Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phenology-Driven Land Cover Classification and Trend Analysis Based on Long-term Remote Sensing Image Series

The objective of this study is to classify the land cover types and analyze the land cover trend by incorporating phenological variability throughout a range of natural ecosystems using time-series remotely sensed images. First, a breaks for additive seasonal and trend (BFAST) approach is used to extract the phenology information from the time series. Second, a dynamic time warping (DTW) approach is adopted to screen the additional interpreted samples used for training. Third, some ensemble learning classifiers and the support vector machine (SVM) are performed to classify the land cover types based on the BFAST-derived phenology components. Finally, some inter-annual phenological markers are extracted to facilitate the land cover trend analysis by taking the climate fluctuations and anthropogenic forcing into consideration. The experimental results with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) time-series data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) indicate that the classification accuracy is significantly improved by using the phenology information and the phenological markers can lead to a better understanding of the regional land cover change.
On the Average Complexity of Moore's State Minimization Algorithm

We prove that, for any arbitrary finite alphabet and for the uniform distribution over deterministic and accessible automata with $n$ states, the average complexity of Moore's state minimization algorithm is in $\mathcal{O}(n \log n)$. Moreover this bound is tight in the case of unary automata.
A comparative randomized trial of vinca alkaloids in patients with metastatic breast carcinoma

The therapeutic efficacy of vincristine, vinblastine, and vindesine were evaluated in a prospective randomized trial in patients with metastatic breast carcinoma. All patients were refractory to doxorubicincontaining chemotherapy. Vincristine was administered at 0.4 mg/M2/I/day by continuous infusion (CI), vinblastine at 1.7 mg/M2/I/day by CI, and vindesine at 1.2 mg/M2/I/day by CI or intermittent bolus (IB) over 5 days. The courses were administered at 2‐week intervals for vincristine and 3‐week intervals for vinblastine and vindesine. Ninety‐nine patients were evaluable for response. The 15 patients treated with vincristine had no objective response. Of 23 patients treated with vinblastine, there were 2 complete responses (9%) and 5 partial responses (22%). Of 31 patients treated with CI vindesine, there were 6 partial responses (19%). Of 30 patients treated with IB vindesine, there were 5 partial responses (17%). The median duration of disease control was 13 weeks (range, 8–140 +) for vinblastine, 18 weeks (range, 8–34) for CI vindesine, and 20 weeks (range, 12–47) for IB vindesine. These data illustrate that vinblastine (CI) and vindesine (CI or IB) have significant antitumor activity in patients with refractory metastatic breast carcinoma and that vincristine has no antitumor activity in similar patients.
Immune mechanism in Pasteurella multocida-infected mice

Various immunizing procedures were tested for their effect on the growth of Pasteurella multocida in specific pathogen-free CD-1 mice. Two injections with killed vaccine incorporated into Freund complete adjuvant gave excellent protection against parenteral challenge, but less to control the growth of an aerogenic inoculum. Protection with adjuvant-treated preparation was always superior to that seen with non-adjuvant-treated vaccines. A killed saline-suspended vaccine introduced aerogenically marginally increased resistance to small (2 to 5 mean lethal doses) aerogenic challenges. Live mycobacterium bovis (BCG) vaccine immunopotentiated a single dose of heat-killed P. multocida vaccine in terms of the protective immune response against a subsequent footpad challenge. Hyperimmune mouse serum, administered intraperitoneally, intramuscularly, or intravenously 1 to 7 days prior to subcutaneous challenge with 500 to 5,000 P. multocida, was highly protective. Mice injected in the thigh with 0.2 ml of hyperimmune serum prior to footpad challenge frequently developed a severe inflammatory response with local swelling within 48 h; these lesions often became severly abscessed with time. The passively protected, footpad-infected mice developed active immunity against a subsequent challenge given into the opposite footpad.
USENIX Association Proceedings of the FREENIX Track : 2003

We explore the requirements, design, and implementation of the TrustedBSD MAC Framework. The TrustedBSD MAC Framework, integrated into FreeBSD 5.0, provides a flexible framework for kernel access control extension, permitting extensions to be introduced more easily, and avoiding the need for direct modification of distributed kernel sources. We also consider the performance impact of the Framework on the FreeBSD 5.0 kernel in several test environments.
Regulation of Human Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor mRNA Stability in Hypoxia by Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein L*

A 126-base region of human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) 3′-untranslated region, which we identified as the hypoxia stability region, forms seven hypoxia-inducible RNA-protein complexes with apparent molecular masses ranging from 40 to 90 kDa in RNA-UV-cross-linking assays. In this study, we show that proteins that form the 60-kDa RNA-protein complex with the hypoxia stability region were present in both cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments. We purified the protein associated in the 60-kDa complex and identified it as heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (hnRNP L) by protein sequencing. Removal of hnRNP L by immunoprecipitation specifically abolished formation of the 60-kDa complex. Synthetic deoxyribonucleotide competition studies defined the RNA-binding site of hnRNP L as a 21-base-long sequence, 5′-CACCCACCCACAUACAUACAU-3′. Immunoprecipitation of hnRNP L followed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction showed that hnRNP L specifically interacts with VEGF mRNA in hypoxic cells in vivo. Furthermore, when M21 cells transfected with antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide to the hnRNP L RNA-binding site, the VEGF mRNA half-life was significantly reduced under hypoxic conditions. Thus, we propose that specific association of hnRNP L with VEGF mRNA under hypoxia may play an important role in hypoxia-induced post-transcriptional regulation of VEGF mRNA expression.
Design and Characterisation of III-V Semiconductor Nanowire Lasers

The development of small, power-e cient lasers underpins many of the technologies that we utilise today. Semiconductor nanowires are promising for miniaturising lasers to even smaller dimensions and so have attracted substantial research interest. Over the past 15 years, nanowire lasers have been demonstrated in various material systems, with room-temperature lasing being readily achieved in II-VI and III-N semiconductor nanowires, and more recently in III-V semiconductor nanowires. III-V semiconductors, such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Indium Phosphide (InP), are the most widely used materials for optoelectronic devices and so the development of nanowire lasers based on these materials is expected to have technologically signi cant outcomes. This PhD dissertation presents a comprehensive study of the design of III-V semiconductor nanowire lasers, with bulk and quantum con ned active regions. Based on the design, various III-V semiconductor nanowire lasers are demonstrated, namely, GaAs nanowire lasers, GaAs/AlGaAs multi-quantum well (MQW) nanowire lasers and InP nanowire lasers. These nanowire lasers are shown to operate at room temperature, have low thresholds, and lase from di erent transverse modes. The structural and optoelectronic quality of nanowire lasers are characterised via electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopic techniques. Lasing is characterised in all these devices by optical pumping. The lasing characteristics are analysed by rate equation modelling and the lasing mode(s) in these devices is characterised by threshold gain modelling, polarisation measurements and Fourier plane imaging. Firstly, GaAs nanowire lasers that operate at room temperature are developed. The challenges with achieving room-temperature lasing in this material system are overcome by determining the optimal nanowire diameter to reduce threshold gain and by passivating nanowires to improve their quantum e ciency (QE). High-quality surface passivated GaAs nanowires of suitable diameters are grown. The growth procedure is tailored to improve both QE and structural uniformity of nanowires. Room-temperature lasing is demonstrated from individual nanowires at a threshold pump uence of ~207 μJ cm-2pulse-1 and threshold carrier density of ~2.5 × 1019 cm-3, and lasing is characterised to be from TM01 mode by threshold gain modelling. To lower threshold even further, nanowire lasers with GaAs/AlGaAs coaxial multiple quantum well (MQW) gain regions are investigated. The TE01 mode, due to its polarisation and excellent overlap with the gain region, is predicted to lase in these nanowire heterostructures. Through gain/loss calculations, important design criteria, such as the optimal well thickness to minimise the threshold carrier density and the optimal number of QWs
Burns: where are we standing with propranolol, oxandrolone, recombinant human growth hormone, and the new incretin analogs?

Purpose of reviewThe hypermetabolic response in critically ill patients is characterized by hyperdynamic circulatory, physiologic, catabolic and immune system responses. Failure to satisfy overwhelming energy and protein requirements after, and during critical illness, results in multiorgan dysfunction, increased susceptibility to infection, and death. Attenuation of the hypermetabolic response by various pharmacologic modalities is emerging as an essential component of the management of severe burn patients. This review focuses on the more recent advances in therapeutic strategies to attenuate the hypermetabolic response and its associated insulin resistance postburn. Recent findingsAt present, beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol represents probably the most efficacious anticatabolic therapy in the treatment of burns. Other pharmacological strategies include growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor, oxandrolone and intensive insulin therapy. SummaryNovel approaches to the management of critical illness by judicious glucose control and the use of pharmacologic modulators to the hypercatabolic response to critical illness have emerged. Investigation of alternative strategies, including the use of metformin, glucagon-like-peptide-1 and the PPAR-γ agonists are under current investigation.
Coping with inevitable accidents in metabolism

Genomic studies focus on key metabolites and pathways that, despite their obvious anthropocentric design, keep being ‘predicted’, while this is only finding again what is already known. As increasingly more genomes are sequenced, this lightpost effect may account at least in part for our failure to understand the function of a continuously growing number of genes. Core metabolism often goes astray, accidentally producing a variety of unexpected compounds. Catabolism of these forgotten metabolites makes an essential part of the functions coded in metagenomes. Here, I explore the fate of a limited number of those: compounds resulting from radical reactions and molecules derived from some reactive intermediates produced during normal metabolism. I try both to update investigators with the most recent literature and to uncover old articles that may open up new research avenues in the genome exploration of metabolism. This should allow us to foresee further developments in experimental genomics and genome annotation.
Practical Issues in Automatic Documentation Generation

PLANDoc, a system under joint development by Columbia and Bellcore, documents the activity of planning engineers as they study telephone routes. It takes as input a trace of the engineer's interaction with a network planning tool and produces 1--2 page summary. In this paper, we describe the user needs analysis we performed and how it influenced the development of PLANDoc. In particular, we show how it pinpointed the need for a sublanguage specification, allowing us to identify input messages and to characterize the different sentence paraphrases for realizing them. We focus on the systematic use of conjunction in combination with paraphrase that we developed for PLANDoc, which allows for the generation of summaries that are both concise-avoiding repetition of similar information, and fluent-avoiding repetition of similar phrasing.
Effect of disturbed blood flow on endothelial cell gene expression: a role for changes in RNA processing.

Conduit arteries deliver oxygenated blood to tissues. When the demand for oxygen increases in a tissue, such as in muscle during exercise, blood flow and velocity increases. Conduit artery diameter increases in this setting. This physiological response occurs because endothelial cells sense shear forces and respond by modulating the production of nitric oxide, a key endothelial-derived vasodilator. Shear stress is the frictional force exerted by flowing blood on endothelial cells and is dependent on the velocity at the blood boundary layer.1 In arteries, shear stress varies throughout the cardiac cycle, being high during systole and low during diastole, with a time-averaged shear stress typically 10 to 20 dyne/cm2. When the velocity of blood changes, it is known that arteries dilate or contract, which serves to normalize wall shear stress to a physiological level of 10 to 20 dyne/cm2. If flow is altered for a prolonged period, arteries undergo an inward or outward remodeling process that permanently normalizes wall shear stress. See accompanying article on page 2042 In straight arterial segments, blood flow is uniform laminar, that is, parabolic and unidirectional throughout the cardiac cycle. In contrast, at inner curvatures, bifurcations and branch points flow is disturbed laminar, meaning that it is complex but predictable, with the directionality reversing during diastole and a stagnation point moving with the cardiac cycle. The time-averaged shear stress is low in these regions. Turbulent flow, characterized by irregular, unpredictable, or chaotic fluctuations, occurs rarely in humans and almost never in rodents because flow is rapidly stabilized in vessels with a small diameter. Although disturbed flow is prevalent at specific anatomic locations, the artery does not remodel perhaps because these regions include …
Generating Calligraphic Trajectories with Model Predictive Control

We describe a methodology for the interactive definition of curves and motion paths using a stochastic formulation of optimal control. We demonstrate how the same optimization framework can be used in different ways to generate curves and traces that are geometrically and dynamically similar to the ones that can be seen in art forms such as calligraphy or graffiti art. The method provides a probabilistic description of trajectories that can be edited similarly to the control polygon typically used in the popular spline based methods. Furthermore, it also encapsulates movement kinematics, deformations and variability. The user is then provided with a simple interactive interface that can generate multiple movements and traces at once, by visually defining a distribution of trajectories rather than a single one. The input to our method is a sparse sequence of targets defined as multivariate Gaussians. The output is a dynamical system generating curves that are natural looking and reflect the kinematics of a movement, similar to that produced by human drawing or writing.
Detecting melanoma in dermoscopy images using scale adaptive local binary patterns

Recent advances in the area of computer vision has led to the development of various assisted diagnostics systems for the detection of melanoma in the patients. Texture and color are considered as two fundamental visual characteristics which are vital for the detection of melanoma. This paper proposes the use of a combination of texture and color features for the classification of dermoscopy images. The texture features consist of a variation of local binary pattern (LBP) in which the strength of the LBPs is used to extract scale adaptive patterns at each pixel, followed by the construction of a histogram. For color feature extraction, we used standard HSV histograms. The extracted features are concatenated to form a feature vector for an image, followed by classification using support vector machines. Experiments show that the proposed feature set exhibits good classification performance comparing favorably to other state-of-the-art alternatives.
RNA folding in living cells

RNA folding is the most essential process underlying RNA function. While significant progress has been made in understanding the forces driving RNA folding in vitro, exploring the rules governing intracellular RNA structure formation is still in its infancy. The cellular environment hosts a great diversity of factors that potentially influence RNA folding in vivo. For example, the nature of transcription and translation is known to shape the folding landscape of RNA molecules. Trans-acting factors such as proteins, RNAs and metabolites, among others, are also able to modulate the structure and thus the fate of an RNA. Here we summarize the ongoing efforts to uncover how RNA folds in living cells.
Morphine and alternative opioids in cancer pain: the EAPC recommendations

An expert working group of the European Association for Palliative Care has revised and updated its guidelines on the use of morphine in the management of cancer pain. The revised recommendations presented here give guidance on the use of morphine and the alternative strong opioid analgesics which have been introduced in many parts of the world in recent years. Practical strategies for dealing with difficult situations are described presenting a consensus view where supporting evidence is lacking. The strength of the evidence on which each recommendation is based is indicated. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign
Patterning of graphene microscale structures using electrohydrodynamic atomisation deposition of photoresist moulds

In this reported work, a graphene suspension was atomised and deposited using the electrohydrodynamic atomisation technique, enabling the formation of a wide range of graphene thin films. The influences of the atomisation-substrate distance on the characteristics of the graphene films and their sheet resistances were analysed. A distance of 3 mm was found to be the optimum deposition distance for this graphene suspension to produce an even film and a low sheet resistance. At a lower and a higher working distance the graphene films exhibited a sharp-angled heave surface behaviour and a high sheet resistance. In addition, electrohydrodynamic atomisation combined with a photolithography polymeric micromoulding technique was used to form graphene structures. After removing the photoresist micromould, the graphene structures remained under well-arranged characteristics. After two layers of electrohydrodynamic atomisation deposition at a working distance of 3 mm, the thickness of the film was approximate to 400 nm and exhibited a sheet resistance of 127.5 sq(-1) (ohms per square).
Current role of EGF receptor monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the management of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

New agents and treatment strategies that can be safely and effectively integrated into current treatment paradigms for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are urgently needed. To date, the anti-EGF receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody, cetuximab, is the first and only molecularly targeted therapy to demonstrate a survival benefit for patients with recurrent or metastatic disease. Other anti-EGFR-targeted therapies, including monoclonal antibodies (e.g., panitumumab and zalutumumab) and reversible and irreversible ErbB family tyrosine kinase inhibitors (e.g., lapatinib, afatinib and dacomitinib) are being actively investigated in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials. In addition, validated biomarkers are needed to predict clinical benefit and resistance to anti-EGFR therapy in HNSCC. This review will compare and contrast the mechanisms of action of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors and also discuss their role in the management of HNSCC and the potential impact of human papillomavirus status in the development of these targeted agents.
The Structure and Two Complexities of Economic Choice Semiautomata

The structure of choice implementing semiautomata is characterized. In contrast to the more commonly used directed graph representation of the semiautomaton, the primary representation here is as a transformation semigroup. For convenience, the means for determining the directed graph representation also is presented. Associated with the choice implementing semiautomata are two complexities; algebraic complexity, which is linked to the mathematical power required to implement a choice rule and computational complexity, which is determined by the difficulty of constructing a particular choice semiautomaton. Each of these complexities is demonstrated to be associated with the type of consistency axiom satisfied by the choice function being implemented by the semiautomaton. Moreover, these two complexities are demonstrated to be dual to each other.
Speculative Approximations for Terascale Distributed Gradient Descent Optimization

Model calibration is a major challenge faced by the plethora of statistical analytics packages that are increasingly used in Big Data applications. Identifying the optimal model parameters is a time-consuming process that has to be executed from scratch for every dataset/model combination even by experienced data scientists. We argue that the incapacity to evaluate multiple parameter configurations simultaneously and the lack of support to quickly identify sub-optimal configurations are the principal causes. In this paper, we develop two database-inspired techniques for efficient model calibration. Speculative parameter testing applies advanced parallel multi-query processing methods to evaluate several configurations concurrently. Online aggregation is applied to identify sub-optimal configurations early in the processing by incrementally sampling the training dataset and estimating the objective function corresponding to each configuration. We design concurrent online aggregation estimators and define halting conditions to accurately and timely stop the execution. We apply the proposed techniques to distributed gradient descent optimization -- batch and incremental -- for support vector machines and logistic regression models. We implement the resulting solutions in GLADE PF-OLA -- a state-of-the-art Big Data analytics system -- and evaluate their performance over terascalesize synthetic and real datasets. The results confirm that as many as 32 configurations can be evaluated concurrently almost as fast as one, while sub-optimal configurations are detected accurately in as little as a 1/20th fraction of the time.