Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization (SEARCH) study: Temporal trends in gas and PM concentrations and composition, 1999–2010

The SEARCH study began in mid 1998 with a focus on particulate matter and gases in the southeastern United States. Eight monitoring sites, comprising four urban/nonurban pairs, are located inland and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Downward trends in ambient carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and oxidized nitrogen species (NOy) concentrations averaged 1.2 ± 0.4 to 9.7 ± 1.8% per year from 1999 to 2010, qualitatively proportional to decreases of 4.7 to 7.9% per year in anthropogenic emissions of CO, SO2, and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in the SEARCH region. Downward trends in mean annual sulfate (SO4) concentrations ranged from 3.7 ± 1.1 to 6.2 ± 1.1% per year, approximately linear with, but not 1:1 proportional to, the 7.9 ± 1.1% per year reduction in SO2 emissions from 1999 to 2010. The 95th percentile of the March–October peak daily 8-hr ozone (O3) concentrations decreased by 1.1 ± 0.4 to 2.4 ± 0.6 ppbv per year (1.5 ± 0.6 to 3.1 ± 0.8% per year); O3 precursor emissions of NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOC) decreased at rates of 4.7 and 3.3% per year, respectively. Ambient particulate nitrate (NO3) concentrations decreased by 0.6 ± 1.2 to 5.8 ± 0.9% per year, modulated in comparison with mean annual ambient NOy concentration decreases ranging from 6.0 ± 0.9 to 9.0 ± 1.3% per year. Mean annual organic matter (OM) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations declined by 3.3 ± 0.8 to 6.5 ± 0.3 and 3.2 ± 1.4 to 7.8 ± 0.7% per year. The analysis demonstrates major improvements in air quality in the Southeast from 1999 to 2010. Meteorological variations and incompletely quantified uncertainties for emission changes create difficulty in establishing unambiguous quantitative relationships between emission reductions and ambient air quality. Implications: Emissions and secondary pollutants show complex relationships that depend on year-to-year variations in dispersion and atmospheric chemistry. The observed response of O3 to NOx and VOC emissions in the Southeast implies that continuing reductions of precursor emissions, probably achieved through vehicle fleet turnover and emission control measures, will be needed to attain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for O3. Reductions in fine particle concentrations have resulted from reductions of primary PM, especially EC and a portion of OM, and from reduction of gas precursors known to form particles, especially SO4 from SO2. Continued reduction of PM2.5 mass concentrations will require attention to organic constituents, which may be complicated by potentially unmanageable biogenic species present in the Southeast.
Two-Handed Input in Human-Computer Interaction Introduction

What each of these tasks has in common is that they are bimanual activities. In fact, most human activities involve the use of two hands. While, on reflection, this may seem an obvious and somewhat trivial observation to make, it has significant implications for human-computer interaction. Almost without exception (the keyboard being the most notable), computer input techniques are based on the use of one hand. This means that the everyday skills we have acquired both through evolution and through a lifetime of learning, for the most part simply cannot be used to interact with computers.
Post Hoc Analysis of the PATRICIA Randomized Trial of the Efficacy of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 (HPV-16)/HPV-18 AS04-Adjuvanted Vaccine against Incident and Persistent Infection with Nonvaccine Oncogenic HPV Types Using an Alternative Multiplex Type-Specific PCR Assay for HPV DNA

ABSTRACT The efficacy of the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16)/HPV-18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine against cervical infections with HPV in the Papilloma Trial against Cancer in Young Adults (PATRICIA) was evaluated using a combination of the broad-spectrum L1-based SPF10 PCR-DNA enzyme immunoassay (DEIA)/line probe assay (LiPA25) system with type-specific PCRs for HPV-16 and -18. Broad-spectrum PCR assays may underestimate the presence of HPV genotypes present at relatively low concentrations in multiple infections, due to competition between genotypes. Therefore, samples were retrospectively reanalyzed using a testing algorithm incorporating the SPF10 PCR-DEIA/LiPA25 plus a novel E6-based multiplex type-specific PCR and reverse hybridization assay (MPTS12 RHA), which permits detection of a panel of nine oncogenic HPV genotypes (types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45, 52, 58, and 59). For the vaccine against HPV types 16 and 18, there was no major impact on estimates of vaccine efficacy (VE) for incident or 6-month or 12-month persistent infections when the MPTS12 RHA was included in the testing algorithm versus estimates with the protocol-specified algorithm. However, the alternative testing algorithm showed greater sensitivity than the protocol-specified algorithm for detection of some nonvaccine oncogenic HPV types. More cases were gained in the control group than in the vaccine group, leading to higher point estimates of VE for 6-month and 12-month persistent infections for the nonvaccine oncogenic types included in the MPTS12 RHA assay (types 31, 33, 35, 45, 52, 58, and 59). This post hoc analysis indicates that the per-protocol testing algorithm used in PATRICIA underestimated the VE against some nonvaccine oncogenic HPV types and that the choice of the HPV DNA testing methodology is important for the evaluation of VE in clinical trials. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT00122681.)
A Simplified Successive-Cancellation Decoder for Polar Codes

A modification is introduced of the successive-cancellation decoder for polar codes, in which local decoders for rate-one constituent codes are simplified. This modification reduces the decoding latency and algorithmic complexity of the conventional decoder, while preserving the bit and block error rate. Significant latency and complexity reductions are achieved over a wide range of code rates.
Hematopoietic stem cell mobilization: current status and future perspective

Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), high-dose chemotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell rescue, is a widely used therapeutic strategy especially for some patients with hematological malignancies such as malignant lymphoma or multiple myeloma (MM). Because successful ASCT is crucial in these patients for improving overall survival [1], collection of a sufficient number of hematopoietic stem cells for restoring the bone marrow function is very important. Although most hematopoietic stem cells are located within the bone marrow, BM harvest is accompanied by procedure related risk and relatively lower yield. Therefore, the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells by using growth factors such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) either as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy (chemo-mobilization) and the collection of mobilized peripheral blood (PB) hematopoietic stem cells are essential processes for using the peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) as a stem cell source. However, these classical PBSC mobilization methods fail to collect sufficient number of PBSCs in 5–40% of patients [1]. Plerixafor is a reversible CXCR4 chemokine receptor antagonist and blocks binding of stromal cell-derived factor 1-alpha, resulting in mobilization of CD34 cells to the PB. The additional use of plerixafor to G-CSF resulted in a significantly higher probability of achieving the optimal PBSC targets in patients who failed at least one PBSC mobilization attempt [1, 2]. Plerixafor gained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2008 and has been reimbursed from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) since 2012 in Korea. Its Korean reimbursement guideline was expanded in 2015. Plerixafor is used for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or MM patients who failed to collect sufficient number of PBSCs at the previous PBSC mobilization attempt in Korea. Therefore, the appropriate use of plerixafor would increase the number of patients receiving ASCT and improve the overall treatment outcomes of these hematological malignancies. Herein, we review the current issues in PBSC mobilization including the definition of mobilization failure and suggest the future perspectives of PBSC mobilization.
Age- and sex-specific analysis of patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source

Objective: To investigate whether the correlation of age and sex with the risk of recurrence and death seen in patients with previous ischemic stroke is also evident in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). Methods: We pooled datasets of 11 stroke registries from Europe and America. ESUS was defined according to the Cryptogenic Stroke/ESUS International Working Group. We performed Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier product limit analyses to investigate whether age (<60, 60–80, >80 years) and sex were independently associated with the risk for ischemic stroke/TIA recurrence or death. Results: Ischemic stroke/TIA recurrences and deaths per 100 patient-years were 2.46 and 1.01 in patients <60 years old, 5.76 and 5.23 in patients 60 to 80 years old, 7.88 and 11.58 in those >80 years old, 3.53 and 3.48 in women, and 4.49 and 3.98 in men, respectively. Female sex was not associated with increased risk for recurrent ischemic stroke/TIA (hazard ratio [HR] 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84–1.58) or death (HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.97–1.86). Compared with the group <60 years old, the 60- to 80- and >80-year groups had higher 10-year cumulative probability of recurrent ischemic stroke/TIA (14.0%, 47.9%, and 37.0%, respectively, p < 0.001) and death (6.4%, 40.6%, and 100%, respectively, p < 0.001) and higher risk for recurrent ischemic stroke/TIA (HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.21–2.98 and HR 2.71, 95% CI 1.57–4.70, respectively) and death (HR 4.43, 95% CI 2.32–8.44 and HR 8.01, 95% CI 3.98–16.10, respectively). Conclusions: Age, but not sex, is a strong predictor of stroke recurrence and death in ESUS. The risk is ≈3- and 8-fold higher in patients >80 years compared with those <60 years of age, respectively. The age distribution in the ongoing ESUS trials may potentially influence their power to detect a significant treatment association.
The commodification of the past, postmodern pastiche, and the search for authentic experiences at contemporary heritage attractions

Aims to explore the nature of authenticity as defined and constructed by visitors to sites of heritage. The concept of authenticity is explored through the literature relating to the commodification of the past and also in the context of postmodern theories regarding the blurring of the boundaries between high and mass culture. The paper draws on findings from a study of consumer behaviour at three distinct attractions and offers an explanation of authentic experiences in the light of three identified types; the “existential”, the “aesthetic” and the “social” visitor. These findings are then discussed in relation to theoretical and managerial implications.
Microcontroller Protocol for Secure Broadcast in Controller Area Networks

Controller Area Network is a bus commonly used by controllers inside vehicles and in various industrial control applications. In the past controllers were assumed to operate in secure perimeters, but today these environments are well connected to the outside world and recent incidents showed them extremely vulnerable to cyber-attacks. To withstand such threats, one can implement security in the application layer of CAN. Here we design, refine and implement a broadcast authentication protocol based on the well known paradigm of using key-chains and time synchronization, a commonly used Mechanism in wireless sensor networks, which allows us to take advantage from the use of symmetric primitives without the need of secret shared keys during broadcast. But, as process control is a time critical operation we make several refinements in order to improve on the authentication delay. For this we study several trade-offs to alleviate shortcomings on computational speed, memory and bandwidth up to the point of using reduced versions of hash functions that can assure ad hoc security. To prove the efficiency of the protocol
Student Workshop on 3 D Data Capture and Processing in Underwater Archaeology in Portorož , Slovenia

In early July, a student workshop on 3D Data Capture and Processing in Underwater Archaeology took place in Portorož, organised by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (Miran Erič) and the University of Ljubljana’s Faculties of Computer and Information Science (Franc Solina) and Maritime Studies and Transport (Marko Perkovič). Sixteen students and underwater archaeologists attended this international workshop from the Department of Archaeology, the Faculty of Arts, the Computer Vision Laboratory at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science, the Archaeology Department at the University of Zadar and the Archaeological Museum of Zadar.
Clinical outcomes of acute myocarditis in childhood

OBJECTIVE To describe clinical outcomes of a paediatric population with histologically confirmed lymphocytic myocarditis. DESIGN A retrospective review between November 1984 and February 1998. SETTING A major paediatric tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS 36 patients with histologically confirmed lymphocytic myocarditis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Survival, cardiac transplantation, recovery of ventricular function, and persistence of dysrhythmias. RESULTS Freedom from death or cardiac transplantation was 86% at one month and 79% after two years. Five deaths occurred within 72 hours of admission, and one late death at 1.9 years. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support was used in four patients, and three patients underwent heart replacement. 34 patients were treated with intravenous corticosteroids. In the survivor/non-cardiac transplantation group (n = 29), the median follow up was 19 months (range 1.2–131.6 months), and the median period for recovery of a left ventricular ejection fraction to > 55% was 2.8 months (range 0–28 months). The mean (SD) final left ventricular ejection and shortening fractions were 66 (9)% and 34 (8)%, respectively. Two patients had residual ventricular dysfunction. No patient required antiarrhythmic treatment. All survivors reported no cardiac symptoms or restrictions in physical activity. CONCLUSIONS Our experience documents good outcomes in paediatric patients presenting with acute heart failure secondary to acute lymphocytic myocarditis treated with immunosuppression. Excellent survival and recovery of ventricular function, with the absence of significant arrhythmias, continued cardiac medications, or restrictions in physical activity were the normal outcomes.
Exploring staff perceptions of student plagiarism

This paper presents analysis of qualitative data from a research project looking at staff perceptions of plagiarism at a post‐1992 university. Twenty‐six members of staff from departments and academic schools from across the university took part in open and semi‐structured interviews. Analysis shows that variable definitions of plagiarism exist; both regarding student activities that constitute plagiarism and the way in which plagiarism is perceived to be related to cheating. The factors underlying these personal definitions are unclear, but the analysis suggests that values perceived to underpin higher education may play an important role. This paper provides new empirical data on staff perceptions of student plagiarism, which complement previous research on student perceptions. The potential implications of different perceptions of plagiarism, and a mismatch between staff and student understandings is highlighted as an area for further consideration.
Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction with endobronchial valves for heterogeneous emphysema: long-term results.

Background Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) with implant of one-way endobronchial valves (EBV) is a feasible treatment for management of heterogeneous emphysema (HE) with clinical benefits in the early follow-up. We aimed to evaluate the long-terms results and safety of this procedure in a consecutive series of patients with HE. Methods It was a retrospective single center study including all consecutive patients with HE undergoing EBV treatment and completing at least 5 years of long-term follow-up. Patients were splitted into Collapse and No-Collapse Group if a lobar collapse or not were obtained after valves implant. The difference of functional data and quality of life (QoL) before and after the procedure (measured at 3, 6, 9, 12 months from the valve implantation, and then annually up to a maximum of 5 years) were statistically evaluated to show the long-term benefits of the procedure (primary endpoint). Yet, morbidity, mortality and survival rates were also recorded to show the safe of the treatment (secondary endpoint). Results Thirty-three patients were included in the study. Of these, three patients underwent a bilateral treatment. Collapse Group patients (n=27) presented a significant improvement in FEV1% (+17%; P=0.001); in FVC% (+18%; P=0.002); in RV% (-39%; P=0.003); in 6MWT (P=0.001) and in SGRQ (P=0.001) in the early 12 months of follow-up and no significant decline was seen later. Conversely, No-Collapse Group (n=9) did not have significant benefits. No major complications and death related to the procedure were observed. The 1-,2-,3-,4- and 5-year survival rates were 100%, 90%, 78%, 71% and 71%, respectively. Collapse Group had a better survival than No-Collapse Group (45 vs. 24 months; P=0.001). Conclusions Our study confirmed that the lobar collapse is the key success of EBV treatment and the early improvements of respiratory function could be maintained up to five years from the valves implant.
Electronic interfaces aiding the visually impaired in environmental access, mobility and navigation

This keynote paper discusses the problem of outdoor mobility of the visually impaired and reviews key assistive technologies aiding the blind in independent travel. Space perception abilities important for mobility of the visually impaired are discussed first and related definitions and basic concepts such as: cognitive mapping, wayfinding and navigation are explained. The main mobility barriers the visually impaired encounter in every day life are pointed out. In this respect special attention is given to the information the blind traveller needs to be safer and more skilful in mobility. Also sensory substitution methods and interfaces for nonvisual presentation of the obstacles and communicating navigational data are addressed. Finally, the current projects under way and available technologies aiding the blind in key mobility tasks such as: obstacle avoidance, orientation, navigation and travel in urban environments are reviewed and discussed.
Enhancementof MitomycinC Cytotoxicityto HypoxieTumorCells by Dicoumarolin Vivoand in Vifro 1

Previous work by our laboratories demonstrated that dicoumarol can increase the enzymatic activation of mitomycin C (MC) to alkylating species by tumor cell sonicates under hypoxic conditions. To determine whether this increased generation of reactive metabolites would result in increased cytotoxicity, we examined the effect of this combination on the viability of EMT6 cells treated in vitro under hypoxic and oxygenated conditions. Dicoumarol increased the cytotoxicity of MC to these neoplastia cells under hypoxic conditions and decreased the toxicity of the antibiotic to aerobic cells. These findings suggested that dicou marol might enhance the toxicity of MC to the hypoxic cells of solid tumors, without increasing the toxic side effects of the antibiotic to the host. Treatment of EMT6 tumor-bearing animals with both dicoumarol and MC significantly decreased the survival of the radioresistant hypoxic tumor cells from that obtained with MC alone. In contrast, the leukopenia produced by the antibiotic was not exacerbated by the addition of dicoumarol. These results suggest that a treatment regimen combining dicoumarol and MC might be a useful adjunct to radiation therapy for the eradication of the radioresistant hypoxic cells in solid tumors.
Keyword-based access to relational data: To reproduce, or to not reproduce?

We investigate the problem of the reproducibility of keywordbased access systems to relational data. These systems address a challenging and important issue, i.e. letting users to access in natural language databases whose schema and instance are possibly unknown. However, neither there are shared implementations of state-of-the-art algorithms nor experimental results are easily replicable. We explore the difficulties in reproducing such systems and experimental results by implementing from scratch several state-of-the-art algorithms and testing them on shared datasets.
Incorporating a Video-Editing Activity in a Reflective Teaching Course for Preservice Teachers

Abstract Research and practice going back to the 1960s support the use of videotaping to facilitate preservice teachers' development of reflective teaching skills. Emerging research suggests that additional video-based activities, including editing video vignettes of teaching, can deepen preservice teachers' reflection. This action research study describes the incorporation of a video-editing activity in an “Introduction to Reflective Teaching Practice” course. Key features of the video-editing activities included (1) active videotaping of preservice teachers' field teaching by university supervisors, (2) self-directed video review by preservice teachers to support writing a reflective lesson analysis, (3) selection and editing of video vignettes by preservice teachers to illustrate their written reflections, and (4) posting of video vignettes on the students' electronic portfolio pages. Analysis of students' perceptions revealed considerable nervousness with the videotaping process but an appreciation of having video for personal feedback and to support reflective analysis.
Decentralised Online Planning for Multi-Robot Warehouse Commissioning

Warehouse commissioning is a complex task in which a team of robots needs to gather and deliver items as fast and efficiently as possible while adhering to the constraint capacity of the robots. Typical centralised control approaches can quickly become infeasible when dealing with many robots. Instead, we tackle this spatial task allocation problem via distributed planning on each robot in the system. State of the art distributed planning approaches suffer from a number of limiting assumptions and ad-hoc approximations. This paper demonstrates how to use Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to overcome these limitations and provide scalability in a more principled manner. Our simulation-based evaluation demonstrates that this translates to higher task performance, especially when tasks get more complex. Moreover, this higher performance does not come at the cost of scalability: in fact, the proposed approach scales better than the previous best approach, demonstrating excellent performance on an 8-robot team servicing a warehouse comprised of over 200 locations.