Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unusually Large Fluctuations in the Statistics of Galaxy Formation at High Redshift

We show that various milestones of high-redshift galaxy formation, such as the formation of the first stars or the complete reionization of the intergalactic medium, occurred at different times in different regions of the universe. The predicted spread in redshift, caused by large-scale fluctuations in the number density of galaxies, is at least an order of magnitude larger than previous expectations, which argued for a sharp end to reionization. This cosmic scatter in the abundance of galaxies introduces new features that affect the nature of reionization and the expectations for future probes of reionization and may help explain the present properties of dwarf galaxies in different environments. The predictions can be tested by future numerical simulations and may be verified by upcoming observations. Current simulations, limited to relatively small volumes and periodic boundary conditions, largely omit cosmic scatter and its consequences. In particular, they artificially produce a sudden end to reionization, and they underestimate the number of galaxies by up to an order of magnitude at redshift 20.
Built Environment, Selected Risk Factors and Major Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Introduction Built environment attributes have been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Therefore, identifying built environment attributes that are associated with CVD risk is relevant for facilitating effective public health interventions. Objective To conduct a systematic review of literature to examine the influence of built environmental attributes on CVD risks. Data Source Multiple database searches including Science direct, CINAHL, Masterfile Premier, EBSCO and manual scan of reference lists were conducted. Inclusion Criteria Studies published in English between 2005 and April 2015 were included if they assessed one or more of the neighborhood environmental attributes in relation with any major CVD outcomes and selected risk factors among adults. Data Extraction Author(s), country/city, sex, age, sample size, study design, tool used to measure neighborhood environment, exposure and outcome assessments and associations were extracted from eligible studies. Results Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies used both cross-sectional design and Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess the neighborhood environmental attributes. Neighborhood environmental attributes were significantly associated with CVD risk and CVD outcomes in the expected direction. Residential density, safety from traffic, recreation facilities, street connectivity and high walkable environment were associated with physical activity. High walkable environment, fast food restaurants, supermarket/grocery stores were associated with blood pressure, body mass index, diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. High density traffic, road proximity and fast food restaurants were associated with CVDs outcomes. Conclusion This study confirms the relationship between neighborhood environment attributes and CVDs and risk factors. Prevention programs should account for neighborhood environmental attributes in the communities where people live.
Long-Term Impact of the World Bank Loan Project for Schistosomiasis Control: A Comparison of the Spatial Distribution of Schistosomiasis Risk in China

Background The World Bank Loan Project (WBLP) for controlling schistosomiasis in China was implemented during 1992–2001. Its short-term impact has been assessed from non-spatial perspective, but its long-term impact remains unclear and a spatial evaluation has not previously been conducted. Here we compared the spatial distribution of schistosomiasis risk using national datasets in the lake and marshland regions from 1999–2001 and 2007–2008 to evaluate the long-term impact of WBLP strategy on China's schistosomiasis burden. Methodology/Principal Findings A hierarchical Poisson regression model was developed in a Bayesian framework with spatially correlated and uncorrelated heterogeneities at the county-level, modeled using a conditional autoregressive prior structure and a spatially unstructured Gaussian distribution, respectively. There were two important findings from this study. The WBLP strategy was found to have a good short-term impact on schistosomiasis control, but its long-term impact was not ideal. It has successfully reduced the morbidity of schistosomiasis to a low level, but can not contribute further to China's schistosomiasis control because of the current low endemic level. A second finding is that the WBLP strategy could not effectively compress the spatial distribution of schistosomiasis risk. To achieve further reductions in schistosomiasis-affected areas, and for sustainable control, focusing on the intermediate host snail should become the next step to interrupt schistosomiasis transmission within the two most affected regions surrounding the Dongting and Poyang Lakes. Furthermore, in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the WBLP's morbidity control strategy may need to continue for some time until snails in the upriver provinces have been well controlled. Conclusion It is difficult to further reduce morbidity due to schistosomiasis using a chemotherapy-based control strategy in the lake and marshland regions of China because of the current low endemic levels of infection. The future control strategy for schistosomiasis should instead focus on a snail-based integrated control strategy to maintain the program achievements and sustainably reduce the burden of schistosomiasis in China.
Competing risk survival analysis using SAS ® When, why and how

Competing risk arise in time to event data when the event of interest cannot be observed because of a preceding event i.e. a competing event occurring before. An example can be of an event of interest being a specific cause of death where death from any other cause can be termed as a competing event, if focusing on relapse, death before relapse would constitute a competing event. It is well studied and pointed out that in presence of competing risks, the standard product limit methods yield biased results due to violation of their basic assumption. The effect of competing events on parameter estimation depends on their distribution and frequency. Fine and Gray’s sub-distribution hazard model can be used in presence of competing events which is available in PROC PHREG with the release of version 9.4 of SAS ® software.
Hand authentication on multi-touch tablets

We propose a biometric authentication scheme suitable for multi-touch devices such as tablet computers. Our scheme is based on hand geometry. It improves on prior work by introducing a dynamic element, where movement challenges are issued based on static hand geometry data. Specifically, we demonstrate a set of multi-touch interactions that can capture hand geometry information of users. For each of the interactions, we extract different but complimentary hand geometric information from the user. Our approach has several advantages over traditional text password and other biometric authentications. First, unlike other recognition based authentication schemes, a user is only expected to interact with the multi-touch surface according to the challenges she is posed. In other words, she does not have to memorize any type of credential. In addition, the system provides security against replay attacks--which is a drawback associated with many authentication schemes, such as traditional biometric system based on recognition of face, iris or fingerprint. Last but not least, our approach works on current tablet computers without any needs for updates of hardware, firmware or drivers -- it can be carried out by an application. We demonstrate experimentally a configuration using 14 consecutive challenges on iPad2 tablet (taking approximately 3.32 minutes for novice users to respond to), wherein the user is authenticated with almost 97% accuracy.
AUTOMATED CONSTRUCTION OF 3D STATISTICAL SHAPE MODELS

Automated segmentation of medical images is a difficult task because of the complexity of anatomic structures, inter-patient variability, and imperfect image acquisition. Prior knowledge, in the form of pointbased statistical shape models (point distribution models) of a structure of interest can greatly assist segmentation to robustly find the structure in a patient's image. Point distribution models are obtained through sets of corresponding landmarks lying on surfaces of training structures. The key to the automated construction of a three-dimensional (3D) statistical shape model is the identification of corresponding landmarks on training shapes, which is a challenging task. This paper presents a novel method for automated construction of 3D point distribution models. Corresponding surface points are obtained by two main steps: 1) volumes of interest (VOI), each containing one training structure, are manually defined, a reference structure is manually extracted from one training VOI and its surface is established and represented by a set of (reference) points, 2) reference landmarks are propagated to other training VOIs by transformations that are obtained by hierarchical elastic registration between the reference and each of the remaining training VOIs. We illustrate our approach using computed tomography data of the lumbar vertebra.
Differential bone marrow stem cell mobilization by G‐CSF injection or arterial ligation in baboons

Bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) are mobilized in response to ischemic attacks, e.g. myocardial infarction, to repair the damage, or by cytokines, e.g. granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF), which is used to harvest BMSCs for autologous transplantation. In order to optimize BMSC mobilization strategy for cardiovascular repair, we investigated whether BMSCs mobilized by G‐CSF share the same subtype profile as that by ischemia in a non‐human primate model. We subjected five baboons to subcutaneous G‐CSF injection and five baboons to femoral artery ligation. Blood BMSCs were measured by surface antigens; functional differentiation to endothelial cells (ECs) was assessed by colony‐forming capacity, expression of mature EC antigens and tube‐like formation. The number of circulating CD34+/CD45RA− cells spiked on day 3 post‐stimulation in both groups. While the number of CD34+ cells released by artery ligation was 2‐fold lower by comparison with the number released by G‐CSF administration, significantly more CD133+/KDR+/CXCR4+/CD31+ cells were detected in the baboons that underwent artery ligation. After culture in endothelial growth medium, mononuclear cells from baboons with artery ligation formed more EC colonies and more capillary‐like tubes (P < 0.05), expressed higher vWF and phagocytosed more Dil‐Ac‐LDL (P < 0.05). While G‐CSF and artery ligation can mobilize BMSCs capable of differentiating into ECs, BMSCs mobilized by the artery ligation simulating in vivo ischemic attacks have higher potential for vascular differentiation. Our findings demonstrate that different mobilization forces release different sets of BMSCs that may have different capacity for cardiovascular differentiation.
Enhancing TV White-Spaces Database with Unmanned Aerial Scanning Vehicles (UASVs)

After the digital TV switch-over, national spectrum regulators are considering opportunistic spectrum access techniques in the TV White Spaces (TVWS) frequency band. At present, the reference solution envisages the utilization of geolocation spectrum databases (GLDBs), in which spectrum availability is computed through complex propagation models. However, recent studies indicate that the used path loss model in GLDBs could be either inaccurate or too much conservative, possibly reducing the use of TVWS for opportunistic use by secondary networks. In this paper, we investigate the possibility to enhance the estimation accuracy of GLDBs with sensing reports produced by a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Scanning Vehicles (UASVs). These latter are able to explore the scenario in both space and frequencies, and to build a fine-grained shadowing map which can be used to tune the accuracy of propagation model used by GLDB. A novel distributed mobility algorithm is described for the sensing coverage of the scenario, and an aggregation mechanism for the map creation is illustrated. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of our scheme in terms of TVWS detection accuracy and scenario coverage issues.
Arctic air temperature change amplification and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

Understanding Arctic temperature variability is essential for assessing possible future melting of the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic sea ice and Arctic permafrost. Temperature trend reversals in 1940 and 1970 separate two Arctic warming periods (1910–1940 and 1970–2008) by a significant 1940–1970 cooling period. Analyzing temperature records of the Arctic meteorological stations we find that (a) the Arctic amplification (ratio of the Arctic to global temperature trends) is not a constant but varies in time on a multi‐decadal time scale, (b) the Arctic warming from 1910–1940 proceeded at a significantly faster rate than the current 1970–2008 warming, and (c) the Arctic temperature changes are highly correlated with the Atlantic Multi‐decadal Oscillation (AMO) suggesting the Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation is linked to the Arctic temperature variability on a multi‐decadal time scale.
Three pathways of cell transformation of lymphoid cell: a slow, a rapid, and an accelerated

Lymphoid leukemia (LL) and lymphoma are neoplasms developed from lymphoid cells (LCs). To understand why different forms of LL/lymphoma occur at different ages, we analyzed the effects of different types of DNA changes on a LC and the cellular characteristics of LCs. Point DNA mutations (PDMs) and chromosome changes (CCs) are the two major types of DNA changes. CCs have three subtypes by their effects on a LC: great-effect CCs (GECCs), mild-effect CCs (MECCs), and intermediate-effect CCs (IECCs). PDMs and MECCs are mostly mild thus can accumulate in cells. Some of the PDMs/MECCs contribute to cell transformation. A GECC affects one or more genes and can alone drive cell transformation. An IECC affects one or more genes and participates in cell transformation. Due to cellular characteristics, a LC may have higher survivability from DNA changes and require obtaining fewer cancerous properties for transformation than a tissue cell. Hence, a LC can be more rapidly transformed by a CC. On this basis, we hypothesize that a LC may have three pathways on transformation: a slow, a rapid, and an accelerated. Slow pathway is driven by accumulation of PDMs/MECCs. Rapid pathway is driven by a GECC in "one step". Accelerated pathway is driven by accumulation of PDMs/MECCs/IECC(s). Cell transformations of a LC via different pathways occur at different ages. A transformation via slow pathway occurs mainly in adults. A transformation via rapid pathway occurs at any age and has no increasing incidence with age. A transformation via accelerated pathway occurs also at any age but has increasing incidence with age. In conclusion, a LC may have three pathways on cell transformation, and the occurring age of LL/lymphoma may be determined by the transforming pathway of a LC.
Influence of the dynamics of Albizia adianthifolia and Albizia zygia on the dynamics of other woody forest

The present survey aims at establishing the influence of the dynamic of two arborescent Legumes trees of the Mimosaceae family (Albizia adiathifolia and Albizia zygia) on the woody forest, their evolution during the reconstitution of post-cultural flora. It was conducted at Oum
The Use of Non-Cognitive Constructs to Predict Success of First-Year Students in a College of Business

This study examined the relationship between academic hardiness, emotional and social competencies, academic success (as measured by grade point average), and persistence, in a sample of 178 first-year College of Business students at North Dakota State University. Students were administered the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory – University Edition (ESCIU) and the Revised Academic Hardiness Scale (RAHS) within the context of their first-year experience course as part of an on-going assurance of learning project at the College. Additional data was collected at the end of the semester relating to the students cumulative GPA as well as persistence data (did students re-enroll the following semester). Regression analysis was conducted to evaluate how well the data from the instruments, separately, predict student GPA and persistence. The outcome of the analyses indicates that all components of academic hardiness (commitment, control-effort, control-affect, challenge; as measured by the RAHS) were predictive of student GPA. Further, the component of commitment was predictive of a student’s persistence. Emotional and social competencies (as demonstrated as a composite score of the ESCI-U) were found to be predictive of a student’s GPA but not predictive of a student’s persistence in this study. The findings of this dissertation study support targeting curriculum specifically to these two constructs, to further develop these skills and attitudes in students. The benefit of this would be the impact that development of these skills and attitudes can have on GPA (and persistence, in the case of RAHS – commitment), but additionally these skills and attitudes are sought out by organizations that are hiring graduates.
A bio-inspired image local feature representation based on vision network model

In this paper, a hierarchical network model based on human vision physiological mechanism was put forward. Firstly, simple cell and complex cell in primary visual cortex is modeled, then studied the response pattern of V4 area and inferior temporal cortex on ventral side channel and representing the local features of input image utilized the computational model. The experiment results show that local image features extracted by computational model have sufficient discrimination; furthermore, the local image features extracted using biological visual model demonstrated much more excellent generalization ability in natural scene with complicated background.
A steady-state model of the continuous double auction

Abstract A model of the continuous double auction is constructed and analysed. Given the underlying supply and demand functions, the analysis yields steady-state probability distributions for the best ask, best bid and transaction prices. Under fairly general assumptions it is found that these prices are confined to a clearly defined window. Expressions are also obtained for the depth of the order book at arbitrary prices, and for the expected time-to-execution of a given order. These can be used to calculate the optimal order price for a trader with a specified level of impatience, to determine when a market order is preferable to a limit order, and hence in some cases to detect the presence of irrational or ill-informed traders in the market. It is conjectured that, in a market of rational and well-informed traders, the two sides of the order book should be statistically independent.
XMM-Newton Observations of Nova Sagittarii 1998

We report on X-ray observations of Nova Sagittarii 1998 (V4633 Sgr) performed with XMM-Newton at three different epochs, 934, 1083, and 1265 days after discovery. The nova was detected with the EPIC cameras at all three epochs, with emission spanning the whole energy range from 0.2 to 10 keV. The X-ray spectra do not change significantly at the different epochs and are well fitted for the first and third observations with a multitemperature optically thin thermal plasma, while lower statistics in the second observations lead to a poorer fit. The thermal plasma emission is most probably originated in the shock heated ejecta, with chemical composition similar to that of a CO nova. However, we cannot completely rule out reestablished accretion as the origin of the emission. We also obtain upper limits for the temperature and luminosity of a potential white dwarf atmospheric component and conclude that hydrogen burning had already turned off by the time of our observations.
A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

In colony collapse disorder (CCD), honey bee colonies inexplicably lose their workers. CCD has resulted in a loss of 50 to 90% of colonies in beekeeping operations across the United States. The observation that irradiated combs from affected colonies can be repopulated with naive bees suggests that infection may contribute to CCD. We used an unbiased metagenomic approach to survey microflora in CCD hives, normal hives, and imported royal jelly. Candidate pathogens were screened for significance of association with CCD by the examination of samples collected from several sites over a period of 3 years. One organism, Israeli acute paralysis virus of bees, was strongly correlated with CCD.
Noise brush: interactive high quality image-noise separation

This paper proposes an interactive approach using joint image-noise filtering for achieving high quality image-noise separation. The core of the system is our novel joint image-noise filter which operates in both image and noise domain, and can effectively separate noise from both high and low frequency image structures. A novel user interface is introduced, which allows the user to interact with both the image and the noise layer, and apply the filter adaptively and locally to achieve optimal results. A comprehensive and quantitative evaluation shows that our interactive system can significantly improve the initial image-noise separation results. Our system can also be deployed in various noise-consistent image editing tasks, where preserving the noise characteristics inherent in the input image is a desired feature.
An Innovative Reconfigurable Integrated Converter Topology Suitable for Distributed Generation

The electricity market and environmental concerns, with wide utilization of renewable sources, have improved the diffusion of distributed generation units changing the operations of distribution grids from passive networks to microgrids. A microgrid includes a cluster of electrical loads, energy storage devices and microsources, which provide both power and heat to their local area. A microgrid has usually one connection point to the utility grid through power electronic converters placed at customers’ sites. This paper analyses a Reconfigurable Integrated Converter (RIC) used for a domestic microgrid with inputs from the AC mains and photovoltaic arrays, and two DC outputs at different voltage levels. A RIC as a dual-boost DC-DC converter is proposed, modelled and analysed in the paper. The advantages of such a topology in comparison with traditional boost converters are outlined. Reported simulations results give evidence on the controllability of this converter and the capability of achieving the desired voltage outputs with reduced ripple.