Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forest fires in Dalmatia

Abstract Every year the Republic of Croatia, especially in its south part in Dalmatia, faces forest fire risks. The weather is exceptionally conducive to fires, so the main period of fire occurrences is between June and October, characterized by long lasting dry and warm weather with temperatures over 30°C. Research carried out by the authors in 1997 and 2012 have pointed to the fact that human impact is the main cause of ignition. This paper presents an overview of the total number of fires in the period from 1998 to 2012, with the emphasis on forest and woodland fires in the Croatian region of Dalmatia. Data on the situation in Dalmatia refer to the situation in the areas of responsibility of four Dalmatian Police Administrations. Analysis is based on official data of the Croatian Ministry of the Interior and the report of the National councillor for managing and controlling forest fires. The authors have analysed the frequency of forest fires in Dalmatia in a period of fourteen years (1998-2012) comparing it with the previous period, 1989-1996. The results that the authors have obtained reveal how forest fires most commonly (2/3) break out during the warm part of a day, from 09.00 until 18.00 hours in the warm period of the year. Particularly vulnerable are the forests of Aleppo pines and maquis being mostly thermal forests, whilst in the south of the country the forests of Holm oak (Quercus ilex) and English oak (Quercus robur) are at the highest risk. Reforesting of burned areas is very slow and Croatia has been far behind in reforesting in the continental part of the country.
Improved fuzzy space-intervals based sequential pattern mining: Technical solution

One of the sub areas of the data mining includes sequential pattern mining. This mining algorithm is to find the repeating patterns after mining the sequence databases. These are used to find the relation between the various items in the data for different purposes. As these data keep changing according to the change in time, mining should be done on incremented or updated database to obtain the frequent sequential patterns. The proposed algorithm in this paper uses modified algorithm of sequential pattern mining including concepts of fuzzy space intervals. In this algorithm, frequently occurring sequential patterns in the sequence database are mined using apriori like method. Fuzzy theory is used for mining the space interval between the frequently occurring sequences. The sequentially occurring candidate patterns are found first. After that follows the frequently occurring sequential patterns, which are found by calculating the minimum fuzzy support along with the use of the fuzzy number. Each space cluster is found by fuzzy support computation. The final results comprises the frequently occurring fuzzy space sequentially based patterns. At last the outcome also confirms the excellence of the suggested MISPFSI algorithm.
SELECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW ENDOPHYTIC BACTERIAL STRAINS ISOLATED FROM POTATO TUBER USEFUL IN BIOCONTROL STRATEGIES

Endophytic bacteria are plant-associated bacteria colonizing the internal plant tissue, living in symbiotic association with their host. Such microorganism could contribute to plant growth promotion and defence against biotic and abiotic stress. Our study aimed to describe new endophytic bacteria from potato tubers. Therefore, a group of 20 endophytic bacteria was isolated from seven Romanian varieties of healthy potato tubers. Four of the isolated strains revealed antifungal activity against three important pathogens of potato, Fusarium solani involved in tubers dry rot, Rhizoctonia solani involved in stem canker and black scurf of potato, and Alternaria solani causing early blight of potato plants. Among all twenty isolates obtained, 13 were Gram positive bacteria. Most of the newly isolated endophytes (65%) expressed phosphatase and protease activity, and 55% presented amylases, however only 10% revealed cellulose degrading enzymes. Based on preliminary laboratory analysis, the isolate 6T4 identified as B. atrophaeus/subtilis revealed promising perspectives for biocontrol strategies.
A characterization of well-founded algebraic lattices

We characterize well-founded algebraic lattices by means of forbidden subsemilattices of the join-semilattice made of their compact elements. More specifically, we show that an algebraic lattice $L$ is well-founded if and only if $K(L)$, the join-semilattice of compact elements of $L$, is well-founded and contains neither $[\omega]^{<\omega}$, nor $\underline\Omega(\omega^*)$ as a join-subsemilattice. As an immediate corollary, we get that an algebraic modular lattice $L$ is well-founded if and only if $K(L)$ is well-founded and contains no infinite independent set. If $K(L)$ is a join-subsemilattice of $I_{<\omega}(Q)$, the set of finitely generated initial segments of a well-founded poset $Q$, then $L$ is well-founded if and only if $K(L)$ is well-quasi-ordered.
Pseudo Neural Networks For Iris Data Classification

This research deals with a novel approach to classification. Iris data was used for the experiments. Classical artificial neural networks, where a relation between inputs and outputs is based on the mathematical transfer functions and optimized numerical weights, was an inspiration for this work. Artificial neural networks need to optimize weights, but the structure and transfer functions are usually set up before the training. The proposed method utilizes the symbolic regression for synthesis of a whole structure, i.e. the relation between inputs and output(s). This paper differs from the previous approach where only one output pseudo node was used even for more classes. In this case, there were synthesized more node output equations as in classical artificial neural networks. The benchmark was iris data as in previous research. For experimentation, Differential Evolution (DE) for the main procedure and also for meta-evolution version of analytic programming (AP) was used.
AirCloud: a cloud-based air-quality monitoring system for everyone

We present the design, implementation, and evaluation of AirCloud -- a novel client-cloud system for pervasive and personal air-quality monitoring at low cost. At the frontend, we create two types of Internet-connected particulate matter (PM2:5) monitors -- AQM and miniAQM, with carefully designed mechanical structures for optimal air-flow. On the cloud-side, we create an air-quality analytics engine that learn and create models of air-quality based on a fusion of sensor data. This engine is used to calibrate AQMs and mini-AQMs in real-time, and infer PM2:5 concentrations. We evaluate AirCloud using 5 months of data and 2 month of continuous deployment, and show that AirCloud is able to achieve good accuracies at much lower cost than previous solutions. We also show three real applications built on top of AirCloud by 3rd party developers to further demonstrate the value of our system.
An assessment of driving fitness in patients with visual impairment to understand the elevated risk of motor vehicle accidents

Objective To assess the driving fitness of patients with glaucoma by identifying specific areas and degrees of visual field impairment that threaten safe driving. Design Case–control study. Setting, and participants This prospective study included 36 patients with advanced glaucoma, defined as Humphrey field analyzer (HFA; 24-2 SITA standard program) measurements of mean deviation in both eyes of worse than −12 dB, and 36 age-matched and driving exposure time-matched normal subjects. All participants underwent testing in a novel driving simulator (DS) system. Participants were recruited between September 2010 and January 2012. Main outcome measures The number of collisions with simulated hazards and braking response time in 14 DS scenarios was recorded. Monocular HFA 24-2 test results from both eyes were merged to calculate the binocular integrated visual field (IVF). The position of the IVF subfields in which the collision-involved patients had lower sensitivity than the collision-uninvolved patients was compared with the track of the hazard. The cut-off value to predict an elevated risk of collisions was determined, as were its sensitivity and specificity, with the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve. Results Patients with advanced glaucoma were involved in a significantly higher number of collisions in the DS than the age-matched and driving exposure time-matched normal subjects (119 vs 40, respectively, p<0.0001), especially in four specific DS scenarios. In these four scenarios, IVF sensitivity was significantly lower in the collision-involved patients than in the collision-uninvolved patients in subfields on or near the track of the simulated hazard (p<0.05). The subfields with the largest AUROC curve had values ranging from 0.72 to 0.91 and were located in the paracentral visual field just below the horizontal. Conclusions Our novel DS system effectively assessed visual impairment, showing that simulators may have future potential in educating patients.
Estrogen metabolism and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND Estrogens are recognized causal factors in breast cancer. Interindividual variation in estrogen metabolism may also influence the risk of breast cancer and could provide clues to mechanisms of breast carcinogenesis. Long-standing hypotheses about how estrogen metabolism might influence breast cancer have not been adequately evaluated in epidemiological studies because of the lack of accurate, reproducible, and high-throughput assays for estrogen metabolites. METHODS We conducted a prospective case-control study nested within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO). Participants included 277 women who developed invasive breast cancer (case subjects) and 423 matched control subjects; at PLCO baseline, all subjects were aged 55-74 years, postmenopausal and not using hormone therapy, and provided a blood sample. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure serum concentrations of 15 estrogens and estrogen metabolites, in unconjugated and conjugated forms, including the parent estrogens, estrone and estradiol, and estrogen metabolites in pathways defined by irreversible hydroxylation at the C-2, C-4, or C-16 positions of the steroid ring. We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) approximating risk in highest vs lowest deciles of individual estrogens and estrogen metabolites, estrogens and estrogen metabolites grouped by metabolic pathways, and metabolic pathway ratios using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS Nearly all estrogens, estrogen metabolites, and metabolic pathway groups were associated with an increased risk of breast cancer; the serum concentration of unconjugated estradiol was strongly associated with the risk of breast cancer (HR = 2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19 to 3.62). No estrogen, estrogen metabolite, or metabolic pathway group remained statistically significantly associated with the risk of breast cancer after adjusting for unconjugated estradiol. The ratio of the 2-hydroxylation pathway to parent estrogens (HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.51 to 0.87) and the ratio of 4-hydroxylation pathway catechols to 4-hydroxylation pathway methylated catechols (HR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.72) were statistically significantly associated with the risk of breast cancer and remained so after adjustment for unconjugated estradiol. CONCLUSIONS More extensive 2-hydroxylation of parent estrogens is associated with lower risk, and less extensive methylation of potentially genotoxic 4-hydroxylation pathway catechols is associated with higher risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.
The Impact of improved Radon Mapping on the Cost Effectiveness of UK Domestic Radon Remediation Initiatives for Existing Housing

In the UK, excessive levels of radon gas have been detected in the built environment, including domestic housing. Areas where 1% of existing homes were found to be over the Action Level of 200 Bq m were declared to be Radon Affected Areas. Initially these areas followed administrative boundaries, known as counties. However, with increasing number of measurements of radon levels in domestic homes recorded in the national database, these areas have been successively refined into smaller. This, together with improved geological mapping, has led to more precise definition of radon-affected areas. One result is the identification of small areas with raised radon levels within counties where previous analysis had not shown a problem. In addition, some parts of areas that were considered Radon Affected are now considered low or no risk. Our analysis suggests that the net result of improved mapping is to increase the number of houses which should be tested. The changes should ensure that more affected houses are identified, but this depends on the public response to publicity of the new affected areas, which, despite various publicity campaigns, only around 40% of householders in affected areas have measured radon levels, and only 15% of those finding raised radon levels have remediated their homes. Our group has assessed the actual and potential cost-effectiveness of the latest remediation campaigns. It is noted that the additional step will add only a marginal cost. Moreover, cost-effectiveness remains strongly dependent on the percentage of houses over the action level in an area, and on the percentage of householders who carry out remediation once they have found high levels. At current response rates, our research suggests that remediation programmes are not currently justifiable in areas where less than 5% of houses are affected.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND ELASTIC CONSTANTS OF UPPER CRUSTAL ROCKS FROM CORE-LOG MEASUREMENTS IN HOLE S 04 BI

Seismic velocities have been measured at confining pressures of 100 MPa and 600 MPa for sheeted dike samples recovered during Ocean Drilling Program Legs 137 and 140. The compressionaland shear-wave velocities show an increase with depth at Hole 504B, which is in sharp contrast to the atmospheric pressure velocity measurements performed as part of the shipboard analyses. Rocks exposed to different types of alteration and fracture patterns show distinct changes in their physical properties. The seismic reflectors observed on the vertical seismic profile (VSP) experiment performed during Leg III may have been caused by low velocity zones resulting from alteration. The amount of fracturing and hydrothermal alteration in several zones also may have contributed to the acoustic impedance contrast necessary to produce the Es reflector. Poisson's ratios calculated from laboratory velocity measurements show several low values at depths ranging from 1600 mbsf to 2000 mbsf, which tends to follow similar trends obtained from previous oceanic refraction experiments. A comparison of physical properties between samples recovered from Hole 504B and ophiolite studies in the Bay of Islands and Oman shows a good correlation with the Bay of Islands but significant differences from the measurements performed in the Oman complex.
C-fiber-Selective Peripheral Nerve Blockade

Despite the clinical demand, current uses of local anesthetics do not allow selective blockade of nociceptive fibers. Regional anesthesia produces an analgesic effect accompanied with undesired side effects due to block of motor, non-nociceptive sensory and autonomic fibers. These side effects limit the clinical use of local anesthetics and affect the recovery and rehabilitation period after surgical procedures. Therefore one main goal of research in the field of regional anesthesia is selectively targeting nociceptive fibers. Recent studies describing the role of nociceptive specific sodium channels in generation and propagation of nociceptive signals make these channels ideal targets for pain selective blockade. In addition, novel methods of targeted delivery of charged local anesthetics selectively into nociceptors provide another potentially successful approach for c-fiber specific nerve block. This review summarizes currently on-going studies on several promising targets and methods to achieve pain selective anesthesia.
Abnormalities of cortical thickness, subcortical shapes, and white matter integrity in subcortical vascular cognitive impairment

Subcortical vascular cognitive impairment (sVCI) is caused by lacunar infarcts or extensive and/or diffuse lesions in the white matter that may disrupt the white matter circuitry connecting cortical and subcortical regions and result in the degeneration of neurons in these regions. This study used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) techniques to examine cortical thickness, subcortical shapes, and white matter integrity in mild vascular cognitive impairment no dementia (VCIND Mild) and moderate‐to‐severe VCI (MSVCI). Our study found that compared to controls (n = 25), VCIND Mild (n = 25), and MSVCI (n = 30) showed thinner cortex predominantly in the frontal cortex. The cortex in MSVCI was thinner in the parietal and lateral temporal cortices than that in VCIND Mild. Moreover, compared to controls, VCIND Mild and MSVCI showed smaller shapes (i.e., volume reduction) in the thalamus, putamen, and globus pallidus and ventricular enlargement. Finally, compared to controls, VCIND Mild, and MSVCI showed an increased mean diffusivity in the white matter, while decreased generalized fractional anisotropy was only found in the MSVCI subjects. The major axonal bundles involved in the white matter abnormalities were mainly toward the frontal regions, including the internal capsule/corona radiata, uncinate fasciculus, and anterior section of the inferior fronto‐occipital fasciculus, and were anatomically connected to the affected cortical and subcortical structures. Our findings suggest that abnormalities in cortical, subcortical, and white matter morphology in sVCI occur in anatomically connected structures, and that abnormalities progress along a similar trajectory from the mild to moderate and severe conditions. Hum Brain Mapp 35:2320–2332, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Successful treatment of Propofol induced refractory status epilepticus with calcium gluconate

Propofol-induced seizure-like phenomena (SLP) is well described following anesthesia or sedation with this drug. The episode is usually benign and responds well to standards anti-convulsant therapy. The occurrence of status epilepticus refractory to conventional treatment and successful treatment with intravenous Calcium has been rarely reported. We describe a patient who developed status epilepticus refractory to standard treatment during recovery from Propofol anesthesia and successfully treated with intravenous calcium. The report highlights a potentially harmful complication of the Propofol and suggests that intra-venous calcium may be effective as an anticonvulsant treatment for Propofol-induced status epilepticus.
The effect of Mahkota Dewa (Phaleria macrocarpa L.) leaf extract encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles on inos and COX-2 expression in dextran sodium sulphate-induced colitis mice model

Mahkota Dewa (Phaleria macrocarpa L) is indigenous shrub found in Indonesia commonly used in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory effects. This study was conducted to assay Mahkota Dewa leaf extract packaged in chitosan nanoparticles provides superior anti-inflammatory effects on ulcerative colitis induced by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) compared to Mahkota Dewa leaf extract alone. This study used 36 mice divided into 6 groups: normal, negative control, leaf extract dose 12.5 mg, leaf extract dose 25 mg, leaf extract chitosan nanoparticle dose 6.25 mg, and leaf extract chitosan nanoparticle dose 12.5 mg. Colitis was induced by administering DSS (2 % w/v) through drinking water at 1, 3, and 5 weeks of treatment. At the end of the study, colon samples were taken from the mice for immunohistochemical analysis; the anti-inflammatory effects of each extract were evaluated by determining the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and induducible mitric oxide synthase (iNOS) score 0 4 in the mouse colon using the image G profiler method. Mice administered Mahkota Dewa leaf extract at doses of 12.5 and 25 mg and Mahkota Dewa leaf extract in chitosan nanoparticles at doses of 6.25 and 12.5 mg all demonstrated significantly decreased expression of COX-2 and iNOS (p < 0.001). No significant differences between Mahkota Dewa leaf extract and Mahkota Dewa leaf extract in chitosan nanoparticles were observed. Mahkota Dewa leaf extract and Mahkota Dewa leaf extract in chitosan nanoparticles are equally effective at suppressing COX-2 and iNOS expression in mice with DSS-induced colitis. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2019; 12(1): 220-227)
Control Versus Execution: Endogenous Appropriability and Entrepreneurial Strategy

This article considers the role of Rosenbergian uncertainty (i.e., economic uncertainties that arise after successful invention) in shaping appropriability for start-up innovators. Rather than assuming that the appropriability regime surrounding an innovation is exogenous, we focus on the endogenous choice entrepreneurs face between investing in ensuring control-based appropriability versus investing in the execution and operation of their fledgling businesses. Investment in execution allows entrepreneurs to advance more quickly than competitors, while control requires delays in commercialization. Control and execution are strategic substitutes, as they represent alternative paths to earning future rents. Because the size and likelihood of these rents are uncertain, entrepreneurs may be unable to rank these alternative paths in advance, and so their endogenous choice will be grounded in factors such as individual preferences, capabilities, or coherence with their overall entrepreneurial strategy. A subtle consequence is that the appropriability regime ultimately governing an innovation will be the result of the endogenous choices of the entrepreneur rather than more traditional environmental factors. Motivated by notable historical examples such as the invention and commercialization of the telephone, we explore these ideas by considering the choice of appropriability regime among a sample of academic entrepreneurs: within a sample of ventures that could have been developed by either faculty or students (or both), we find that faculty-led ventures are much more closely associated with formal intellectual property, student-led ventures are more rapid in their commercialization activities, and, relative to faculty-led ventures, student-led ventures display a trade-off between patenting and commercialization speed.
Environmental policies and productivity growth: a critical review of empirical findings

The economic effects of environmental policies are of central interest to policymakers. The traditional approach sees environmental policies as a burden on economic activity, at least in the short to medium term, as they raise costs without increasing output and restrict the set of production technologies and outputs. At the same time, the Porter Hypothesis claims that well-designed environmental policies can provide a “free lunch” – encouraging innovation, bringing about gains in profitability and productivity that can outweigh the costs of the policy. This paper reviews the empirical evidence on the link between environmental policy stringency and productivity growth, and the various channels through which such effects can take place. The results are ambiguous, in particular as many of the studies are fragile and context-specific, impeding the generalisation of conclusions. Practical problems related to data, measurement and estimation strategies are discussed, leading to suggestions as to how they can be addressed in future research. These include: improving the measurement of environmental policy stringency; investigating effects of different types of instruments and details of instrument design; exploiting cross-country variation; and the complementary use of different levels of aggregation.