Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects and Safety of Preoperative Oral Carbohydrate in Radical Distal Gastrectomy - A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective: To investigate the safety of preoperative oral carbohydrate and the impact of preoperative oral carbohydrate on postoperative insulin resistance. Methods: 60 patients with gastric cancer scheduled were randomly divided into preoperative oral carbohydrate or placebo drink. Preoperative general well-being, 2-3 hours before the induction of anesthesia all patients received either a placebo drink or carbohydrate drink, blood glucose, insulin were measured before and immediately after surgery, Insulin resistance index was calculated using Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA), and postoperative complications and length of hospital stay were respectively recorded. Results: No complications associated with anesthesia were recorded as a result of preoperative fluid consumption. In the two groups, blood glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR immediately postoperative in the preoperative oral carbohydrate group were significantly lower than those in the preoperative oral placebo group. Insulin sensitivity index (ISI) was reduced in both groups; the oral carbohydrate group was higher than oral placebo group. There were no differences between two groups on length of hospital stay. Conclusion: Preoperative consumption of carbohydrate-containing fluid is safe. Preoperative oral carbohydrate may alleviate the postoperative immediately insulin resistance should be a routine for preoperative preparation.
Performanceof FloorAcquisitionMultiple Accessin Ad-HocNetworks

The performance of the FAMA-NCS protocol in ad-hoc networks is analyzed. FAMA-NCS (for floor acquisition multiple accesswith nonpersistent carrier sensing)guaranteesthat a single senderis able to senddata packets fr ee of collisions to a given recei ver at any given time. FAMA-NCS is basedon a three-wayhandshake betweensenderand recei ver in which the senderusesnon-persistentcarrier sensingto transmit a request-to-send(RTS) and the recei ver sendsa clear-to-send(CTS) that lastsmuch longer than theRTS to serve as a “b usy tone” that forcesall hidden nodesto back off long enough to allow a collision-free data packet to arri ve at the recei ver. It is shown that that FAMA-NCS performs better than ALOHA, CSMA, and all prior proposals basedon collision avoidancedialogues(e.g., MACA, MACAW, and IEEE 802.11 DFWMA C) in the presenceof hidden terminals. Simulations experimentsare usedto confirm the analytical results.
Optical study of local strain related disordering in CVD-grown MoSe2 monolayers

We present temperature dependent micro-photoluminescence and room temperature photoreflectance spectroscopy studies on aged MoSe2 monolayers with high surface roughness. A0 and B0 exciton bands were detected at 1.512 eV and 1.72 eV, respectively, which are 50–70 meV lower than those commonly reported for high-quality samples. It is shown that the difference can be accounted for using a model of localized excitons for disordered MoSe2 monolayers where the optical band gap energy fluctuations could be caused by random distribution of local tensile strain due to surface roughness. The density of localized exciton states is found to follow the Lorentzian shape, where the peak of this distribution is about 70 meV from the energy of delocalized states.
IEB Working Paper 2018 / 13 THE UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR SKILLS ACQUISITION DURING THE GREAT RECESSION IN EUROPE

This paper is the first to investigate the extent to which the high levels of jobless-ness resulting from the Great Recession across Europe have translated into higher school attendance among youth. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the EUSILC for 28 countries, we establish a robust counter-cyclical relationship between rising unemployment rates and school enrolment. The same is true of transitions back to education. Our analysis by subgroups reveals a worrying trend, with youths who have the most disadvantaged backgrounds (measured by low household income) less likely to enrol in tertiary studies when unemployment rises. JEL Codes:
In‐situ permeability from integrated poroelastic reflection coefficients

A reliable estimate of the in‐situ permeability of a porous layer in the subsurface is extremely difficult to obtain. We have observed that at the field seismic frequency band the poroelastic behavior for different seismic wavetypes can differ in such a way that their combination gives unique estimates of in‐situ permeability and porosity simultaneously. This is utilized in the integration of angle‐ and frequency‐dependent poroelastic reflection coefficients in a cost function. Realistic numerical simulations show that the estimated values of permeability and porosity are robust against uncertainties in the employed poroelastic mechanism and in the data. Potential applications of this approach exist in hydrocarbon exploration, hydrogeology, and geotechnical engineering.
Multi-model Analysis of Document Caches

The analysis of networked activities is dramatically more challenging than many traditional kinds of analysis. A network is defined by a set of entities (people, organizations, banks, computers, etc.) linked by various types of relationships. These entities and relationships are often uninteresting alone, and only become significant in aggregate. The analysis and visualization of the networks that are embedded in a document corpus is one of the driving factors behind the creation of our deep text analysis application named P2 (for Prototype 2). The development of this application utilized the open source Titan Toolkit. The toolkit’s flexible, component based pipeline provides an excellent platform for constructing specific combinations of network algorithms and visualizations.
Short-term signals of climate change in Italian summit vegetation: observations at two GLORIA sites

Abstract Short-term changes occurring in high mountain vegetation were analysed using the data from two Italian sites already part of the GLobal Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environments (GLORIA – central Apennines and southwestern Alps). The study focused on a set of floristic (endemics), structural (life forms) and ecological (thermic vegetation indicator) variables. Vegetation data were collected according to the GLORIA multi-summit standardized method during the last decade. The re-visitation revealed a moderate decrease in regional endemic flora and significant variations in structural and ecological parameters. The increase in caespitose hemicryptophytes in both sites, in suffruticose chamaephytes in the central Apennines and in rosette-forming hemicryptophytes in the southwestern Alps emerged, highlighting the rapid responses of the alpine vegetation to climate warming. The increase in perennial life forms is related with the expansion of graminoids and small woody plants. These life forms seem to be most suitable to face climate warming in Italian summits. The increase in the thermic vegetation indicator exceeds the mean European summits increment, and this is due to the expansion of thermophilic species. Short-term analyses with fine spatial and temporal resolutions are still necessary to improve our understanding concerning species behaviour in high-elevation ecosystems.
Recent Evidences in the Management of Nosocomial Infections

Nosocomial infection (NI), better known as hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is defined as an infection developing in hospitalized patients which is not present or incubating at the time of their admission. Nosocomial infection may also appear after discharge of the patient. Nosocomial infections are an unwelcome cause of patient’s morbidity and mortality at the hands of highly resistant microbes and by prolonging hospitalization, add significantly to the economic burden of the society. It is among the most difficult problems confronting clinicians who deal with severely ill patients. The incidence of NI is estimated at 5–10% in tertiary care hospitals reaching up to 28% in intensive care unit (ICU) in developing nations. Ninety percent of the NIs is caused by bacteria, whereas mycobacterial, viral, fungal or protozoal agents are less commonly involved. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are among the most common causative agents of NI. Indiscriminate and over enthusiastic usage of broad-spectrum antibiotics in hospital environment promoted the emergence of newer organisms such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Burkholderia cepacia and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.1-5
Size Distribution and Optical Properties of Ambient Aerosols during Autumn in Orleans, France

A new highly sensitive cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) system was designed and assembled to determine the aerosol extinction coefficient (b(ext)) at 532 nm. The performance of the CRDS was tested by the monodisperse polystyrene latex spheres (PSL) particles with diameters between 200 and 500 nm. By comparing the tested results with Mie theory curve, the uncertainty of the newly developed CRDS system was determined to be < 3%. Simultaneous measurements of the size distribution and extinction coefficient of ambient aerosols were conducted in Orleans, France, from 26th October to 21st December 2012 by using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) coupled to the CRDS system. For the non-dehydrated aerosols measured from 26th October to 4th November, the average b(ext) has been found to be 41 +/- 35 Mm(-1). For the dehydrated aerosols measured from 7th November to 21st December, b(ext) expresses a good agreement with the particle number (N) and volume (V) concentration, the average values of b(ext), N and V are 36 +/- 31 Mm(-1), 3300 +/- 2700 cm(-3) and 3.1 +/- 2.8 x 10(9) nm(3)/cm(3), respectively. Further analysis of the particle size distribution reveals that car and boiler emissions maybe the main aerosol sources in Orleans. In addition, back trajectory results indicate that the air parcel transported from Atlantic Ocean may play a role in cleaning up the ambient air in Orleans.
Medical Image Fusion via Non-Subsampled Contourlet Transform

Due to the obvious advantages, the technology of medical imaging has been widely utilized in the medical areas. Commonly, the medical images of different imaging mechanism are able to guide the radiologist for the precise diagnosis of disease and for more effective interventional treatment procedures. Consequently, the fusion of different medical images of the same scene is necessary. This paper proposes a novel fusion technique for medical images based on non-subsampled contourlet transform (NSCT). Due to the better competence of image information capturing, NSCT is utilized to conduct the multi-scale and multi-directional decompositions of source images. In addition, the models of both region average energy and region coefficient deviation are used for the fusion for low-frequency sub-images and high-frequency ones, respectively. In comparison with several current typical fusion techniques, the proposed one has remarked superiorities in terms of both subjective and objective evaluations.
Anomia is simply a reflection of semantic and phonological impairments: Evidence from a case-series study

A number of recent studies have attempted to explain patterns of normal and impaired performance in a variety of different language tasks with respect to the same set of ''primary'' systems rather than resorting to explanations in terms of dedicated processes, specific to each and every language activity. In this study we consider whether the same approach can be taken to patterns of impaired single-word speech production. Specifically, using cross-sectional data from 21 aphasic patients we tested the hypothesis that the degree and nature of anomia can be explained using independently derived measures of the integrity of the patients' phonological and semantic/conceptual representations, without postulating a role for an abstract lexical level of representation. At a global level, we found that these two measures explained 55-80%of the variance in the patients' naming accuracy, a figure which approaches that found for test reliability. There was also a close fit between observed and expected naming accuracy for all individual patients. The same two measures also predicted the rate of different types of anomic error across individuals. Measures intended to assess lexical integrity did not explain any additional, unique variance in naming accuracy. We discuss these results and the theoretical approach with respect to existing theories of speech production, and evaluate the case-series methodology itself, both as a tool to reveal the underpinnings of speech production and as a neuropsychological technique in general.
CHANDRA DETECTION OF A NEW DIFFUSE X-RAY COMPONENT FROM THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER 47 TUCANAE

In re-analyzing the archival Chandra data of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, we have detected a new diffuse X-ray emission feature within the half-mass radius of the cluster. The spectrum of the diffuse emission can be described by a power-law model plus a plasma component with photon index Γ ∼ 1.0 and plasma temperature kT ∼ 0.2 keV. While the thermal component is apparently uniform, the non-thermal contribution falls off exponentially from the core. The observed properties could possibly be explained in the context of multiple shocks resulting from the collisions among the stellar wind in the cluster and the inverse Compton scattering between the pulsar wind and the relic photons.
Determinant Factors to the Adoption and Discontinue Adoption of Improved Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) Production Technologies in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

The determinant factors to the rate of adoption and rejection of improved okra production technology among small-holder farmers in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria was studied using 120 selected using multi stage random sampling technique. Percentage, Logit model and Tobit model analyses were used to address the objectives of the study. Structured questionnaire and oral interview were use formation d to collect relevant infas it related to the study. The results of the study showed that most of respondents were female, had formal education and had long years of farming experience. The determinant factors to okra production in the study area were household size, education level, membership of cooperatives and access to credit. More so, the determinant factors to discontinue adoption of okra production technology were attitude, feedback provision, marketability and input availability. The following recommendations were proffered: there is need to enhance farmers’ access to credit through commercial banks and microfinance banks. Furthermore, there is need to expose farmers to adult education, worships and seminars in order to improve their adoption rates.
Limitations and Challenges of MODIS-Derived Phenological Metrics Across Different Landscapes in Pan-Arctic Regions

Recent efforts have been made to monitor the seasonal metrics of plant canopy variations globally from space, using optical remote sensing. However, phenological estimations based on vegetation indices (VIs) in high-latitude regions such as the pan-Arctic remain challenging and are rarely validated. Nevertheless, pan-Arctic ecosystems are vulnerable and also crucial in the context of climate change. We reported the limitations and challenges of using MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) measurements, a widely exploited set of satellite measurements, to estimate phenological transition dates in pan-Arctic regions. Four indices including normalized vegetation difference index (NDVI), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), phenology index (PI), plant phenological index (PPI) and a MODIS Land Cover Dynamics Product MCD12Q2, were evaluated and compared against eddy covariance (EC) estimates at 11 flux sites of 102 site-years during the period from 2000 to 2014. All the indices were influenced by snow cover and soil moisture during the transition dates. While relationships existed between VI-based and EC-estimated phenological transition dates, the R2 values were generally low (0.01–0.68). Among the VIs, PPI-estimated metrics showed an inter-annual pattern that was mostly closely related to the EC-based estimations. Thus, further studies are needed to develop region-specific indices to provide more reliable estimates of phenological transition dates.
Residual effects of relay-cropped mucuna and lablab on maize and bean yields in northwest Kenya

). Leaf N accumulation for the defoliated mucuna treatment (D-M) averaged 48% that of undefoliated mucuna (UD-M), but for defoliated lablab (D-L), the value was only 4% that of undefoliated lablab (UD-L). When legume residue was applied for two consecutive years, UD-L yielded higher (P < 0.006) maize grain than UD-M (6.72 vs. 4.46 t ha
A Real-time Physical Human-Robot Interaction Framework with Robust Background Invariant Hand Gesture Detection

In the light of factories of the future, we present a reliable framework for realtime safe physical human-robot collaboration using static hand gestures. To ensure productive and safe interaction between robot and human coworkers, it is imperative that the robot extracts the essential information about the human coworker. We address this by designing a framework for safe and intuitive robot programming based on hand gesture recognition. First, the OpenPose library is integrated with Microsoft Kinect V2, to obtain a 3D estimation of the human skeleton. With the help of 10 volunteers, we record an image dataset of alpha-numeric static hand gestures, taken from the American Sign Language. We name our dataset as OpenSign and release it to the community for benchmarking. The Inception-v3 convolutional neural network is adapted to train the hand gesture detector. To augment the data for training a hand gesture detector, we use OpenPose to localize the hands in the dataset images and segment the backgrounds of hand images using the Kinect depth map. Then, the backgrounds are substituted with random patterns and indoor architecture templates. Fine-tuning of Inception V3 is performed in three phases, to achieve validation accuracy of 99.1% and test accuracy of 98.9%. An asynchronous ∗Corresponding author Email address: osamazhar@yahoo.com (Osama Mazhar) Preprint submitted to Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing June 15, 2018 integration of image acquisition and hand gesture detection is performed to ensure real-time detection of hand gestures. Finally, the proposed framework is integrated in our physical human-robot interaction library OpenPHRI. Using OpenPHRI, we validate the performance of the proposed framework through a complete teaching by demonstration experiment with a robotic manipulator.
A Near-Surface Microstructure Sensor System Used during TOGA COARE. Part I: Bow Measurements

Abstract High-resolution probes mounted on the bow of the vessel at a 1.7-m depth in an undisturbed region ahead of the moving vessel were used for microstructure and turbulence measurements in the near-surface layer of the ocean during TOGA COARE. The probes measured temperature, conductivity, pressure, three-component fluctuation velocity, and two components of acceleration. Accumulation of large amounts of high-quality near-surface data poses a difficult challenge, and deployment from the bow of a ship, such as is done with these sensors, requires rugged, well-calibrated, and low-noise sensors. The heaving motion of the ship that causes the sensors to break through the surface requires data processing algorithms unique to this application. Due to the presence of surface waves and the associated pitching of the vessel, the bow probes “scanned” the near-surface layer of the ocean. Combining the bow sensor’s signals with the ship’s thermosalinograph pumping water from 3-m depth resulted in the near-surfac.
A Meta Representation for Reactive Dependency Graphs

Reactive programming is a paradigm that allows programmers to define perpetual data-flow dependencies in a way that is intuitive and provides an abstraction layer for necessary low-level synchronization operations. The result is a graph-like structure of interconnected operators that process incoming data and transfer it to their successors. However, this structure is typically not accessible to the user of a reactive framework, and may not even be represented by its internal implementation. In this thesis, we present and evaluate approaches to formally represent reactive data-flow in graph form. We then use approaches known from the field of metaprogramming to create an external metarepresentation for reactive programs, which makes the structure and semantics of the data-flow accessible to the user. Additionally, we show how this meta-representation can be transformed into executable code in a reactive framework, and outline how run-time information can be incorporated into the metarepresentation graph. We have implemented the presented meta-representation in the programming language Scala, as well as a transformation procedure into executable code within the REScala framework. Finally, we have evaluated the performance overhead of our implementation and we have implemented several case studies to evaluate the meta-representation’s applicability in common metaprogramming use-cases.
Sources of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in Two Small Streams with Different Bedrock Geology: Insights from Carbon Isotopes

Radiocarbon natural abundances (Δ14C) are being increasingly used to trace carbon cycling in stream ecosystems. To understand the ultimate sources of carbon, we determined the stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) and Δ14C values of dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC, respectively) and of particulate organic carbon (POC) in two small streams in central Japan, one of which flows over limestone bedrock (Seri) and the other does not (Fudoji). Investigations over four seasons revealed that the Δ14C values of the DIC (from −238‰ to −174‰ for Seri and −23‰ to +10‰ for Fudoji) were less variable than those of the other carbon fractions (DOC: from −400‰ to −138‰ for Seri and −2‰ to +103‰ for Fudoji; POC: from −164‰ to −60‰ for Seri and −55‰ to +37‰ for Fudoji). Based on mass balance calculations using the δ13C and Δ14C values, the proportions of carbon in the DIC originated from (1) atmospheric CO2 were 47% to 57% for Seri and 74% to 90% for Fudoji, (2) organic matter degradation were 29% to 35% for Seri and 4% to 21% for Fudoji, and (3) carbonate rock were 14% to 22% for Seri and 4% to 6% for Fudoji. We compared the results with previous studies that had been conducted in larger rivers and showed that in small streams, the dissolution of atmospheric CO2 and weathering of carbonate rock are more important factors in the carbon cycling than the biological degradation of organic matter.