Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determining Compliance of Transboundary Cooperation for Biodiversity Management in the Serengeti- Mara Ecosystem, East Africa

Biodiversity management is under threat due to habitat loss and or modifications resulting from deforestation, increased farming, overgrazing and human settlement. There is need for an organized process as well as community participation in transboundary conservation. The entire Serengeti-Masai Mara Ecosystem the world famous Serengeti Game Park and Maasai Mara National Reserve and includes the Maswa Game Reserve (2,200km2) in the south, Grumeti and Ikorongo Game Reserves in the east, Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya (1,672km2) to the north, and Loliondo Game Controlled Area in the west. The paper reviews the level of policy compliance and strategy integration of international cooperation in transboundary ecosystem of environment in Kenya and Tanzania in order to determine the extent to which the states have complied with international protocols. An assessment of documentary evidence on the level of effectiveness in the integration of transboundary cooperation in policies and legal frameworks and field data were collected from 35 residents around the SME using questionnaires. The sample was convenient sampling in which only adults who gad interacted with conservation areas were interviewed. Additionally a cross tabulation using check list on policies related to biodiversity in the East African Community region, and policy prescriptions was made. The achievement of the cooperation obligations is not a benchmark to demonstrate cooperation but rather the number of prescriptions per legal framework on cooperation reflects more authority on domestication and application of the legal frameworks in transboundary matters.
The association between mental health, physical function, and hemodialysis mortality.

BACKGROUND Mortality rates for individuals on chronic hemodialysis remain very high; therefore, strategies are needed to identify individuals at greatest risk for mortality so preventive strategies can be implemented. One such approach is to stratify individuals by self-reported mental health and physical function. Examining these parameters at baseline, and over time, may help identify individuals at greater risk for mortality. METHODS We enrolled 14,815 individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and followed these individuals for up to 2 years. The mean age was 61.0 +/- 15.4 years (range, 20 to 96 years) and 31% were African Americans. The SF-36 Health Survey was administered 1 to 3 months after hemodialysis initiation and 6 months later. We examined the associations between the initial SF-36 Health Survey mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) scores and mortality during the follow-up period, and examined the associations between 6-month decline in PCS and MCS scores and subsequent mortality. We also examined the interactions between age and MCS and PCS scores. The general population-based mean of each of these scores was 50 with a standard deviation of 10. The main outcome measurement was death. RESULTS Self-reported baseline mental health (MCS score) and physical function (PCS score) were both independently associated with increased mortality, and 6-month decline in these parameters was also associated with increased mortality. The multivariate hazard ratios for 1-year mortality for MCS scores of less than 30, 30 to 39, and 40 to 49 were 1.48 (95% CI, 1.32 to 1.64), 1.23 (95% CI, 1.14 to 1.32) and 1.18 (95% CI, 1.10 to 1.26) compared with a MCS score of 50 or more. The hazard ratios for PCS scores of less than 20, 20 to 29, and 30 to 39 were 1.97 (95% CI, 1.64 to 2.36), 1.62 (95% CI, 1.36 to 1.92), and 1.32 (95% CI, 1.11 to 1.57) compared with a PCS score of 50 or more. Six-month decline in self-reported mental health (hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.12, per 10-point decline in MCS score) and physical function (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.33, per 10-point decline in PCS score) were also both significantly associated with an additional increase in mortality beyond baseline risk. We also found a significant interaction between age and physical function (P = 0.02). Specifically, there was a graded response between the PCS score category and mortality in most age strata, but this relationship was not observed in the oldest age (85 years old or older). CONCLUSION In individuals newly initiated on chronic hemodialysis, self-reported baseline mental health and physical function are important, independent predictors of mortality, and there is a graded relationship between these parameters and mortality risk. Following these parameters over time provides additional information on mortality risk. One must also consider age when interpreting the relationship between physical function and mortality.
CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENTS. INCIDENCE AND SURVIVAL RATES IN A DEFINED POPULATION, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

The Connecticut State Department of Health determined rates of stroke incidence and survival for one year in one county. Five-year survival data were obtained for all patients. Strokes afflicted 191 persons, giving an incidence rate of 2.3/1,000/year (crude) or 1.7/1,000/year (adjusted to the US age distribution). Four persons had an embolism; 28, undetermined type; 68, hemorrhage; and 91, thrombosis. Survival rates for all stroke types were low and dropped most rapidly within the first two weeks. Hemorrhage was more lethal than thrombosis. There was little difference in survival rate between patients who suffered a first or subsequent stroke. Survival rate decreased with advancing age in men but not in women.
Superior Temporal Gyrus, Language Function, and Autism

Deficits in language are a core feature of autism. The superior temporal gyrus (STG) is involved in auditory processing, including language, but also has been implicated as a critical structure in social cognition. It was hypothesized that subjects with autism would display different size-function relationships between the STG and intellectual-language-based abilities when compared to controls. Intellectual ability was assessed by either the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Third Edition (WISC–III) or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (WAIS–III), where three intellectual quotients (IQ) were computed: verbal (VIQ), performance (PIQ), and full-scale (FSIQ). Language ability was assessed by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Third Edition (CELF–3), also divided into three index scores: receptive, expressive, and total. Seven to 19-year-old rigorously diagnosed subjects with autism (n = 30) were compared to controls (n = 39; 13 of whom had a deficit in reading) of similar age who were matched on education, PIQ, and head circumference. STG volumes were computed based on 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). IQ and CELF–3 performance were highly interrelated regardless of whether subjects had autism or were controls. Both IQ and CELF–3 ability were positively correlated with STG in controls, but a different pattern was observed in subjects with autism. In controls, left STG gray matter was significantly (r = .42, p ≤ .05) related to receptive language on the CELF–3; in contrast, a zero order correlation was found with autism. When plotted by age, potential differences in growth trajectories related to language development associated with STG were observed between controls and those subjects with autism. Taken together, these findings suggest a possible failure in left hemisphere lateralization of language function involving the STG in autism. Superior Temporal Gyrus, Language Function, and Autism
A tree-based distance between distributions: Application to classification of neurons

The usual strategy for computing a distance between two distributions consists of modeling the distributions in feature space, and of computing the distance between the models. We propose here to model the distributions of points by using unsupervised trees. Our main contribution is the definition of a tree-based approximation of the Kullback-Leibler divergence for very large feature spaces, from which we derive a symmetric distance. Our tree-based KL divergence consists first of building for each set of samples a balanced tree. Then, for any pair of sets of samples, we effectively compute the KL divergence between the empirical distributions at the leaves for the set used to build the tree, and the empirical distribution at the leaves for the other set. We show experimentally on synthetic data the consistency between this quantity and the exact KL divergence, and demonstrate its efficiency for both unsupervised and supervised classification on multiple standard real-world data-sets. Our main application is the characterization of abnormal neuron development.
Consolidating simplified risk assessment models for pollutant leaching to and migration across groundwater

The major objective of this study is to investigate simplified risk assessment models for pollutant leaching to and migration across groundwater. Data for this study were gathered through bibliographic research and experts’ advice. Three European countries were selected for this investigation: Italy, United Kingdom and Walloon Region. In the first part, the procedures are compared from a theoretical point of view. The Thesis then identifies the tools used by countries and applies them on a synthetic and real case. A sensitivity analysis is performed as well. The cases have highlighted differences in terms of decision-making and shown which parameters mostly affect results. Basing on the results of this research, it can be concluded that all the countries perform Concentration based risk assessment relying on simplified analytical equations and that the way of assessing risk is quite similar. Major differences could be noticed in the choice of factors and relative adjustments for modelling leaching in the vadose zone and in the way to obtain the remedial objectives. Types of solutions for modelling the transport of contaminant across groundwater differ as well. The synthetic case study brings to light some noticeable aspects. Firstly the difficulty in choosing parameters, particularly for the saturated zone, so as to respect the mass balance between saturated and unsaturated condition. Secondly, the fact that some factors, used by countries to simplify the movement of pollutants (i.e. dilution factor), actually have a great influence on results. Therefore, their physical consistency and reliability should be further investigated by comparing results of traditional RA tools with numerical models. Finally, the sensitivity analysis has shown that Mass flux approaches may bring additional contribution to the way the presence of Risk is assessed and that research should evolve in this direction.
Design and Safety Verification of a Distributed Charge Equalizer for Modular Li-Ion Batteries

This paper presents a novel charge equalization technique seamlessly integrated into a modular Battery Management System (BMS) for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. The charge equalizer is a crucial element for an effective use of a Li-ion battery consisting of many series-connected cells. We describe a fully distributed charge equalizer based on a circular balancing bus, which outperforms other recently published approaches. Its safety requirements have formally been verified using a model checker, showing that formal methods and, in particular, the Symbolic Analysis Laboratory environment, can be effective to verify the safety requirements of a BMS.
Global Analysis and Focal Points in a Model with Boundedly Rational Consumers

In this paper we present a contribution toward a dynamic theory of the consumer. Canonical economic theory assumes a perfectly rational agent that acts according to optimization principles of a utility function subject to budget constraints. Here we propose a two-dimensional discrete dynamical system that describes the choice problem of a consumer under the assumption of bounded rationality. The map representing this adaptive process is characterized by the presence of a denominator that can vanish. We use recent results on the global bifurcations of this kind of maps in order to explain the coexistence of different attractors and the structure of the corresponding basins of attraction. The stationary equilibria of the map represent the rational choices of the consumer in the static setting, i.e. solutions of the utility maximization problem under budget constraints. We use geometric and numerical methods to study the problem of coexistence of different attractors and the related problem of the basins of attraction and their global bifurcations.
Global Ocean Forecast System 3.1 Validation Test

Abstract : The Global Ocean Forecast System (GOFS) 3.1 is comprised of the 1/12 HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model that is two-way coupled to the Community Ice CodE in a daily update cycle with the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation. Additionally it uses Improved Synthetic OceanProfiles to project surface information downward into the water column. GOFS nowcasts/forecasts the oceans weather, which includes the three-dimensional ocean temperature, salinity and current structure, the surface mixed layer, the location of mesoscale features, and ice concentration, thickness and drift in both hemispheres. It is scheduled to replace GOFS 3.0 for the ocean and the Arctic Cap Nowcast/ForecastSystem (ACNFS) for sea ice, both of which are the existing operational systems at the Naval Oceanographic Office. This report describes the system comparisons against unassimilated observations at both the nowcast time and as a function of forecast length. An ocean scorecard provides the relative performance of GOFS 3.1 vs. GOFS 3.0. Overall, GOFS 3.1 is performing equal to or better than both GOFS 3.0 and ACNFS, and is recommended to become the next global operational system.
[Bicyclol protects rat thoracic aorta from superoxide anion-induced inhibition of vascular relaxation].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of bicyclol on vascular oxidative stress injury induced by superoxide anion. METHODS Rat thoracic aortic rings were isolated for isometric tension recording using organ bath technique. Superoxide arterial injury was induced by pyrogallol exposure, and the effect of bicyclol on endothelium-dependent relaxation was evaluated. RESULTS Bicyclol (10(-8) - 10(-5) mol/L) relaxed endothelium-intact aortic rings precontracted by phenylephrine. This effect was abolished by L-NAME, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase and indomethacin, an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase. Exposure to pyrogallol (500 micromol/L) resulted in decrease of acetylcholine(ACh)-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation in aortic rings, and pre-incubation of bicyclol (10(-5) mol/L) for 45 min improved the relaxation attenuated by pyrogallol. In aortic rings pre-treated with indomethacin, bicyclol increased the ACh-induced relaxation that was inhibited by pyrogallol (500 micromol/L). This effect was not found in aortic rings pre-treated with L-NAME. CONCLUSION Bicyclol has endothelium-dependent vasodilating effect on rat thoracic aorta and improves vascular function by attenuating oxidative stress. Nitric oxide from endothelium is involved in the anti-oxidative effect of bicyclol.
Using the arteriolar Pressure Attenuation Index to predict ocular hypertension progression to open-angle glaucoma.

BACKGROUND Vascular phenomena are considered important to optic nerve and visual field progression in open-angle glaucoma (OAG). A recently described formulation, the Pressure Attenuation Index (PAI), links arteriolar caliber variations to pressure loss along the retinal arteriolar system. OBJECTIVE To examine whether the PAI could predict ocular hypertension (OHT) progression to OAG. METHODS The PAI was calculated for 27 eyes of 14 patients with OHT using initial and final digitized optic disc photographs taken during a follow-up interval of 5 to 18 years. Serial stereo color disc photographs and visual fields were analyzed to determine progression. RESULTS At baseline, the arteriolar tree of 8 subjects with OHT that progressed to OAG (n = 8 eyes) demonstrated a 45.8% greater mean PAI value than that of 7 subjects who did not progress (n = 7 eyes) (mean +/- SEM, 5.31 +/- 0.93 vs 3.64 +/- 0.34; r = 0.83). Progression was independent of baseline cup-disc ratio. The PAI values of subjects with stable OHT remained stable after a median follow-up interval of 12.0 years. The PAI values of subjects with OHT that progressed demonstrated a further increase of 19.97% +/- 11.24% during a median follow-up period of 6.0 years. CONCLUSIONS The results support the hypothesis that low end-arteriolar pressure predicts the progression from OHT to OAG. The PAI provides a new, early, reproducible, and physiological method to study vascular phenomena in glaucoma.
Agriculture Biogeography

The challenge of increasing food production to keep pace with demand, while retaining the essential ecological integrity of production systems, requires coordinated action among science disciplines. Thus, 21st-century Agriculture should incorporate disciplines related to natural resources, environmental science, and life sciences. Biogeography, as one of those disciplines, provides a unique contribution because it can generate research ideas and methods that can be used to ameliorate this challenge, with the concept of relative space providing the conceptual and analytical framework within which data can be integrated, related, and structured into a whole. A new branch of Biogeography, Agriculture Biogeography, is proposed here and defined as the application of the principles, theories, and analyses of Biogeography to agricultural systems, including all human activities related to breeding or cultivation, mostly to provide goods and services. It not only encompasses the problem that land use seems scarcely to be compatible with biodiversity conservation, but also a substantial body of theory and analysis involving subjects not strictly related to conservation. Our aim is to define the field and scope of Agriculture Biogeography, set the foundations of a conceptual framework of the discipline, and present some subjects related to Agriculture Biogeography. We present, in summary form, a concept map which summarizes the relationship between agriculture systems and Biogeography, and delineates the current engagement between Agriculture and Biogeography through the discussion of some perspectives from Biogeography and from the agriculture research.
Self-monitoring for sensor networks

Local monitoring is an effective mechanism for the security of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Existing schemes assume the existence of sufficient number of active nodes to carry out monitoring operations. Such an assumption, however, is often difficult for a large scale sensor network. In this work, we focus on designing an efficient scheme integrated with good self-monitoring capability as well as providing an infrastructure for various security protocols using local monitoring. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to present the formal study on finding optimized self-monitoring topology for WSNs. We show the problem is NP-complete even under the unit disk graph (UDG) model, and give the upper bound on the approximation ratio. We further propose two distributed polynomial algorithms with provable approximation ratio to address this issue. Through comprehensive simulations, we evaluate the effectiveness of this design.
Speckle reduction with edge-preserving

Coherent imagery emerges as one of the major domains in image processing and includes topics as diversified as radar, medical and surface analysis. Whatever the application, the resulting image is noisy corrupted. In coherent imaging, images suffer from speckle noise, whose main characteristic is to be multiplicative. The proposed method takes explicitly into account the multiplicative property of the noise while preserving discontinuities in the restored image. Moreover, in a second step our algorithm estimates the noise, thus the information contained in the speckle still remains usable.
Population pharmacokinetic modeling for dose setting of nonacog beta pegol (N9‐GP), a glycoPEGylated recombinant factor IX

Summary. Background: nonacog beta pegol (N9‐GP) is a glycoPEGylated recombinant factor IX (rFIX) molecule with a prolonged half‐life. Objectives: To provide information on potential dose regimens for N9‐GP for phase 3 pivotal and surgery trials. Methods: A population pharmacokinetic model was developed from single‐dose data derived from the first human‐dose trial with N9‐GP in hemophilia B patients, and was used to extrapolate to steady‐state conditions for different N9‐GP dose regimens for prophylaxis. The model was also used to compare prophylaxis using N9‐GP with standard prophylactic regimens using rFIX or plasma‐derived (pd) FIX (40 IU kg−1 every third day). Plasma activity following dosing with N9‐GP, rFIX and pdFIX for surgery and on‐demand treatment of bleeds was also simulated. Results: A linear two‐compartmental model best described the pharmacokinetic profiles of N9‐GP, rFIX and pdFIX. A prophylactic regimen of 10 U kg−1 N9‐GP once weekly predicted mean peak and trough levels of 18 and 4.2 U dL−1, while 40 U kg−1 once weekly predicted values of 72 and 17 U dL−1, respectively. Standard prophylactic regimens with rFIX and pdFIX predicted mean peak and trough levels of 34 and 3.9 IU dL−1 for rFIX, and mean values of 43 and 2.1 IU dL−1 for pdFIX. Additional simulations predicted significantly reduced dosing frequency and factor concentrate consumption for N9‐GP vs. rFIX and pdFIX for surgery and the treatment of bleeds. Conclusions: N9‐GP may allow prophylaxis, surgical dosing regimens and on‐demand treatment of bleeding episodes with less frequent injections and lower factor concentrate consumption; this possibility is being investigated in prospective clinical trials.
Mycobacterium bovis: A Model Pathogen at the Interface of Livestock, Wildlife, and Humans

Complex and dynamic interactions involving domestic animals, wildlife, and humans create environments favorable to the emergence of new diseases, or reemergence of diseases in new host species. Today, reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of tuberculosis in animals, and sometimes humans, exist in a range of countries and wild animal populations. Free-ranging populations of white-tailed deer in the US, brushtail possum in New Zealand, badger in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and wild boar in Spain exemplify established reservoirs of M. bovis. Establishment of these reservoirs is the result of factors such as spillover from livestock, translocation of wildlife, supplemental feeding of wildlife, and wildlife population densities beyond normal habitat carrying capacities. As many countries attempt to eradicate M. bovis from livestock, efforts are impeded by spillback from wildlife reservoirs. It will not be possible to eradicate this important zoonosis from livestock unless transmission between wildlife and domestic animals is halted. Such an endeavor will require a collaborative effort between agricultural, wildlife, environmental, and political interests.
Linear scalable dispersion codes: signal design and performance analysis

Using Tarokhs criteria for space-time codes, we analyze the design of linear scalable dispersion (LSD) codes. These codes are designed to utilize large numbers of transmit antennas, to exploit high diversity factors and to trade spatial diversity gain for spatial multiplexing gain in a very flexible way. We investigate the diversity and coding gain for Rayleigh fading and show in particular that these codes are able to achieve full spatial and temporal diversity even in combination with spatial multiplexing.