Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
4DVAR retrieval of prognostic land surface model variables.

For numerical weather prediction models, it is critically important to properly initialize its land surface model component. This study demonstrates successful variational retrievals of land surface states by assimilating either skin temperature or screen-level atmospheric measurements. For this purpose, the land surface model is first validated against the Oklahoma Atmospheric Surface Layer Instrumentation System (OASIS) measurements. Refinements to the model were found necessary. Two distinct retrieval problems are tackled in this study. One uses skin temperature as the observation and one uses observations of near surface atmospheric variables. The former is done using a land surface model and its adjoint in a stand-alone mode, forced by observed meteorological parameters. A 4D variational (4DVAR) retrieval system is developed in which the cost-flinction is defined as a quadratic measurement of the model forecasting error in ground surface or skin temperature. The latter involves a ID land surface-atmosphere model, the corresponding adjoint codes, and a definition of cost function that measures misfit between observed and modeled screenlevel atmospheric temperature and specific humidity. The major findings of the first type of retrieval are: Initial soil moisture contents as well as deep soil temperature can all be successfully retrieved, for realistic initial guess errors; the relative difficulty in retrieving superficial and deep soil moisture contents depends on the vegetation coverage and growth conditions; the revision to the soil temperature equations as documented in a separate paper is found critical in retrieval with real OASIS data; daytime observations are found much more effective because of their
Endothelial Cells Modulate Osteogenesis in Calcifying Vascular Cells

The potential role of vascular endothelium in atherosclerotic calcification is unknown. Endothelial cells (EC) express bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), and EC-conditioned medium is osteoinductive in marrow stromal cells. To test whether EC are osteoinductive in vascular cells, we used calcifying vascular cells (CVC) that form nodules and mineralize in vitro. We established a coculture model with EC grown opposite CVC on membranes coated with collagen I or collagen IV, both of which are expressed in atherosclerotic lesions. On collagen I, EC did not alter CVC nodule formation, calcification or expression of the osteogenic marker Cbfa1, the chondrogenic marker collagen IX or smooth muscle cell α-actin. However, on collagen IV, EC abolished nodule formation and calcification, and expression of cell markers decreased, suggesting dedifferentiation. Matrix GLA protein (MGP), also expressed in atherosclerotic lesions, was added to CVC in coculture. Unexpectedly, MGP enhanced Cbfa1 expression in CVC on both collagen I and IV. The enhancement was most apparent on collagen IV, where calcification also increased. However, MGP did not restore nodule formation on collagen IV, suggesting that nodule formation and cell differentiation are separate processes. The effect of EC on CVC calcification was suppressed by noggin, an inhibitor of BMP activity, and in part mimicked by replacement of EC by BMP-2. Our results support a role for endothelium in vascular calcification, modulated by collagens and MGP.
Improvement in Outcomes of Clinical Islet Transplantation: 1999–2010

OBJECTIVE To describe trends of primary efficacy and safety outcomes of islet transplantation in type 1 diabetes recipients with severe hypoglycemia from the Collaborative Islet Transplant Registry (CITR) from 1999 to 2010. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 677 islet transplant-alone or islet-after-kidney recipients with type 1 diabetes in the CITR were analyzed for five primary efficacy outcomes and overall safety to identify any differences by early (1999–2002), mid (2003–2006), or recent (2007–2010) transplant era based on annual follow-up to 5 years. RESULTS Insulin independence at 3 years after transplant improved from 27% in the early era (1999–2002, n = 214) to 37% in the mid (2003–2006, n = 255) and to 44% in the most recent era (2007–2010, n = 208; P = 0.006 for years-by-era; P = 0.01 for era alone). C-peptide ≥0.3 ng/mL, indicative of islet graft function, was retained longer in the most recent era (P < 0.001). Reduction of HbA1c and resolution of severe hypoglycemia exhibited enduring long-term effects. Fasting blood glucose stabilization also showed improvements in the most recent era. There were also modest reductions in the occurrence of adverse events. The islet reinfusion rate was lower: 48% by 1 year in 2007–2010 vs. 60–65% in 1999–2006 (P < 0.01). Recipients that ever achieved insulin-independence experienced longer duration of islet graft function (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The CITR shows improvement in primary efficacy and safety outcomes of islet transplantation in recipients who received transplants in 2007–2010 compared with those in 1999–2006, with fewer islet infusions and adverse events per recipient.
Characterization of a Novel Serine Protease Inhibitor Gene from a Marine Metagenome

A novel serine protease inhibitor (serpin) gene designated as Spi1C was cloned via the sequenced-based screening of a metagenomic library from uncultured marine microorganisms. The gene had an open reading frame of 642 base pairs, and encoded a 214-amino acid polypeptide with a predicted molecular mass of about 28.7 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Spi1C and some partial proteinase inhibitor I4 serpins were closely related. Functional characterization demonstrated that the recombinant Spi1C protein could inhibit a series of serine proteases. The Spi1C protein exhibited inhibitory activity against α-chymotrypsin and trypsin with Ki values of around 1.79 × 10−8 and 1.52 × 10−8 M, respectively. No inhibition activity was exhibited against elastase. Using H-d-Phe-Pip-Arg-pNA as the chromogenic substrate, the optimum pH and temperature of the inhibition activity against trypsin were 7.0–8.0 and 25 °C, respectively. The identification of a novel serpin gene underscores the potential of marine metagenome screening for novel biomolecules.
Supporting automated software re-engineering using re-aspects

System maintenance, including omitting an existing system feature e.g. buggy or vulnerable code, or modifying existing features, e.g. replacing them, is still very challenging. To address this problem we introduce the “re-aspect” (re-engineering aspect), inspired from traditional AOP. A re-aspect captures system modification details including signatures of entities to be updated; actions to apply including remove, modify, replace, or inject new code; and code to apply. Re-aspects locate entities to update, entities that will be impacted by the given update, and finally propagate changes on the system source code. We have applied our re-aspects technique to the security re-engineering problem and evaluated it on a set of open source . NET applications to demonstrate its usefulness.
A new tracer experiment to estimate the methane emissions from a dairy cow shed using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)

Methane emission from livestock and agricultural wastes contribute globally more than 30% to the anthropogenic atmospheric methane source. Estimates of this number have been derived from respiration chamber experiments. We determined methane emission rates from a tracer experiment in a modern cow shed hosting 43 dairy cows in their accustomed environment. During a 24-hour period the concentrations of CH 4 , CO 2 , and SF6, a trace gas which has been released at a constant rate into the stable air, have been measured. The ratio between SF6 release rate and measured SF 6 concentration was then used to estimate the ventilation rate of the stable air during the course of the experiment. The respective ratio between CH 4 or CO2 and SF6 concentration together with the known SF6 release rate allows us to calculate the CH 4 (and CO2) emissions in the stable. From our experiment we derive a total daily mean CH 4 emission of 441 L STP per cow (9 cows nonlactating), which is about 15% higher than previous estimates for German cows with comparable milk production obtained during respiration chamber experiments. The higher emission in our stable experiment is attributed to the contribution of CH 4 release from about 50 m 3 of liquid manure present in the cow shed in underground channels. Also, considering measurements we made directly on a liquid manure tank, we obtained an estimate of the total CH4 production from manure: The normalized contribution of methane from manure amounts to 12-30% of the direct methane release of a dairy cow during rumination. The total CH 4 release per dairy cow, including manure, is 521-530 LSTP CH 4 per day.
Using a HHD with a HMD for mobile AR interaction

Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) applications are typically deployed either on head mounted displays (HMD) or handheld displays (HHD). This paper explores novel interaction techniques for a combined HHD-HMD hybrid system that builds on the strengths of each type of device. We use the HMD for viewing AR content and a touch screen HHD for interacting with the content. A prototype system was developed and a user study was conducted comparing four interaction techniques for selection tasks.
Troponin T, troponin I and creatine kinase‐MB mass after elective coronary stenting

Objective To assess whether and to what extent elective coronary stenting is associated with biochemical evidence of minor myocardial damage (MMD), as defined by the detection of abnormal post-procedural serum levels of one or more among the following markers of ischaemic injury: creatine kinase (CK)-MB mass, troponin T (Tn-T) and troponin I (Tn-I). Methods Nineteen elective procedures of coronary stenting were compared with a matched group of 25 conventional percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures performed in our laboratory from March to June 1995. Cases with evolving or recent (< 2 weeks) myocardial infarction, chronic total occlusions and dilatation of saphenous vein grafts were excluded. By definition, all of the patients had undergone uneventful deployment of a single Palmaz-Schatz stent, with no chest pain and no persistent ECG changes after the procedure. Serum levels of CK-MB mass, Tn-T and Tn-I were determined at baseline and 6, 12 and 24 h after the procedure. The frequency of abnormal results was determined for each marker. Baseline and peak post-procedural levels in the two groups were compared and related to procedural variables.Results Baseline values were normal in all cases. The quantitative analysis showed that post-procedural levels of each marker (including total CK) were significantly higher with respect to baseline in both groups. In the stent group, two patients had positive CK-MB mass, four positive Tn-T and seven positive Tn-I. Absolute changes in Tn-T and Tn-I were closely related to changes in CK-MB mass (r = 0.76, P < 0.0001; r = 0.90, P < 0.0001, respectively). Three of these patients developed clinically silent side-branch occlusion. All of them were positive for troponins and two were positive for CK-MB. No correlation was found between procedural variables and the results of biochemical assays. In the PTCA group, three patients were positive for Tn-I, whereas the CK-MB mass and Tn-T remained constantly normal. No side-branch occlusion was observed. The peak CK-MB mass and Tn-I were significantly higher in the stent group than they were in the PTCA group (3.04 ± 4.1 versus 1.27 ± 1.3 ng/ml, P = 0.046; 0.78 ± 1.17 versus 0.28 ± 0.3 ng/ml, P = 0.046, respectively). This difference was no longer apparent when patients with side-branch occlusion were excluded.Conclusions In our series, Tn-I measurement shows the highest ability to detect MMD, being positive in 37% of stent and 14% of PTCA cases. Elective coronary stenting is associated with greater release of CK-MB mass and Tn-I than is conventional PTCA. This finding is mainly determined by cases of side branch occlusion, which account for most, but not all, periprocedural MMD in the stent group.
The contribution of foliar endophytes to quantitative resistance to Melampsora rust.

Foliar endophytes of Populus do not induce the hypersensitive response associated with major genes for resistance to Melampsora leaf rust. But they could contribute to the quantitative resistance that represents a second line of defense. Quantitative resistance is thought to be determined by suites of minor genes in both host and pathogen that are influenced by the abiotic environment. Here, we determined the relative importance to quantitative resistance of foliar endophytes, one element of the biotic environment. Leaves of six host genotypes differing in genetic resistance to Melampsora × columbiana were inoculated first with one of four foliar endophytes (Stachybotrys sp., Trichoderma atroviride, Ulocladium atrum or Truncatella angustata), and then with Melampsora. These endophytes greatly reduced rust severity within inoculated leaves (i.e. local effects), but they had no systemic effect on rust of leaves not inoculated with endophytes. Differences among endophytes and their controls explained 54% of the total variation in quantitative resistance (i.e. rust severity); the six host/pathogen genotypes explained just 5%. In terms of magnitude of effect on rust severity, Stachybotrys, Trichoderma, Ulocladium and Truncatella were ranked in this order on all host/pathogen genotypes. Endophytes may contribute significantly to quantitative resistance to Melampsora in leaves of Populus.
Pretreatment of Guinea Pigs with Galantamine Prevents Immediate and Delayed Effects of Soman on Inhibitory Synaptic Transmission in the Hippocampus

Galantamine has emerged as a potential antidote to prevent the acute toxicity of organophosphorus (OP) compounds. Changes in inhibitory GABAergic activity in different brain regions can contribute to both induction and maintenance of seizures in subjects exposed to the OP nerve agent soman. Here, we tested the hypothesis that galantamine can prevent immediate and delayed effects of soman on hippocampal inhibitory synaptic transmission. Spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were recorded from CA1 pyramidal neurons in hippocampal slices obtained at 1 h, 24 h, or 6 to 9 days after the injection of guinea pigs with saline (0.5 ml/kg i.m.), 1×LD50 soman (26.3 μg/kg s.c.), galantamine (8 mg/kg i.m.), or galantamine at 30 min before soman. Soman-challenged animals that were not pretreated showed mild, moderate, or severe signs of acute intoxication. At 1 h after the soman injection, the mean IPSC amplitude recorded from slices of mildly intoxicated animals and the mean IPSC frequency recorded from slices of severely intoxicated animals were larger and lower, respectively, than those recorded from slices of control animals. Regardless of the severity of the acute toxicity, at 24 h after the soman challenge the mean IPSC frequency was lower than that recorded from slices of control animals. At 6 to 9 days after the challenge, the IPSC frequency had returned to control levels, whereas the mean IPSC amplitude became larger than control. Pretreatment with galantamine prevented soman-induced changes in IPSCs. Counteracting the effects of soman on inhibitory transmission can be an important determinant of the antidotal effectiveness of galantamine.
Delay-optimized small world model for base station caching

Distributed base station caching is an efficient way to reduce the network traffic load in advanced cellular networks, but suffers from a significant network delay due to the multi-hop transmission, leading to a poor quality of service. The presence of a few shortcut direct links transforms a regular network to a small world network resulting in achieving properties of high clustering coefficient and low average path length. In this paper, we propose a delay-optimized small world model for base station caching network to reduce the average network delay by decreasing multi-hop distance. In particular, we first study the degree-based and closeness-centrality shortcut addition strategies. To enhance these two strategies, we propose the delay-optimized shortcut addition strategy to decrease average network delay. The numerical results show that the proposed delay-optimized small world model can reduce the average network delay under remaining the clustering coefficient. Meanwhile, the average network delay with the proposal is 31.26% lower than that with the degree-based strategy, and is 18.78% lower than that with the closeness-centrality strategy.
The White Book on disability in Italy: an ICF-based Italian survey

Purpose. To describe the functioning and disability profiles of Italian person with disability (PwD) getting invalidity pension. Methods. Adult subjects were selected within the registries of local health agencies that provide invalidity certificates. The International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) checklist was administered by trained interviewers. Count-based indexes were calculated for each ICF chapter and domain. Descriptive analysis and paired-sample t-test for evaluating differences between capacity and performance indexes in Activities and Participation (A&P) were employed. Results. A total of 742 persons were enrolled. Mean age among children and youth (N = 106) was 8.6 years, and among adults (N = 636) was 47.6 years. Most common health conditions are neurological diseases (30.2%), tumors (18.1%) and mental disorders (13.5%). Body Functions and Structures impairments are consistent with sample compositions. In A&P, capacity indexes are higher than performance ones, and facilitators are essentially reported among Environmental Factors (EF). Conclusions. ICF-based tools are adequate to capture difficulties in different A&P areas, and to estimate EF's effect. In our study, the widest difficulties and the widest impact of EF are reported in areas describing activities of daily living, while areas describing communication, employment and leisure time activities are less problematic but, at the same time, less influenced by EF.
The Peptide Oxytocin Antagonist F‐792, When Given Systemically, Does Not Act Centrally in Lactating Rats

Oxytocin secreted by nerve terminals in the posterior pituitary has important actions for ensuring a successful outcome of pregnancy: it stimulates uterine contractions that lead to birth and it is essential in the milk‐ejection reflex, enabling milk to be expelled from the mammary glands into the mouths of suckling young. Oxytocin also has important actions in the brain: released from dendrites of neurones that innervate the posterior pituitary, oxytocin auto‐excites the neurones to fire action potentials in co‐ordinated bursts, causing secretion of pulses of oxytocin. Central oxytocin actions are blocked by an oxytocin antagonist given into the brain and, consequently, milk transfer stops. Systemic peptide oxytocin antagonist (atosiban) treatment is used clinically in management of pre‐term labour, a major obstetric problem. Hence, it is important to know whether an oxytocin antagonist given peripherally can enter the brain and interfere with central oxytocin actions. In the present study, we tested F792, a peptide oxytocin antagonist. In urethane‐anaesthetised suckled rats, we show that the mammary gland responsiveness to oxytocin is blocked by i.v. injections of 7 μg/kg of F792, and the milk‐ejection reflex is blocked when F792 is given directly into the brain at a dose of 0.2 μg. To critically test whether F792 given systemically can enter the brain, we recorded the suckling‐ and oxytocin‐induced burst‐firing of individual antidromically identified oxytocin neurones in the paraventricular nucleus. Given systemically at 100 μg/kg i.v. , F792 acted only peripherally, blocking the milk‐ejecting actions of oxytocin, but not the burst‐firing of oxytocin neurones during suckling (n = 5 neurones in five rats). Hence, this peptide oxytocin antagonist does not enter the brain from the circulation to interfere with an essential oxytocin function in the brain. Furthermore, the functions of oxytocin in the brain evidently cannot be explored with a systemic peptide antagonist.
Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere

About 2 km west of the Rössingberge i n the Namib desert a t about 340 m above sea l e v e l , a s m a l l cave system w i t h s t a l a c t i t e s , s t a l a g m i t e s , f l o w s tone, popcorn and othe r s i n t e r f o r m a t i o n s was i n v e s t i g a t e d i n 1978 and 1981. Speleothems have been formed s i n c e the Tert i a r y . As the cave i s w i t h i n a s m a l l catchment a r e a , the speleothems r e f l e c t changing p a l a e o h y d r o l o g i c a l and p a l a e o c l i m a t o l o g i c a l c o n d i t i o n s i n the Namib de s e r t i n the v i c i n i t y of the cave r a t h e r than those of the escarpment i n the e a s t . > A c c o r d i n g t o the C14 da t e s , the c l i m a t e a f t e r 41 500 BP can be d i v i d ed i n t o f i v e phases. U n t i l about 25 500 BP r a t h e r humid c o n d i t i o n s p r e v a i l e d as cave s i n t e r was formed. A f t e r w a r d s the c l i m a t e remained dry i n the study a r e a . As from 19 000 BP, the i n t e r i o r of South West A f r i c a a l s o became a r i d .
An Infinite Hierarchical Bayesian Model of Phrasal Translation

Modern phrase-based machine translation systems make extensive use of wordbased translation models for inducing alignments from parallel corpora. This is problematic, as the systems are incapable of accurately modelling many translation phenomena that do not decompose into word-for-word translation. This paper presents a novel method for inducing phrase-based translation units directly from parallel data, which we frame as learning an inverse transduction grammar (ITG) using a recursive Bayesian prior. Overall this leads to a model which learns translations of entire sentences, while also learning their decomposition into smaller units (phrase-pairs) recursively, terminating at word translations. Our experiments on Arabic, Urdu and Farsi to English demonstrate improvements over competitive baseline systems.