Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trend analysis of streamflow with different time scales: a case study of the upper Senegal River

Abstract This study investigates long-term trends of three different time scales including monthly, seasonally and annually at the upper Senegal River basin. Daily streamflows for the period 1961–2014 at Bafing Makana station were used and analyzed to conduct this research. The serial structural of the different time series (monthly, seasonal, and annual) were investigated in order to detect the presence of autocorrelation. Mann–Kendall test was applied to no autocorrelated series and the Modified Mann–Kendall test for the autocorrelated. Theil and Sen’s slope estimator test was used for finding the magnitude of change and Pettitt test was applied for detecting the most probable change year. Results exhibited a decreasing trend of the annual streamflow yet at the 5% significance level, streamflow series did not have any statistically significant trend for the whole period; however, integrating the different change years, decreasing trend is significant before the first breaking point (1976) and increasing trend is significant from first breaking point to the second change point (1993). For the monthly series, all months exhibit a non-significant decreasing trend except for the month of June. The seasonal series show a decreasing trend which a significant at MAMJ season. Change years were varying accordantly to the scale.
An IEC Method for Sulphite and Sulphate Determination

2 Introduction Sulphiting agents (E220–24 and E226–28) are widely used in foods and beverages to inhibit microbial spoilage, enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning reactions and oxidative deterioration.1 In the vinification process use of sulphiting agents is essential.2,3 Conversely, being over sulphited can spoil a wine. The methods for reducing levels of sulphite (SO2) in wines are well known; the most important of which is a very judicious initial dose because a resistance to SO2 builds up and subsequent additions must be proportionally larger.3 Sulphiting agents have several adverse effects including destruction of the thiamine content of foods, bronchoconstriction in susceptible asthmatics, skin sensitivity and vomiting with single doses of less than 250 mg of SO2 equivalents (4 mmol sulphite). 4 An acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0–0.7 mg SO2 equivalents/kg body weight is advised.5 Regulations govern permitted levels in certain foods and beverages. In wines, permitted levels of sulphite are as follows; for red wines 160 mg/L (2.5 mmol/L) SO2, for white and rose wines 210 mg/L (3.3 mmol/L) and for wines greater than 5 g/L sugar, 300–400 mg/L (4.69–6.25 mmol/L). 6 Sodium sulphite and metabisulphite dissociate in H2O according to the following equations:
Plant functional composition influences rates of soil carbon and nitrogen accumulation

1 The mechanisms controlling soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) accumulation are crucial for explaining why soils are major terrestrial C sinks. Such mechanisms have been mainly addressed by imposing short‐term, step‐changes in CO2, temperature and N fertilization rates on either monocultures or low‐diversity plant assemblages. No studies have addressed the long‐term effects of plant functional diversity (i.e. plant functional composition) on rates of soil C accumulation in N‐limited grasslands where fixation is the main source of N for plants. 2 Here we measure net soil C and N accumulation to 1 m soil‐depth during a 12‐year‐long grassland biodiversity experiment established on agriculturally degraded soils at Cedar Creek, Minnesota, USA. 3 We show that high‐diversity mixtures of perennial grassland plant species stored 500% and 600% more soil C and N than, on average, did monoculture plots of the same species. Moreover, the presence of C4 grasses and legumes increased soil C accumulation by 193% and 522%, respectively. Higher soil C and N accrual resulted both from increased C and N inputs via (i) higher root biomass, and (ii) from greater root biomass accumulation to 60 cm soil depth resulting from the presence of highly complementary functional groups (i.e. C4 grasses and legumes). 4 Our results suggest that the joint presence of C4 grass and legume species is a key cause of greater soil C and N accumulation in both higher and lower diversity plant assemblages. This is because legumes have unique access to N, and C4 grasses take up and use N efficiently, increasing below‐ground biomass and thus soil C and N inputs. 5 Synthesis. We demonstrate that plant functional complementarity is a key reason why higher plant diversity leads to greater soil C and N accumulation on agriculturally degraded soils. We suggest the combination of key C4 grass–legume species may greatly increase ecosystem services such as soil C accumulation and biomass (biofuel) production in both high‐ and low‐diversity N‐limited grassland systems.
Venous thromboembolism and cancer.

The literature was reviewed in an attempt to determine whether patients with cancer have an increased risk of venous thromboembolism, i.e. deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. From case reports it was apparent that various thromboembolic or thrombophlebitic manifestations may be found in a small number of patients, although it is possible that not all cases belong to the same clinical or pathogenetic entity. In clinical series it was found that the risk of postoperative venous thromboembolism was increased in cancer patients, but the possibility that this was due to associated risk factors, rather than to the mere presence of a tumour, could not be excluded. Little is known about patients not undergoing surgery. Retrospective postmortem studies have found more thrombi in patients with malignancy, but a prospective study failed to demonstrate an association between malignancy and pulmonary embolism. It is possible that different types of cancer show various degrees of association with venous thromboembolism. We conclude that further studies should be performed to provide a firm clinical and pathoanatomical basis for investigations into the pathogenesis of venous thromboembolism.
omiXcore: a web server for prediction of protein interactions with large RNA

Summary: Here we introduce omiXcore, a server for calculations of protein binding to large RNAs (> 500 nucleotides). Our webserver allows (i) use of both protein and RNA sequences without size restriction, (ii) pre‐compiled library for exploration of human long intergenic RNAs interactions and (iii) prediction of binding sites. Results: omiXcore was trained and tested on enhanced UV Cross‐Linking and ImmunoPrecipitation data. The method discriminates interacting and non‐interacting protein‐RNA pairs and identifies RNA binding sites with Areas under the ROC curve > 0.80, which suggests that the tool is particularly useful to prioritize candidates for further experimental validation. Availability and implementation: omiXcore is freely accessed on the web at http://service.tartaglialab. com/grant_submission/omixcore. Contact: gian.tartaglia@crg.es Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Discovery of myopodin methylation in bladder cancer

Myopodin is an actin‐binding protein that shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. After identifying an enriched CpG island encompassing the transcription site of myopodin, we aimed at evaluating the potential relevance of myopodin methylation in bladder cancer. The epigenetic silencing of myopodin by hypermethylation was tested in bladder cancer cells (n = 12) before and after azacytidine treatment. Myopodin hypermethylation was associated with gene expression, being increased in vitro by this demethylating agent. The methylation status of myopodin promoter was then evaluated by methylation‐specific polymerase chain reaction (MS‐PCR) analyses. Myopodin was revealed to be frequently methylated in a large series of 466 bladder tumours (68.7%). Myopodin methylation was significantly associated with tumour stage (p < 0.0005) and tumour grade (p = 0.037). Myopodin expression patterns were analysed by immunohistochemistry on tissue arrays containing bladder tumours for which myopodin methylation was assessed (n = 177). The presence of low nuclear myopodin expression alone (p = 0.031) or combined with myopodin methylation (p = 0.008) was associated with poor survival. Moreover, myopodin methylation in 164 urinary specimens distinguished patients with bladder cancer from controls with a sensitivity of 65.0%, a specificity of 79.8%, and a global accuracy of 75.3%. Thus, myopodin was identified to be epigenetically modified in bladder cancer. The association of myopodin methylation and nuclear expression patterns with cancer progression and clinical outcome, together with its ability to detect bladder cancer patients using urinary specimens, suggests the utility of incorporating myopodin methylation assessment in the clinical management of patients affected by uroepithelial neoplasias. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Computer Meteorology: Monitoring Compute Clouds

Cloud computing environments allow customers to execute arbitrary code on hardware owned by a cloud provider. While cloud providers use virtualization to ensure isolation between customers, they face additional security challenges. Malicious customers may leverage the provider's hardware to launch attacks, either from VMs they own or by compromising VMs from benign customers. These attacks can damage the provider's reputation and ability to serve other customers. In this paper we show that while cloud providers can use introspection to monitor customer VMs and detectmalicious activity, it must be used with care since existing introspection techniques are based on assumptions that do not hold in cloud environments.
IL‐18 and IL‐33 elicit Th2 cytokines from basophils via a MyD88‐ and p38α‐dependent pathway

IL‐4 and IL‐13 are instrumental in the development and progression of allergy and atopic disease. Basophils represent a key source of these cytokines and produce IL‐4 and IL‐13 when stimulated with IL‐18, a member of the IL‐1 family of cytokines. Comparative analyses of the effects of caspase‐1‐dependent IL‐1 family cytokines on basophil IL‐4 and IL‐13 production have not been performed, and the signaling pathway proteins required for FcεRI‐independent Th2 cytokine production from basophils remain incompletely defined. Using mouse bone marrow‐derived cultured basophils, we found that IL‐4 and IL‐13 are produced in response to IL‐18 or IL‐33 stimulation. IL‐18‐ or IL‐33‐mediated Th2 cytokine production is dependent on MyD88 and p38α signaling proteins. In addition, basophil survival increased in the presence of IL‐18 or IL‐33 as a result of increased Akt activation. Studies in vivo confirmed the potency of IL‐18 and IL‐33 in activating cytokine release from mouse basophils.
Seismic displacement response analysis of out-of-plane loaded URM walls: Comparison with shake table tests

Damages to unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings from earthquake ground motion shaking are often caused by out-of-plane failure of walls, parapets, chimneys or brick veneers. This is particularly relevant to the majority of URM buildings in Eastern Canada constructed prior to the introduction of seismic design prescriptions. Seismic vulnerability assessment of this failure is therefore an essential step towards mitigation and retrofit planning. Past research on dynamic response of URM walls have shown that the out-of-plane collapse appears to be primarily associated with an increase in displacement demand. Therefore, realistic evaluation of the out-of-plane vulnerability requires a reliable prediction of the displacement demand. This paper presents a simplified nonlinear static based procedure for displacement demand prediction of out-of-plane URM walls. The procedure includes the development of an equivalent-single-degree-of-freedom (ESDOF) model of the wall with a characteristic forcedeformation capacity curve based on the material and geometrical parameters. This curve is convolved with a displacement response spectrum to predict the displacement demand. The procedure is validated by comparing the displacement response predictions with observed results from shake table tests on URM walls of the literature. A sensitivity study is conducted to evaluate the influence of ESDOF model parameters on the displacement response estimates.
The Influence of Word Retrieval and Planning on Phonetic Variation: Implications for Exemplar Models

Abstract Over the past several decades, an increasing number of empirical studies have documented the interaction of information across the traditional linguistic modules of phonetics, phonology, and lexicon. For example, the frequency with which a word occurs influences its phonetic properties of its sounds; high frequency words tend to be reduced relative to low frequency words. Lexicalist Exemplar Models have been successful in accounting for this body of results through a single mechanism, exemplars – memory representations that integrate lexical, phonological, and phonetic information into a single structure. We review recent studies that suggest there are critical limitations to assuming that phonetic variation solely reflects the storage of word labels and sound structure in exemplars. Specifically, these studies show that factors related to the on-line retrieval and planning of lexical items also influence phonetic variation. The implications of these findings for exemplar models are discussed; the relationship of exemplar storage to the broader cognitive system is examined, as well as alternative theoretical frameworks incorporating gradience at all levels of linguistic representation.
Plume persistence due to aquitard back diffusion following dense nonaqueous phase liquid source removal or isolation

At an industrial site on a sand aquifer overlying a clayey silt aquitard in Connecticut, a zone of trichloroethylene dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) at the aquifer bottom was isolated in late 1994 by installation of a steel sheet piling enclosure. In response to this DNAPL isolation, three aquifer monitoring wells located approximately 330 m downgradient exhibited strong TCE declines over the next 2–3 years, from trichloroethylene (TCE) concentrations between 5000 and 30,000 μg/L to values leveling off between 200 and 2000 μg/L. TCE concentrations from analysis of vertical cores from the aquitard below the plume and also from depth‐discrete multilevel systems in the aquifer sampled in 2000 were represented in a numerical model. This shows that vertical back diffusion from the aquitard combined with horizontal advection and vertical transverse dispersion account for the TCE distribution in the aquifer and that the aquifer TCE will remain much above the MCL for centuries.
Growth-Differentiation Factor-15 Is a Robust, Independent Predictor of 11-Year Mortality Risk in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Rancho Bernardo Study

Background— Growth-differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is emerging as a prognostic marker in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), but its prognostic value in community-dwelling adults has not been reported. We hypothesized that GDF-15 would add incremental power for prediction of mortality in a population of community-dwelling older adults without known heart disease. Methods and Results— We measured plasma GDF-15, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and C-reactive protein levels in 1391 Rancho Bernardo Study participants, mean age 70 years, with no history of CVD and followed them for a mean of 11 years. In models adjusted for traditional CVD risk factors, GDF-15 was a robust predictor of all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality. GDF-15 was a stronger predictor of all-cause mortality than either NT-proBNP or C-reactive protein (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] per SD log10 units 1.5 [1.3 to 1.8], P<0.0001 for GDF-15 versus 1.3 [1.2 to 1.5], P<0.0001 for NT-proBNP; C-reactive protein was not a significant predictor). Among biomarkers considered, only GDF-15 predicted noncardiovascular death (hazard ratio 1.6 [1.4 to 2.0], P<0.0001). Growth differentiation factor-15 improved discrimination and modestly but significantly improved reclassification for all-cause and noncardiovascular mortality with borderline improvement for cardiovascular mortality; NT-proBNP significantly improved reclassification for all-cause and for cardiovascular mortality; C-reactive protein did not improve reclassification for any end point tested. Participants in the highest quartile of both GDF-15 and NT-proBNP had an increased risk of death compared with participants with only NT-proBNP elevated (hazard ratio 1.5 [1.1 to 2.0], P=0.01). Conclusions— Growth differentiation factor-15 is a strong predictor of all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality in community-dwelling older individuals, adding incremental value to traditional risk factors and to NT-proBNP and C-reactive protein levels.
Visual Object Recognition with Supervised Learning

Supervised learning Over the last four years, our team at MIT developed a supervised-learning approach to address vision perception in machines. The research is rooted in the mathematical foundations of learning and paralleled by neuroscience studies. For instance, radial basis function networks, which originated from the mathematics of learning theory, suggested a viewbased model for biological object recognition.1 Psychophysical data2 and physiological experiments in cortex3 found evidence for view-tuned neurons that the model had predicted. In our work, we distinguish between two main object recognition tasks: categorization and identification. We use the term categorization for betweenclass object classification (such as classification between faces and other objects) and identification for within-class object classification (such as recognizing someone’s face among other faces). Our approach considers recognition a supervisedlearning problem. We label a set of training images and use the labels for training the classifier. In categorization, the label specifies the class of the object in the image; in identification, it specifies the individual object. We train the learning module with a set of input-output examples, which are image pairs and their associated labels. The learning task’s difficulty depends on the training set’s size and composition and on how much the training examples cover the variability required for generalization. For instance, the learning module couldn’t identify a face from any viewpoint if trained with only a single view of that face. Conversely, the same module, if trained with a large set of examples covering the relevant variability, might perform the task. Although we trained our component-based systems on various object classes, this article focuses on human faces. Face recognition has a wide variety of real-world applications, ranging from humanmachine interfaces to surveillance systems.
Secondary Control for Microgrids Using Potential Functions : Modeling Issues

The power system of the future is an intelligent grid capable of a number of functionalities. These functionalities will enable the power system to exhibit behaviours that enhance the reliability and security of the power system. This modern power system is called the smart grid. In order to ensure proper operation of the smart grid, it is important that its constituent parts operate satisfactorily. An integral part of the smart grid is a microgrid. Therefore, it is necessary that a control strategy for the microgrid in both grid-connected and islanded modes be devised. In this paper, a method for secondary control of microgrids is proposed to ensure their long-term stable operation under various load conditions and different configurations. In this method, a potential function is defined for each controllable entity of the microgrid, and a central controller devises the set of set points that optimize the overall operation of the microgrid.
Added value of CORDEX‐SA experiments in simulating summer monsoon precipitation over India

Regional climate models (RCMs) serve as an important tool to perform high resolution climate simulations for a limited area. However, there remains a crucial issue regarding the efficacy of RCMs that whether they are able to produce added value (AV) in representing the regional climatic features compared to their coarse scale driving Global climate models (GCMs). The present study aims at assessing the AV of a set of RCM simulations performed under the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiments‐South Asia (CORDEX‐SA) compared with their respective driving GCMs in representing the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) precipitation and its dynamical features. For this purpose, the performance of RCMs and GCMs is compared for the present day climate (1970–2005) against observations and reanalysis datasets in terms of various ISM features, that is, the spatial distribution of precipitation, the evolution of vertical shear of zonal wind and the onset phase of ISM in terms of delayed or early arrival of monsoon. The RCMs show a clear improvement upon their corresponding driving GCMs in simulating spatial features of precipitation distribution that are characteristically associated with ISM. Regionally, the RCMs also show skill in capturing the precipitation amount as a reduction in bias is found compared with their driving GCMs. There is a significant improvement in the simulation of onset dates of ISM by only some of the experiments particularly, RegCM4 driven with IPSL‐CM5A‐LR. The study concludes that the present set of CORDEX‐SA RCM simulations do indeed add value to their driving GCMs for a number of features associated with the ISM precipitation but this value varies with region, driving GCM and the particular feature of ISM under focus.
Indigenous Patch Clamp Technique: Design of Highly Sensitive Amplifier Circuit for Measuring and Monitoring of Real Time Ultra Low Ionic Current through Cellular Gates

The importance of Noble prize winning “Patch Clamp Technique” is well documented. However, Patch Clamp Technique is very expensive and hence hinders research in developing countries. In this paper, detection, processing and recording of ultra low current from induced cells by using transimpedence amplifier is described. The sensitivity of the proposed amplifier is in the range of femto amperes (fA). Capacitive-feedback is used with active load to obtain a 20MΩ transimpedance gain. The challenging task in designing includes achieving adequate performance in gain, noise immunity and stability. The circuit designed by the authors was able to measure current in the range of 300fA to 100pA. Adequate performance shown by the amplifier with different input current and outcome result was found to be within the acceptable error range. Results were recorded using LabVIEW 8.5® for further research.