of DNp73 expression in the patients, but also reveal the identification of non-effective application of radiotherapy to those who had poor overall survival outcome.