Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Filter for Reduction of Random Valued Impulse Noise

A novel method for the removal of impulse noise from digital images is introduced. In proposed filter, threshold is computed locally from image pixels intensity values in a window and a detail preserving noise filter. Initially, detection phase classifies any possible impulsive noise pixels. Subsequently, the filtering phase replaces the detected noise pixels where fuzzy reasoning is employed to deal with uncertainties. Results show that proposed method provides better performance in terms of PSNR than many other median filter variants for random-valued impulse noise. KeywordsRandom Valued Impulse Noise, Detail preserving, PSNR, Fuzzy Reasoning, Uncertainty.
Varietal Dynamics and Yam Agro-Diversity Demonstrate Complex Trajectories Intersecting Farmers’ Strategies, Networks, and Disease Experience

Loss of varietal diversity is a worldwide challenge to crop species at risk for genetic erosion, while the loss of biological resources may hinder future breeding objectives. Loss of varieties has been mostly investigated in traditional agricultural systems where variety numbers are dramatically high, or for most economically important crop species for which comparison between pre-intensive and modern agriculture was possible. Varietal dynamics, i.e., turnover, or gains and losses of varieties by farmers, is nevertheless more rarely studied and while we currently have good estimates of genetic or varietal diversity for most crop species, we have less information as to how on farm agro-diversity changes and what cause its dynamics. We therefore investigated varietal dynamics in the agricultural yam system in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. We interviewed producers about varieties they cultivated in the past compared to their current varieties, in addition to characterizing yam cropping characteristics and both farm level and producers socio-economic features. We then used regression tree analyses to investigate the components of yam agro-diversity, varietal dynamics and impact of anthracnose on varieties. Our data demonstrated that no dramatic loss of varieties occurred within the last decades. Cultivation changes mostly affected widespread cultivars while frequency of uncommon varieties stayed relatively stable. Varietal dynamics nevertheless followed sub-regional patterns, and socio-economic influences such as producer age or farm crop diversity. Recurrent anthracnose epidemics since the 1970s did not alter varietal dynamics strongly, but sometimes translated into transition from Dioscorea alata to less susceptible species or into a decrease of yam cultivation. Factors affecting changes in agro-diversity were not relating to agronomy in our study, and surprisingly there were different processes delineating short term from long term varietal dynamics, independently of disease risk. Our results highlighted the importance of understanding varietal dynamics, an often overlooked component of agriculture sustainability, in addition to evolutionary forces shaping agro-diversity and genetic diversity distribution within crops. It is also crucial to understand how processes involved do scale up worldwide and for different crop species, so as not to mislead on-farm conservation efforts and efficacy of agro-diversity preservation.
Aspirin and folic acid for the prevention of recurrent colorectal adenomas.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Although observational studies have found regular aspirin use to be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal neoplasia, results from randomized trials using aspirin have been inconsistent. Dietary folate intake also has been found to be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal neoplasms in observational studies. METHODS A multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial of aspirin (300 mg/day) and folate supplements (0.5 mg/day) to prevent colorectal adenoma recurrence was performed using a 2 x 2 factorial design. All patients had an adenoma (>/=0.5 cm) removed in the 6 months before recruitment and were followed-up at 4-month intervals with a second colonoscopy after approximately 3 years. The primary outcome measure was a colorectal adenoma diagnosed after baseline. RESULTS A total of 945 patients were recruited into the study, of whom 853 (90.3%) underwent a second colonoscopy. In total, 99 (22.8%) of 434 patients receiving aspirin had a recurrent adenoma compared with 121 (28.9%) of 419 patients receiving placebo (relative risk, 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-0.99). A total of 104 patients developed an advanced colorectal adenoma; 41 (9.4%) of these were in the aspirin group and 63 (15.0%) were in the placebo group (relative risk, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.43-0.91). Folate supplementation was found to have no effect on adenoma recurrence (relative risk, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.85-1.34). CONCLUSIONS Aspirin (300 mg/day) but not folate (0.5 mg/day) use was found to reduce the risk of colorectal adenoma recurrence, with evidence that aspirin could have a significant role in preventing the development of advanced lesions.
MATRIX (Multiconfiguration Aerosol TRacker of mIXing state): an aerosol microphysical module for global atmospheric models

A new aerosol microphysical module MATRIX, the Multiconfiguration Aerosol TRacker of mIXing state, and its application in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) climate model (ModelE) are described. This module, which is based on the quadrature method of moments (QMOM), represents nucleation, condensation, coagulation, internal and external mixing, and cloud-drop activation and provides aerosol particle mass and number concentration and particle size information for up to 16 mixed-mode aerosol populations. Internal and external mixing among aerosol components sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, carbonaceous aerosols, dust and sea-salt particles are represented. The solubility of each aerosol population, which is explicitly calculated based on its soluble and insoluble components, enables calculation of the dependence of cloud drop activation on the microphysical characterization of multiple soluble aerosol populations. A detailed model description and results of box-model simulations of various aerosol population configurations are presented. The box model experiments demonstrate the dependence of cloud activating aerosol number concentration on the aerosol population configuration; comparisons to sectional models are quite favorable. MATRIX is incorporated into the GISS climate model and simulations are carried out primarily to assess its performance/efficiency for global-scale atmospheric model application. Simulation results were compared with aircraft and station measurements of aerosol mass and number concentration and particle size to assess the ability of the new method to yield data suitable for such comparison. The model accurately captures the observed size distributions in the Aitken and accumulation modes up to particle diameter 1 μm, in which sulfate, nitrate, black and organic carbon are predominantly located; however the model underestimates coarse-mode number concentration and size, especially in the marine environment. This is more likely due to oversimplifications of the representation of sea salt emissions – sea salt emissions are only calculated for two size classes – than to inherent limitations of MATRIX.
Invasive Mutualists Erode Native Pollination Webs

Plant–animal mutualisms are characterized by weak or asymmetric mutual dependences between interacting species, a feature that could increase community stability. If invasive species integrate into mutualistic webs, they may alter web structure, with consequences for species persistence. However, the effect of alien mutualists on the architecture of plant–pollinator webs remains largely unexplored. We analyzed the extent of mutual dependency between interacting species, as a measure of mutualism strength, and the connectivity of 10 paired plant–pollinator webs, eight from forests of the southern Andes and two from oceanic islands, with different incidences of alien species. Highly invaded webs exhibited weaker mutualism than less-invaded webs. This potential increase in network stability was the result of a disproportionate increase in the importance and participation of alien species in the most asymmetric interactions. The integration of alien mutualists did not alter overall network connectivity, but links were transferred from generalist native species to super-generalist alien species during invasion. Therefore, connectivity among native species declined in highly invaded webs. These modifications in the structure of pollination webs, due to dominance of alien mutualists, can leave many native species subject to novel ecological and evolutionary dynamics.
Enhancing Sentence Relation Modeling with Auxiliary Character-level Embedding

Neural network based approaches for sentence relation modeling automatically generate hidden matching features from raw sentence pairs. However, the quality of matching feature representation may not be satisfied due to complex semantic relations such as entailment or contradiction. To address this challenge, we propose a new deep neural network architecture that jointly leverage pre-trained word embedding and auxiliary character embedding to learn sentence meanings. The two kinds of word sequence representations as inputs into multi-layer bidirectional LSTM to learn enhanced sentence representation. After that, we construct matching features followed by another temporal CNN to learn high-level hidden matching feature representations. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach consistently outperforms the existing methods on standard evaluation datasets.
Distinct functions of the major Fgf8 spliceform, Fgf8b, before and during mouse gastrulation

The vertebrate Fgf8 gene produces multiple protein isoforms by alternative splicing. Two evolutionarily conserved spliceforms, Fgf8a and Fgf8b, exhibit distinct bioactivities, with Fgf8b having a more potent inductive activity due to higher affinity for Fgf receptors. To investigate the in vivo requirement for Fgf8b, we created a splice-site mutation abolishing Fgf8b expression in mice. Analysis of this mutant has uncovered a novel function of Fgf8 signaling before the onset of gastrulation. We show that the loss of Fgf8b disrupts the induction of the brachyury gene in the pregastrular embryo and, in addition, disrupts the proper alignment of the anteroposterior axis with the shape of the embryo and the uterine axes at embryonic day (E) 6.5. Importantly, Fgf8-null embryos display the same phenotype as Fgf8b-deficient embryos at E6.5, demonstrating that signaling by Fgf8b is specifically required for development of the pregastrular embryo. By contrast, during gastrulation, Fgf8a can partially compensate for the loss of Fgf8b in mesoderm specification. We show that an increased level of Fgf8a expression, which leads to Fgf4 expression in the primitive streak, can also promote mesoderm migration in the absence of Fgf8b. Therefore, different Fgf signals may have distinct requirements for the morphogenesis and gene regulation before and during gastrulation. Importantly, our findings implicate Fgf8 in the morphogenetic process that establishes the defined relationship between the axes of the embryo and the uterus at the beginning of gastrulation, a perplexing phenomenon discovered two decades ago.
Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy and renal dysfunction

In many fields of medical practice the use of intravenous human immunoglobulin (HIG) infusions has been beneficial. To date it has been used in the treatment of such conditions as immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), Guillan-Barré syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus and of course hypogammaglobulinaemia. The association between HIG infusions and the development of acute renal failure has been recognized in a number of instances in the literature (Kobosko & Nicol, 1991; Phillips, 1991; Rault et al, 1991; Schifferli et al, 1991; Stewart et al, 1993). This occurs more frequently in the elderly, especially those over the age of 60, though to date has only been described in those receiving high-dose therapy. Our patient, a 67-year-old male with a history of ITP requiring no previous therapy, was admitted to the cardiology unit suffering from unstable angina to await urgent coronary angiography. On admission, full blood count showed a platelet count of 46 × 10/l and the bleeding time was measured at 13 min. He had not been taking any previous anti-platelet drugs. Of note, biochemical testing showed a mildly elevated urea of 12·6 mmol/l and creatinine 178 mmol/l. Due to this angiography was postponed and he received HIG at a dose of 0·4 g/m/d for 5 d to a total of 2 g/m with no ill effects or recorded hypotensive episodes. His urea and electrolytes also remained stable throughout the course of therapy. After treatment his platelet count rose to 160 × 10/l but urea and creatinine were also noted to be increasing, reaching a peak of urea 29 mmol/l and creatinine 959 mmol/l at 4 d post therapy. Subsequently he improved with conservative management of fluid balance and did not require haemodialysis. At 2 weeks post therapy, urea had fallen to 14·8 mmol/l and creatinine to 246 mmol/l. At this stage he was considered fit for angiography. Such renal impairment is believed to result from changes in plasma viscosity caused by HIG therapy which subsequently alters renal blood flow (Reinhart & Bechtold, 1992), though this may be in part caused by the sucrose solution used as a stabilizer in the HIG. Although our patient was of a typical age to develop this complication and had evidence of pre-existing renal impairment, his therapy was given at a lower dose and over a longer interval than previous ones. The episode indicates the need for increased vigilance and monitoring of renal function (in some cases even after therapy) in patients with even mild pre-existing renal impairment given low-dose HIG treatment. Stewart et al (1993) have also suggested that in such patients the risk of complications may be overcome prior to treatment by adequate pre-hydration.
Predicting Treatment Outcomes from Prefrontal Cortex Activation for Self-Harming Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary Study

Self-harm is a potentially lethal symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD) that often improves with dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). While DBT is effective for reducing self-harm in many patients with BPD, a small but significant number of patients either does not improve in treatment or ends treatment prematurely. Accordingly, it is crucial to identify factors that may prospectively predict which patients are most likely to benefit from and remain in treatment. In the present preliminary study, 29 actively self-harming patients with BPD completed brain-imaging procedures probing activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during impulse control prior to beginning DBT and after 7 months of treatment. Patients that reduced their frequency of self-harm the most over treatment displayed lower levels of neural activation in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) prior to beginning treatment, and they showed the greatest increases in activity within this region after 7 months of treatment. Prior to starting DBT, treatment non-completers demonstrated greater activation than treatment-completers in the medial PFC and right inferior frontal gyrus. Reductions in self-harm over the treatment period were associated with increases in activity in right DLPFC even after accounting for improvements in depression, mania, and BPD symptom severity. These findings suggest that pre-treatment patterns of activation in the PFC underlying impulse control may be prospectively associated with improvements in self-harm and treatment attrition for patients with BPD treated with DBT.
Detection of Internal Stuck-open Faults in Scan Chains

Nearly half of the transistors in the logic parts of large VLSI designs typically reside inside scan cells. Faults in scan cells may affect functional operation if left undetected. Such undetected faults may also affect the long term reliability of shipped products. Nevertheless, current test generation procedures do not directly target faults internal to the scan cells. Typically it is assumed that scan chain tests, called flush tests, test the scan cells sufficiently. We showed that flush tests applied at slower clock rates, called half-speed flush tests, and tests for scan cell inputs and outputs, detect stuck-at and stuck-on faults internal to scan cells to a similar extent as checking sequence based tests proposed earlier. In this work, we investigate the detection of opens in transistors internal to scan cells. A new flush test and a new method to apply flush tests are proposed to greatly enhance the coverage of opens. We also propose new scan based tests to further increase the coverage of opens. The proposed tests are shown to achieve the maximum possible coverage of opens in transistors internal to scan cells.
Cultural influence on the incidence and choice of method of suicide in Saudi Arabia.

The present study was undertaken to explore how racial and cultural factors could possibly influence suicidal rates and patterns in Saudi Arabia. During the 10-year period from 1986 to 1995, 221 cases of suicide were examined at the Medico-legal Center, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The suicide rate for the entire population averaged 1.1/100,000 population per annum. The male-to-female ratio was 4.5:1. The highest suicide rate was among the age group from 30 to 39 years (44.3%), followed by the age group from 20 to 29 years (32.6%), and the lowest suicide rate was among the age group <20 years (1.8%). The rate in the group >60 years was also low (3.2%). Immigrants formed 77% of the cases, and of these, Asians accounted for 70% of the overall cases and Indians showed the highest suicidal rates (43%). The most common means of suicide chosen was hanging (63%), followed by jumping from heights (12%) and gunshot injuries (9%); death from poisoning accounted for only 6% of cases. This study showed an increasing rate of suicide during the second 5-year period compared with the first 5-year period.
Malnutrition Is Associated with Increased Blood Pressure in Childhood

Background/Aims: Protein-energy malnutrition remains a major public health problem in many countries. Scanty information is available about the effects of malnutrition during childhood on blood pressure (BP). Methods: In a cross-sectional study we assessed the BP of 172 children older than 2 years living in shantytowns in São Paulo city. Ninety-one children were malnourished (height-for-age or weight-for-age Z-score below –1 of the NCHS references); 20 had recovered from malnutrition after an average time of 6.4 years, and 61 were non-malnourished controls. Results: A greater percentage of children in the malnourished and recovered groups had increased systolic or diastolic BP (>95th percentile of the Update of the 2nd Task Force references) after adjusting for age, sex and height, compared to the controls (29, 20 and 2%, respectively, p < 0.001). Mean diastolic BP, adjusted for age, sex, race, weight, height and birth weight, was significantly increased in malnourished and recovered children compared to controls (65.2 ± 0.6, 66.5 ± 1.5, and 61.8 ± 0.8 mm Hg, respectively, p < 0.01). Conclusions: BP is increased in malnourished children and in those who recovered from malnutrition after an average period of 6 years. Malnutrition occurring during childhood may represent a risk factor for increased BP later in life.
Phage therapy of pulmonary infections

It is generally agreed that a bacteriophage-associated phenomenon was first unambiguously observed one-hundred years ago with the findings of Twort in 1915. This was independently followed by complementary observations by d'Hérelle in 1917. D'Hérelle's appreciation of the bacteriophage phenomenon appears to have directly led to the development of phages as antibacterial agents within a variety of contexts, including medical and agricultural. Phage use to combat nuisance bacteria appears to be especially useful where targets are sufficiently problematic, suitably bactericidal phages exist, and alternative approaches are lacking in effectiveness, availability, safety, or cost effectiveness, etc. Phage development as antibacterial agents has been strongest particularly when antibiotics have been less available or useful, e.g., such as in the treatment of chronic infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One relatively under-explored or at least not highly reported use of phages as therapeutic agents has been to combat bacterial infections of the lungs and associated tissues. These infections are diverse in terms of their etiologies, manifestations, and also in terms of potential strategies of phage delivery. Here I review the literature considering the phage therapy of pulmonary and pulmonary-related infections, with emphasis on reports of clinical treatment along with experimental treatment of pulmonary infections using animal models.
The ‘Warrior Gene’ (MAOA) Predicts Behavioral Aggression Following Provocation

Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) has earned the nickname ‘warrior gene’ because it has been linked to aggression in observational and survey-based studies. However, no experiments have tested whether the ‘warrior gene’ actually drives behavioral manifestations of these tendencies, especially in controlled experimental settings. We report a novel experiment, synthesizing work in psychology and behavioral economics, which demonstrates that aggression occurs with greater intensity and frequency as provocation is experimentally manipulated upwards, especially among low activity MAOA subjects. In this study, subjects paid to punish those they believed had taken money from them by administering varying amounts of unpleasantly hot (spicy) sauce to their opponent. There is some evidence of a main effect for genotype as well as some evidence for a gene by environment interaction, such that MAOA is less associated with the occurrence of aggression in a low provocation condition but significantly predicts such behavior in a high provocation situation. This new evidence for genetic influences on aggression and punishment behavior complicates characterizations of humans as “altruistic” punishers and supports theories of cooperation which propose mixed strategies in the population. It also suggests important implications for the role of individual variance in genetic factors contributing to everyday behaviors and decisions.
Combining speed with alpha-particle induced memory, error tolerance in a large boolean vector machine

i . I n t r o d u c t i o n This paper addresses the problem of recovery from alpha-particle induced memory errors, within a highly-parallel machine architecture. The specific architecture which we consider, that of the Boolean Vector Machine [1], is designed to occupy about twice the silicon area as would the memory of a conventional computer, if both machines have the same number of bits of memory. The BVM achieves much higher performance than a typical conventional machine by reorganizing this silicon area into many tiny Processing Elements, each with their own small local memories. The resulting array of PEs is interconnected by a general permutation network, called the Cube Connected Cycles network [2], at trivial additional cost in silicon area. The BVM is compared in performance to a convent~ional machine, M, of memory-size equal to that of the BVM, and implemented in the same memory technology, so that memory references take the same amount of time on M as on BVM. The complete BVM can then perform a wide variety of parallelizable algorithms at a speed roughly N/Iog2N times faster, where N is about 1/8 the number of words of memory of either machine.