Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Belowground Carbon Dynamics in Tropical Perennial C4 Grass Agroecosystems

Effective soil management is critical to achieving climate change mitigation in plant-based renewable energy systems, yet limitations exist in our understanding of dynamic belowground responses to the cultivation of energy crops. To better understand the belowground dynamics following cultivation of a grassland in a high-yielding tropical perennial C4 grass in a zero-tillage production system, changes in soil carbon (C) pools were quantified, modeled, and projected and the chemical composition of the aggregate-protected pool was determined. Multiple C pools with different ecosystem functions and turnover increased following cultivation: immediately available microbial substrate (measured as hot water-soluble C) and active C (determined through laboratory incubation) increased by 12% and 30% respectively over time and soil C accumulated significantly in multiple physical fractions. A more rapid and dynamic nature of multiple C pools and transfers between pools existed than is often assumed in belowground models used widely in the field to simulate soil C accumulation. Multiple indicators of fresh roots, including the more easily degraded lignin monomers and root-derived long chain substituted fatty acids, appeared in aggregate-protected pools of cultivated soils over time since planting. This rapid transfer of plant inputs through active and intermediate C pools into mineral-dominated pools is the ultimate outcome required for building soil C stocks. Initial model runs suggested that this is evident, even on a two-year frame, in transfer rates of 0.485 and 0.890 from active to slow and slow to passive pools respectively. The rapid transfer of fresh root-derived input to stable pool suggests that soil C under zero-tillage management may be resilient to disturbances, such as replanting following a kill-harvest, that would otherwise result in losses from unprotected or readily available pools.
Nephritis, cerebritis, and myositis after adalimumab therapy in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that mainly affects the joints, therefore, may cause deformities and disability if untreated. The first line of treatment is disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). When the patient fails to respond to DMARDs, mainly methotrexate, then second-line therapy is required. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of RA; however, the treatment with anti-TNFα medications is challenging. It may trigger the autoimmune system and result in producing antibodies that induce symptoms and signs mimic to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and in rare situations can affect vital organs with severe and life-threatening complications. We report on a 38-year-old Saudi woman with longstanding erosive RA, who was diagnosed based on the 1987 classification criteria. She developed life-threatening SLE, and seroconversion of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-double-stranded DNA, with severe systemic involvement (cerebritis, nephritis, myositis, and polyneuropathy), shortly after treatment with adalimumab. Adalimumab was started as anti TNFa therapy (after the failure of traditional therapy), SLE and other autoimmune diseases were ruled out by clinical history, examination, and laboratory investigations, including negative ANAs and anti-double-stranded DNA. When both tests turned out persistently positive even after stopping adalimumab, specific diagnostic and therapeutic modalities were required during her acute illness.
A Notion of Nonlocal Curvature

We consider a nonlocal (or fractional) curvature and we investigate similarities and differences with respect to the classical local case. In particular, we show that the nonlocal mean curvature can be seen as an average of suitable nonlocal directional curvatures and there is a natural asymptotic convergence to the classical case. Nevertheless, different from the classical cases, minimal and maximal nonlocal directional curvatures are not in general attained at perpendicular directions and, in fact, one can arbitrarily prescribe the set of extremal directions for nonlocal directional curvatures. Also the classical directional curvatures naturally enjoy some linear properties that are lost in the nonlocal framework. In this sense, nonlocal directional curvatures are somewhat intrinsically nonlinear.
Exprgram: A Language Learning Interface for Mastering Pragmatic Competence

Mastering pragmatic competence, the ability to use language in a contextually appropriate way, is one of the most challenging parts of foreign language learning. Despite its importance, existing language learning systems often focus on linguistic components such as grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation. Consequently, foreign language learners may generate grammatically flawless speech that is contextually inappropriate. With the diverse socio-cultural contexts captured in real-life settings, videos at scale can serve as a great material to acquire pragmatic competence. We introduce Exprgram, a web-based video learning interface that assists learners to master pragmatic competence. In Exprgram, learners can raise their context-awareness, practice generating an alternative expression, and learn diverse alternative expressions for the given context. Our user study with 12 advanced English learners displays the potential in our learnersourcing approach to collect descriptive context annotations and diverse alternative expressions.
A novel hybrid approach using wavelet transform, time series time delay neural network, and error predicting algorithm for day-ahead electricity price forecasting

This paper presents a novel hybrid intelligent algorithm to forecast day-ahead electricity prices in the ISO New England market for 2014. The proposed algorithm is consisting of signal processing technique based on wavelet transform (WT), a Time Series Time Delay Artificial Neural Network (TSDNN) based prediction network and an error predicting algorithm (EP) based on TSDNN. A comprehensive comparative analysis using the proposed hybrid model, with the specified data from ISO New England website shows significant improvement in forecast error by more than 71.8% for daily price forecasts. Furthermore, a high degree of accuracy of the proposed model is established due to low values obtained for the root mean square error (RMS) and mean absolute error (MAE). The analysis of the performance of the algorithm using both, standard and new performance parameters-Are done to measure the robustness of the proposed hybrid intelligent model. In addition, the rapid adaptability of the proposed hybrid model is also evaluated using the ISO NE electricity market.
On the Performance of PDMA With Decode-and-Forward Relaying in Downlink Network

This paper studies the application of cooperative techniques for pattern division multiple access (PDMA) in downlink (DL) network. More particularly, the performance of joint decode-and-forward (DF) relaying and PDMA (DF-PDMA) is investigated over Rayleigh channel, where the direct links are existent between the base station and users. To characterize the performance of the considered scenarios above, the closed-form expressions for outage probability and sum data rate are derived. Based on the derived results, the diversity orders achieved by users are obtained. The analysis results manifest that those users with DF relaying can achieve higher diversity order, in addition, the users selecting the PDMA pattern with higher column weight can further obtain higher diversity order. Simulation results unveil that DF-PDMA outperforms PDMA and orthogonal multiple access with DF relaying (DF-OMA) in terms of outage probability and system throughput. It is also worth noting that DF-PDMA can provide better fairness compared to DF-OMA.
Grid Impacts of Wind Power Variability: Recent Assessments from a Variety of Utilities in the United States; Preprint

Because of wind power's unique characteristics, many concerns are based on the increased variability that wind contributes to the grid, and most U.S. studies have focused on this aspect of wind generation. Grid operators are also concerned about the ability to predict wind generation over several time scales. In this report, we quantify the physical impacts and costs of wind generation on grid operations and the associated costs.
Cleft lip.

A cleft lip is a hole in the lip that results from a disturbance in lip growth during the first trimester of development. The parts of the lip that are separated vary from child to child. Some children can simply have a notching or cleft in the lip vermilion or philtral column. This notching can vary in degree and is called an incomplete cleft. Other children have a complete separation of the lip that extends all the way up into the nose. This is called a complete cleft lip. This type of cleft often distorts the nose as well. Clefts of the lip can be on one side (unilateral) or on both sides of the lip (bilateral). The cleft does not hurt, and parents should not be afraid to touch it.
Cache-aware task scheduling for maximizing control performance

Embedded control applications are widely implemented on small, low-cost and resource-constrained microcontrollers, e.g., in the automotive domain. Conventionally, control algorithms are designed using model-based approaches, without considering the details of the implementation platform. This leads to inefficient utilization of the resources. With the emergence of the cyber-physical system (CPS)-oriented thinking, there has lately been a strong interest in co-design of control algorithms and their implementation platforms. Some recent efforts have shown that a schedule on multiple applications with more on-chip cache reuse is able to improve the control performance. However, it has not been studied how the control performance can be maximized for a given schedule and how an optimal schedule can be computed. In this work, we propose a two-stage framework to compute the schedule maximizing the overall control performance of all the applications. First, a holistic controller design taking all the sampling periods and sensing-to-actuation delays in a schedule into account is presented, aiming to maximize the overall control performance. Second, a hybrid search algorithm for discrete decision space is reported to efficiently compute an optimal schedule. Experimental results on a case study with multiple automotive applications show that a significant improvement of 10–20% in control performance can be achieved by the proposed cache-aware scheduling approach.
Marine natural products.

This report is a review of the marine natural products literature for 1999. Earlier reports published in this journal cover the period from 1977 to December 1998. In comparison with 1998, the last year was relatively quiet although steady progress was reported on most fronts. Once again, sponges were the favourite organisms for natural product studies, with tunicates and coelenterates following close behind. The accelerating advances in marine biotechnology have made their mark on marine natural products chemistry in the form of a steady increase in papers emphasizing marine microorganisms and symbiotic relationships involving marine microbes. Studies of the biosynthesis of marine natural products, which also bear the mark of the latest genetic techniques, are reviewed elsewhere in this journal. Marine natural products continue to be prime targets for synthesis although papers reporting partial and formal syntheses, which are not included in this review, far outnumber the more useful papers that record total syntheses and, in particular, synthetic studies that redefine the structures of marine natural products. This report continues to emphasize the bioactivity
Finite Element Analysis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Predicted Rupture Risk Correlates With Aortic Wall Histology in Individual Patients

Purpose: To evaluate a finite element analysis (FEA) model as a predictive tool for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture risk assessment. Methods: FEA of asymptomatic infrarenal AAAs in 15 men (mean age 72 years) was performed preoperatively using semiautomatic finite element analysis software (A4clinics) to calculate peak wall stress (PWS) and regions of highest and lowest rupture risk index (RRI). The areas of high and low RRI identified on the preoperative FEA were sampled during open surgery; aortic wall specimens were prepared for histological analysis. A semiquantitative score compared the histological findings from high and low rupture risk samples. Results: Significant correlation was found between histological AAA wall integrity and RRI in individual patients. AAA wall regions with highest RRI showed advanced histological disintegrity compared to regions with lower RRI within the same AAA: mean smooth muscle cells: 0.43 vs. 1.21, respectively (p=0.031); elastic fibers: 0.57 vs. 1.29, respectively (p=0.008); cholesterol plaque: 2.60 vs. 2.20, respectively (p=0.034); and calcified plaque: 2.27 vs. 1.40, respectively (p=0.017). The amount of calcified plaque was significantly correlated with PWS (r=0.528, p=0.043) by univariate regression analysis. However, there was no correlation between PWS or RRI and the histological findings between patients. Conclusion: These preliminary results show that high rupture risk regions estimated by FEA contain increased histopathological degeneration compared to low rupture risk samples within the same AAA. Until now, the role of FEA in predicting individual AAA rupture risk has not been established as a validated diagnostic tool. However, these data provide promising results for FEA model verification.
Ethnopharmacological uses of Antidesma madagascariense Lam. (Euphorbiaceae)

Antidesma madagascariense Lam. is an indigenous plant of the Mascarene Islands which has interestingly shined as a promising traditional medicinal plant. The ethnobotanical uses of this plant were geared toward the treatment and management of dysentery, albumin in the urine, jaundice, fever, diabetes, skin infections, rheumatic and body aches among others. Preliminary screening of this plant coupled with a plethora of in vitro and in vivo tests have furnished scientists with documented findings that have appraised its traditional use in the treatment and management of infectious diseases. The presence of antidesmin, a commonly characterized component of Antidesma species, might justify the medicinal virtues of this plant. The present monograph aims at providing the botanical description, traditional uses and latest findings documented on A. madagascariense. Nonetheless, continued research on this plant needs to be completed in order to rationalize the use of this promising plant as a potential source of beneficial constituents for the treatment and management of human diseases and hence set up promising optimism for drug development.
Thermal stress monitoring and pre-fault detection system in power transformers using fibre optic technology

As a major and most efficient equipment in electrical power system, power transformers requires more concentration on its fault monitoring and protection. The main cause of faults in power transformers are the stress due to both thermal and mechanical effects. The monitoring of the thermal stress/temperature of transformer oil and other parts can be used as a prime step to identify fault. Not only the temperature measurement, but identifying the measuring locations is also of greater importance. In this paper, a pre-fault detection system using optical fibre sensing technology has been proposed. Phosphorescence of the material has been used for the temperature sensing. Temperature of the selected hotspots of the transformers will be monitored continuously and fed back to the protection system including cooling systems. The protection equipments of the transformer can be activated well before the circuit breaker operates and the reliability of the system can be maintained. The proposed method of thermal stress monitoring and fault detection has been tested and validated on a 16 MVA transformer.
Properties of concrete intended for further testing measured by the Impact-Echo and the ultrasonic pulse method

The aim of the paper is non-destructive measurement of differently degraded specimens by high temperature intended for further testing of joints of stainless steel helical reinforcement glued into the groove and differently degraded concrete. Measurement intended for determination of possibilities of estimation of future properties of named joints is performed by the Impact-Echo method and by the ultrasonic pulse velocity method on specimens of dimensions 400 × 100 × 100 mm made of concrete of the C20/25 strength class degraded by different elevated temperature. Five sets of specimens were manufactured - four sets of specimens were heated in the furnace at temperatures of 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C and 1000 °C and one set was kept intact as reference. Specimens will be afterwards additionally strengthened at the tensile side of specimens and broken by four-point flexural strength test. The non-destructive measurement aims to evaluate the residual physical-mechanical properties of plain concrete in terms of resonance frequency of test specimen, and sound velocity in tested specimen before and after the temperature degradation. This assessment will serve as material information basis for interpretation of the expected behaviour of used helical reinforcement for a retrofitting process and the thermally damaged concrete reaction to such intervention.
Electronic Recognition of Hand Hygiene Technique and Duration

We captured 3-dimensional accelerometry data from the wrists of 116 healthcare professionals as they performed hand hygiene (HH). We then used these data to train a k-nearest-neighbors classifier to recognize specific aspects of HH technique (ie, fingertip scrub) and measure the duration of HH events. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(10):1298–1300
Capillary Electrophoresis as Analysis Technique for Battery Electrolytes: (i) Monitoring Stability of Anions in Ionic Liquids and (ii) Determination of Organophosphate-Based Decomposition Products in LiPF6-Based Lithium Ion Battery Electrolytes

In this work, a method for capillary electrophoresis (CE) hyphenated to a high-resolution mass spectrometer was presented for monitoring the stability of anions in ionic liquids (ILs) and in commonly used lithium ion battery (LIB) electrolytes. The investigated ILs were 1-methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (PYR13TFSI) and 1-methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (PYR13FSI). The method development was conducted by adjusting the following parameters: buffer compositions, buffer concentrations, and the pH value. Also the temperature and the voltage applied on the capillary were optimized. The ILs were aged at room temperature and at 60 °C for 16 months each. At both temperatures, no anionic decomposition products of the FSI− and TFSI− anions were detected. Accordingly, the FSI− and TFSI− anions were thermally stable at these conditions. This method was also applied for the investigation of LIB electrolyte samples, which were aged at 60 °C for one month. The LP30 (50/50 wt. % dimethyl carbonate/ethylene carbonate and 1 M lithium hexafluorophosphate) electrolyte was mixed with the additive 1,3-propane sultone (PS) and with one of the following organophosphates (OP): dimethyl phosphate (DMP), diethyl phosphate (DEP), and triethyl phosphate (TEP), to investigate the influence of these compounds on the formation of OPs.
Identification and characterization of CD 133 + CD 44 + cancer stem cells from human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines

Background: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma ranks second among head and neck squamous-cell carcinomas. Cancer stem cells can support cancer growth and malignant behavior. Therefore, cancer stem cells isolated from laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue could be used to investigate the initiation, progression, and treatment strategies of this cancer. Methods: We isolated CD133-CD44-, CD133-CD44+, CD133+CD44and CD133+CD44+ cell populations from laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma cell lines Hep2 and TU-177 by magnetic-activated cell sorting. Sphere formation, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, colony formation, resistance to radioand chemotherapy, and in vivo tumorigenicity of these populations were evaluated. Moreover, we investigated the expression of the stem-cell markers (sex determining region Y)-box 2 (SOX2) and octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) in CD133-CD44-, CD133-CD44+, CD133+CD44-, CD133+CD44+ cell populations and parental Hep2 and TU-177 cells. Results: As compared with CD133-CD44-, CD133-CD44+, CD133+CD44populations and parental cells, CD133+CD44+ cells showed higher cell viability, migration and invasive capability and colony formation ability as well as stronger resistance to cisplatin and irradiation. Moreover, levels of SOX2 and OCT4 and tumorigenicity in nude mice were greater in CD133+CD44+ Hep2 and TU-177 cells than other cell populations and parental cells. Conclusion: The CD133+CD44+ population of laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma Hep2 and TU-177 cells have stem cell properties and showed more malignant features than CD133+CD44and CD133-CD44+ cell populations. CD133+CD44+ cancer stem cells may be a promising target for developing anticancer drugs and treatment strategies for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
Circadian regulation of cell cycle: Molecular connections between aging and the circadian clock

Abstract The circadian clock generates oscillations in physiology and behavior, known as circadian rhythms. Links between the circadian clock genes Periods, Bmal1, and Cryptochromes and aging and cancer are emerging. Circadian clock gene expression is changed in human pathologies, and transgenic mice with mutations in clock genes develop cancer and premature aging. Control of genome integrity and cell proliferation play key roles in the development of age-associated pathologies and carcinogenesis. Here, we review recent data on the connection between the circadian clock and control of the cell cycle. The circadian clock regulates the activity and expression of several critical cell cycle and cell cycle check-point-related proteins, and in turn cell cycle-associated proteins regulate circadian clock proteins. DNA damage can reset the circadian clock, which provides a molecular mechanism for reciprocal regulation between the circadian clock and the cell cycle. This circadian clock-dependent control of cell proliferation, together with other known physiological functions of the circadian clock such as the control of metabolism, oxidative and genotoxic stress response, and DNA repair, opens new horizons for understanding the mechanisms behind aging and carcinogenesis.
The use of daily electronic prompts to help improve antimicrobial stewardship in a critical care unit

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a growing threat to public health, with the potential to reverse many of the gains made in modern medicine. AMR is contributed to by both inappropriate choice of antibiotics and inappropriate antibiotic course durations. Objectives: The objective of this audit was to determine if the introduction of antimicrobial prescribing electronic prompts in an electronic patient record had a positive impact on antimicrobial stewardship. Methods: The audit examined the proportion of antibiotic prescriptions within a critical care unit in which both a valid stop date and indication were recorded. The audit was repeated on two occasions: first, after an education programme, and second, after the introduction of an electronic prompt within the patients’ electronic patient record. Results: Chi-square analyses indicated that significant improvements in both the recording of indications (χ²(4) = 39.69, P <0.0001) and stop-dates (χ²(4) = 42.10, P <0.0001) occurred across the three audits. Conclusion: We conclude that the novel use of daily electronic prompts has a positive impact on antimicrobial stewardship.