Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global patterns in endemism explained by past climatic change

I propose that global patterns in numbers of range–restricted endemic species are caused by variation in the amplitude of climatic change occurring on time–scales of 10–100 thousand years (Milankovitch oscillations). The smaller the climatic shifts, the more probable it is that palaeoendemics survive and that diverging gene pools persist without going extinct or merging, favouring the evolution of neoendemics. Using the change in mean annual temperature since the last glacial maximum, estimated from global circulation models, I show that the higher the temperature change in an area, the fewer endemic species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and vascular plants it harbours. This relationship was robust to variation in area (for areas greater than 104 km2), latitudinal position, extent of former glaciation and whether or not areas are oceanic islands. Past climatic change was a better predictor of endemism than annual temperature range in all phylads except amphibians, suggesting that Rapoport' rule (i.e. species range sizes increase with latitude) is best explained by the increase in the amplitude of climatic oscillations towards the poles. Globally, endemic–rich areas are predicted to warm less in response to greenhouse–gas emissions, but the predicted warming would cause many habitats to disappear regionally, leading to species extinctions.
Optimal power point tracking for stand-alone PV system using particle swarm optimization

A particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique is used to identify the optimal power point of a photovoltaic module used in a stand-alone PV system as a battery charger. The PSO algorithm searches the maximum power point of the PV module by determining the array voltage at maximum point (VMPP). The tracked variable is used as a reference value (set point) to an ON/OFF controller with a tolerance band which controls the operation of a dc boost chopper such that the PV module is forced to operate at the optimal power point. According to the obtained results of the proposed system, the tracking efficiency is not less than 98 % with a convergence time of 14 ms. Compared with the well known Perturb and Observe tracking method, the proposed system is accurate and reliable.
Segmentation of touching Lanna characters

Character segmentation is an important preprocessing step for character recognition. Incorrectly segmented characters are not likely to be correctly recognized. Touching characters is one of the most difficult segmentation cases which arise when handwritten characters are being segmented. Therefore, this paper emphasizes the interest to the segmentation of touching and overlapping characters. In the proposed character segmentation process, the bounding box analysis is initially employed to segment the document image into images of isolated characters and images of touching characters. The thinning algorithm is applied to extract the skeleton of the touching characters. Next, the skeleton of the touching characters is separated into several pieces. Finally, the separated pieces of the touching characters are put back to reconstruct two isolated characters. The proposed algorithm achieves an accuracy of 75.3%.
Naturally-Occurring Genetic Variants in Human DC-SIGN Increase HIV-1 Capture, Cell-Transfer and Risk of Mother-To-Child Transmission

Background Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is the main cause of HIV-1 infection in children worldwide. Dendritic cell–specific ICAM-3 grabbing-nonintegrin (DC-SIGN, also known as CD209) is an HIV-1 receptor that enhances its transmission to T cells and is expressed on placental macrophages. Methods and Findings We have investigated the association between DC-SIGN genetic variants and risk of MTCT of HIV-1 among Zimbabwean infants and characterized the impact of the associated mutations on DC-SIGN expression and interaction with HIV-1. DC-SIGN promoter (p-336C and p-201A) and exon 4 (198Q and 242V) variants were all significantly associated with increased risk of intrauterine (IU) HIV-1 infection. Promoter variants decreased DC-SIGN expression both in vitro and in placental CD163+ macrophages (Hofbauer cells) of HIV-1 unexposed infants but not of HIV-1 exposed infants. The exon 4 protein-modifying mutations increased HIV-1 capture and transmission to T cells in vitro. Conclusion This study provides compelling evidence to support an important role of DC-SIGN in IU HIV-1 infection.
Software Clustering: Unifying Syntactic and Semantic Features

Software clustering is an important technique for extracting high level component architecture from the underlying source code. One of the limitations of the existing approaches is that most of the proposed techniques use only similar types of features for estimating distance between source code elements. Therefore, in cases, where the selected features are poorly present in the source code, these techniques may not produce good quality results in absence of adequate inputs to work on. In this paper we propose an approach to overcome this limitation. Proposed approach uses a combination of multiple types of features together and applies automated weighing on the extracted features to enhance their information quality and to reduce noise. We define a way to estimate distance between code elements in terms of combination of multiple types of features. Weighted graph partitioning with a multi-objective global modularity criterion is used to select the clusters as architectural components. We describe methods for automated labeling of the extracted components and for generating inter-component interactions. We further discuss how the suggested approach extends to clustering at multiple hierarchical levels, to application portfolios, and even for improving precision for the feature location problem.
The "Beauty Dilemma": beauty is valued but discounted in product choice

The empirical study of aesthetics in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is concerned with - among other topics - the relationship between beauty and usability and the general impact of beauty on product choice and use. Specifically, the present paper explores the notion of a "beauty dilemma" - the idea that people discount beauty in a choice situation, although they value it in general (i.e., they are not choosing what makes them happy). We explored this idea in three studies with a total of over 600 participants. Study 1 revealed a reluctance to pay for beauty due to its hedonic nature (i.e., associated with luxury etc.). Study 2 showed that people prefer a more beautiful product, but justify their choice by referring to spurious advantages in usability. Finally, Study 3 revealed that a choice situation which requires a trade-off between beauty and usability, and which offers no further way to justify choosing beauty, leads to a sharp increase in the preference of usability. The underlying reasons for this "beauty dilemma" and further implications are discussed.
Anemia, hospitalization, and mortality in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis in the United States.

BACKGROUND The view that hemoglobin levels in peritoneal dialysis patients should be maintained at 11 to 12 g/dL is based largely on the results of studies in hemodialysis patients. METHODS We studied 13,974 erythropoietin-treated Medicare patients who initiated peritoneal dialysis between 1991 and 1998. Mean hemoglobin levels for the first 6 months of the study and, subsequently, time to first hospitalization and death during a 2-year follow-up were determined. RESULTS The percentages of patients with hemoglobin levels of <10, 10 to 10.9, 11 to 11.9, and >/=12 g/dL were 24.6%, 40.6%, 27.6%, and 7.2%, respectively. First-hospitalization and death rates, respectively, were 109.5 and 21.6 per 100 patient-years in nondiabetic patients, and 152.9 and 31.5 in diabetic patients. In nondiabetic patients, adjusted hospitalization hazard ratios for hemoglobin levels of <10, 10 to 10.9, 11 to 11.9 (reference category), and >/=12 g/dL were 1.29 (P < 0.0001), 1.15 (P < 0.0001), 1, and 0.98 (NS), respectively. The corresponding adjusted mortality hazard ratios were 1.43 (P < 0.0001), 1.13 (P < 0.05), 1, and 1.14 (NS). In diabetic patients, hazard ratios of 1.26 (P < 0.0001), 1.07 (NS), 1, and 0.82 (P < 0.01) were observed for hospitalization, and 1.34 (P < 0.0001), 1.18 (P < 0.01), 1, and 0.92 (NS) for mortality. CONCLUSION In peritoneal dialysis patients, anemia is associated with hospitalization and mortality in a manner supporting current Kidney Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) hemoglobin targets. In addition, hemoglobin levels of >/=12 g/dL are associated with lower hospitalization rates in diabetic patients.
An ILP Perspective on the Semantic Web

Building rules on top of ontologies is the goal of the logical layer of the Semantic Web. The system AL-log, originally conceived for hybrid Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR&R), has been very recently mentioned as the blueprint for well-founded Semantic Web rule mark-up languages. It integrates the description logic ALC and the function-free Horn clausal language Datalog. In this paper we provide a framework for learning Semantic Web rules which adopts Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) as methodological apparatus and AL-log as KR&R setting. In this framework inductive hypotheses are represented as constrained Datalog clauses, organized according to the B-subsumption relation, and evaluated against observations by means of coverage relations. The framework is valid whatever the scope of induction (description vs. prediction) is. Yet, for illustrative purposes, we concentrate on an instantiation of the framework which supports description.
Perception of Brightness and Brightness Illusions in the Macaque Monkey

Recent physiological studies show that neural responses correlated with the perception of brightness are found in cortical area V1 but not earlier in the visual pathway (Kayama et al., 1979; Reid and Shapley, 1989; Squatrito et al., 1990; Komatsu et al., 1996; Rossi et al., 1996;MacEvoy et al., 1998; Rossi and Paradiso, 1999; Hung et al., 2001;Kinoshita and Komatsu, 2001; MacEvoy and Paradiso, 2001). However, these studies are based on comparisons of neural responses in animals with brightness perception in humans. Very little is known about the perception of brightness in animals typically used in physiological experiments. In this study, we quantify brightness discrimination, brightness induction, and White's effect in macaque monkeys. The results show that, qualitatively and quantitatively, the perception of brightness in macaques and humans is quite similar. This similarity may be an indication of common underlying neural computations in the two species.
Serum markers of the extracellular matrix remodeling reflect antifibrotic therapy in bile-duct ligated rats

Background: Progression of liver fibrosis is characterized by synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM). Matrix-metalloproteinases (MMP) cleave collagen fibers at a specific site and thereby generate soluble fragments of ECM (neo-epitopes). The levels of these neo-epitopes might reflect the stage of liver fibrosis and may allow monitoring of anti-fibrotic therapies. Here we analyzed these neo-epitopes as read-out for a liver directed therapy with statins. Methods: Bile duct ligation (BDL) was performed on wild type rats, which received atorvastatin (15 mg/kg*d) for 1 week starting at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks after BDL (T1–T5), while controls remained untreated. Hepatic fibrosis was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and hepatic hydroxyproline content. TGFβ levels were measured by RT-PCR. Proteolytic activity of MMP-2 was examined by zymography. Levels of degradation MMP driven type I, III, IV and VI collagen degradation (C1M, C3M, C4M, and C6M) and type III and IV collagen formation (PRO-C3 and P4NP7S) markers were assessed by specific ELISAs in serum probes. Results: Serum markers of ECM neo-epitopes reflected significantly the deposition of ECM in the liver and were able to distinguish between early (T1–T3) and severe fibrosis (T4–T5). Statin treatment resulted in reduction of neo-epitope markers, especially when therapy was started in the stage of severe fibrosis (T4–T5). Furthermore, these markers correlated with hepatic expression of profibrotic cytokines TGFβ1 and TGFβ2. Formation markers of type III and IV collagen (PRO-C3 and P4NP7S) and degradation markers C4M and C6M correlated significantly with hepatic MMP-2 activity in rats with severe fibrosis. Conclusion: Determination of ECM remodeling turnover markers in serum allowed a distinction between mild and severe fibrosis. With respect to statin therapy, the markers may serve as read-out for efficacy of anti-fibrotic treatment.
Do International Retailers benefit from being Global in Emerging Countries? A Multilevel Study in China

Heribert Gierl, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. Prof. Dr. Prof. h.c. Bernhard Swoboda is Professor of Marketing and Retailing at Trier University, Universitaetsring 15, 54286 Trier, Germany, Phone: +49 (0)651 201-3050, Fax: +49 (0)651 201-4165, E-Mail: b.swoboda@uni-trier. de. (corresponding author) Dr. Karin Pennemann was Ph.D. Student of Marketing and Retailing at Trier University and is now Strategy Consultant BASF AG, Universitaetsring 15, 54286 Trier, Germany, Phone: +49 (0)651 201-2647, Fax: +49 (0)651 201-4165, E-Mail: muh@uni-trier.de. Do International Retailers benefit from being Global in Emerging Countries? A Multilevel Study in China
Management and outcome of diaphyseal femur fracture in Children : A tertiary care Experience

Introduction: In children fractures of the femoral shaft are commonly treated by various types of traction for about 3 weeks, followed by plaster cast immobilization. However little is known about the functional outcome and its complication in Indian scenario. Therefore our aim of study was to analyse the functional outcome in femoral shaft fractures of children operated by flexible intramedullary nails. Material and Methods: In this study 40 patients, aged 5 to 16 years, with fracture shaft of the femur visiting at department of orthopaedics of a tertiary care centre, Indore in the period from September 2012 to September 2014. Patients with comminuted and segmental fractures, Type III Compound fractures and very distal (or) very proximal fractures that precludes nail insertion were excluded from the study. Observations were made regarding the alignment of the fracture, the range of motion of knee and hip, limb length discrepancy, degree of pain or swelling and rotational deformity of the femur. Results: The mean time interval between trauma, and surgery was 2-4 days.In 80% of cases stainless steel nails were used and in remaining 20 % of cases titanium nails were used. Selection of nails was done based on patient affordability.In most of the cases (50%) 2.5 mm diameter nails were used. 3 mm nails were used in 35% of the cases and in other 10% cases 3.5 mm were used. Only in two cases 2 mm nails were used. Mean Hospital stay was 11.4±3.05 days. Conclusion: The advantages of the present study include minimal scarring, closed reduction, load sharing device, fracture heals by secondary callus formation which is strongerand refracture is not a risk. Rigid intramedullary nailing is also described in the management of femoral shaft fractures.
Neutrophil Elastase Alters the Murine Gut Microbiota Resulting in Enhanced Salmonella Colonization

The intestinal microbiota has been found to play a central role in the colonization of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, we present a novel process through which Salmonella benefit from inflammatory induced changes in the microbiota in order to facilitate disease. We show that Salmonella infection in mice causes recruitment of neutrophils to the gut lumen, resulting in significant changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota. This occurs through the production of the enzyme elastase by neutrophils. Administration of recombinant neutrophil elastase to infected animals under conditions that do not elicit neutrophil recruitment caused shifts in microbiota composition that favored Salmonella colonization, while inhibition of neutrophil elastase reduced colonization. This study reveals a new relationship between the microbiota and the host during infection.
Overview of the effects of cancer therapies: the nature, scale and breadth of the problem

Over the past 30 years, the striking improvements in the survival rates of patients with childhood cancers are due, in large part, to the use of aggressive treatment strtegies. These therapeutic modalities are associated with a variety of late complications that span a spectrum from minor and treatable to serious and occasionally lethal. Nearly one‐quarter of the late deaths in survivors of childhood cancer can be attributed to a treatment‐related effect, for example, a subsequent malignant neoplasm or cardiac dysfuntion. The risk of late death due to causes other than recurrence is greatest in survivors treated with the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Among the 650 survivors followed in the Long‐Term Follow‐Up Clinic at the Memorial Sloan‐Kettering Cancer Center, the most common sequelae are endocrine complications, which are seen in 40% of the patients. Growth hormone deficiency, primary hypothyroidism and primary ovarian failure are the endocrine disorders observed most often.
Lesion Patterns and Stroke Mechanisms in Concurrent Atherosclerosis of Intracranial and Extracranial Vessels

Background and Purpose— Concurrent atherosclerosis of the intracranial and extracranial cerebrovascular system is common in Asians. The typical lesion patterns and the mechanisms of stroke in patients with concurrent stenoses are unclear. This study aimed to determine these stroke features of such patients in Hong Kong. Methods— We conducted a cross-sectional cohort study in a university hospital from January 2002 to December 2003. Consecutive Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke underwent CT brain, MRI brain (with MR angiography and diffusion-weighted imaging sequences), and carotid duplex. Results— In total, 251 patients were included in the analysis. Of these, 109 (43%) had concurrent stenoses. Patients who had concurrent stenoses, as compared with those without concurrent stenoses, had more symptomatic stenoses (84% versus 58%; OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 2.1 to 7.3; P<0.001), more concomitant perforating artery infarct, pial infarct, and borderzone infarct (14% versus 4%; OR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.4 to 9.7; P=0.007), more multiple diffusion-weighted imaging lesions (55% versus 37%; OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.3 to 3.4; P=0.005), and more infarcts in the territory of the leptomeningeal branches of middle cerebral artery (26% versus 13%; OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 4.3; P=0.01). In multivariate regression analysis, smoking; prior stroke; the presence of concomitant pial infarct, pial infarct, and borderzone infarcts; multiple diffusion-weighted imaging lesions; and symptomatic stenoses were significantly associated with concurrent stenoses. Among patients with concurrent stenoses, those who had tandem lesions, as compared with those who had nontandem lesions, had more perforating artery infarct and borderzone infarcts (27% versus 8%; OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 0.9 to 19.8; P=0.04); more concomitant pial infarct, pial infarct, and borderzone infarcts (18% versus 0%; P=0.02), and more multiple diffusion-weighted imaging lesions (65% versus 23%; OR, 6.2; 95% CI, 2.2 to 17.2; P<0.001). Infarcts in the territory of middle cerebral artery leptomeningeal branches and symptomatic stenoses were more common in patients with tandem lesions. Conclusions— Concomitant perforating artery infarct, pial infarct, and borderzone infarcts; multiple diffusion-weighted imaging lesions, and infarcts in the leptomeningeal branches of the middle cerebral artery were more common in patients with concurrent stenoses, especially those with tandem lesions. This study suggested that the combination of hemodynamic compromise attributable to concurrent stenoses and artery-to-artery embolization is a common stroke mechanism in these patients.
Multi-agent A* for parallel and distributed systems

Search is among the most fundamental techniques for problem solving, and A* is probably the best known heuristic search algorithm. In this paper we adapt A* to the multiagent setting, focusing on multi-agent planning problems. We provide a simple formulation of multi-agent A*, with a parallel and distributed variant. Our algorithms exploit the structure of multi-agent problems to not only distribute the work efficiently among different agents, but also to remove symmetries and reduce the overall workload. Given a multi-agent planning problem in which agents are not tightly coupled, our parallel version of A* leads to super-linear speedup, solving benchmark problems that have not been solved before. In its distributed version, the algorithm ensures that private information is not shared among agents, yet computation is still efficient -- sometimes even more than centralized search -- despite the fact that each agent has access to partial information only.
Effectiveness of β-blockers in physically active patients with hypertension: protocol of a systematic review

Introduction Based on more than 5 decades of epidemiological studies, it is now widely accepted that higher physical activity patterns and levels of cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with better health outcomes. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how treatment methods affect these two components. Clinically, one very important question concerns the influence of aerobic performance on patients being treated for hypertension. The administration of β-blockers can significantly reduce maximal—and especially submaximal—aerobic exercise capacity. The objective of this review is to determine, by comparison of existing mono and combination therapy, which β-blockers are less physically limiting for patients with hypertension who are physically active. Methods A three-step strategy will be adopted in the review, following the methods used by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). The initial search will be conducted using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. The second search will involve the listed databases for the published literature (MEDLINE, Biomedica Czechoslovaca, Tripdatabase, Pedro, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cinahl, WoS) and the unpublished literature (Open Grey, Current Controlled Trials, MedNar, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cos Conference Papers Index, the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform of the WHO). Following the JBI methodology, analysis of title/abstracts and full texts, critical appraisal and data extraction will be carried out on selected studies using the JBI tool, MAStARI. This will be performed by two independent reviewers. If possible, statistical meta-analysis will be pooled. Statistical heterogeneity will be assessed. Subgroup analysis will be used for different age and gender characteristics. Funnel plots, Begg's rank correlation and Egger's regression test will be used to detect or correct publication bias. Ethics and dissemination The results will be disseminated by publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Ethical assessment is not needed—we will search/evaluate the existing sources of literature. Trial registration number CRD42015026914.
Indoor GPS positioning - challenges and opportunities

This paper provides an overview of the challenges encountered in the acquisition and tracking of weak GPS signals present in indoor environments. Successful acquisition and tracking of weak GPS signals requires longer integration times, effective strong/weak signal decoupling, and correct multipath detection and rejection. The weak signal acquisition and tracking can be improved substantially with aiding information provided by cellular networks.