Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) growth divergence along a latitudinal gradient in Western Mediterranean mountains

Abstract• Most studies of tree-growth and climate report positive responses to global warming in high latitudes and negative responses at lower ones. • We analyzed tree-ring width of Pinus nigra Arn. along a 500 km latitudinal transect in the Iberian Peninsula to study the temporal trend and climate forcing in tree radial growth during the last century. • Tree growth was enhanced by cool summers and moist cold seasons. Increased moisture stress has decreased tree growth rates. However, we present evidence of growth increases in some trees in all sampled populations after 1980’s. Climate change negatively (positively) affected between 72% (5%) of trees in the southern populations and 40% (25%) in the north Trees with positive growth trends were favored by winter temperatures and their abundance was inversely correlated with forest productivity. • Our findings add evidences of tree growth divergence in the Mediterranean basin and show the gradual transition between forests where positive (temperate and boreal) and negative (Mediterranean) growth trends dominate. Résumé• La plupart des études sur la croissance de l’arbre en relation avec le climat rapportent des réponses positives au réchauffement climatique dans les hautes latitudes et des réponses négatives dans les basses latitudes. • Pour étudier l’évolution temporelle et le forçage climatique dans la croissance radiale des arbres au cours du siècle dernier, nous avons analysé la largeur des cernes chez Pinus nigra Arn. le long d’un transect latitudinal de 500 km dans la Péninsule Ibérique. • La croissance des arbres a été augmentée par des étés frais et des saisons froides humides. L’augmentation du stress hydrique a diminué les taux de croissance des arbres. Cependant, nous présentons la preuve de l’augmentation de la croissance de certains arbres dans toutes les populations échantillonnées après 1980. Le changement climatique a négativement (positivement) affecté entre 72 % (5 %) des arbres dans les populations du Sud et 40 % (25 %) dans les arbres du Nord avec des tendances de croissance positives qui ont été favorisées par les températures hivernales et leur abondance étaient inversement corrélée à la productivité forestière. • Nos résultats ajoutent des preuves de la divergence de croissance des arbres dans le bassin méditerranéen et montrent la transition progressive entre les forêts où les tendances positives (zones tempérées et boréales) et négatives (zone méditerranéenne) de croissance dominent.
What We Have Here Is Failure to Communicate: A Rejoinder to Ferguson and Ferguson

The Fergusons’ response to our review of the social and affective characteristics of children with mild disabilities was nonresponsive to the purpose and scope of our review of the empirical literature, as well as to the conclusions we drew from it. Their rebuttal on ways of knowing is typical of a constructivist perspective on the field of disabilities, in which personal anecdotes and opinions are on equal footing with empirical evidence drawn from systematically controlled studies. It is unfortunate that the Fergusons chose to interpret our review from the well-worn and tired perspective of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH) on full inclusion, an ideologically driven movement for the severely, not the mildly, disabled. We are concerned that our review provided a pulpit from which constructivists such as the Fergusons could preach their ideological gospel.
Design of even and ODD components of lowpass paraunitary 2-channel filters

This paper addresses the problem of obtaining real FIR paraunitary filters. In this work, we present an algorithm which designs the even and odd components of 2-channel FIR orthogonal lowpass filters. We show that any vector of length L may contain the even coefficients of an 2L-tap orthogonal filter (up to a factor); moreover, we explain how to compute the odd part of such filter. In the lowpass case, we give a sufficient condition on the vector in order to design lowpass paraunitary filters. To illustrate our method, some examples of lowpass 4-taps filters are designed.
The Emergence and Loss of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone in Protostomes: Orthology, Phylogeny, Structure, and Function1

Abstract Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GNRH) is a neuropeptide critical for reproductive activation and maintenance in vertebrates. The recent elucidation of molluscan GNRH-like sequences led to several important questions regarding the evolution of the GNRH family. For instance, are molluscan and chordate GNRHs true orthologs? Has GNRH been retained in most protostomian lineages? What was the function of the ancestral GNRH? The goal of this review is to provide a critical analysis of GNRH evolution based on data available from the known forms of protostomian GNRH. Judging from the orthology between chordate and protostomian GNRH receptors, conservation of several structural motifs on the GNRH peptide, and exon/intron arrangement conserved between protostomian and chordate GNRH genomic sequences, we conclude that chordate and protostomian GNRHs likely share a common ancestor. Based on our analysis of phylogenetic distribution, we also hypothesize that GNRH may have been lost in the ecdysozoan lineage but preserved in lophotrochozoans. Lastly, we propose that the ancestral function of GNRH is to serve as a general neural regulator, and its considerable specialization in reproduction seen in chordates is a consequence of neofunctionalization following gene duplication.
A Comparison of Criteria to Identify Inflammatory Breast Cancer Cases from Medical Records and the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Data base, 2007–2009

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a relatively rare and extremely aggressive form of breast cancer that is diagnosed clinically. Standardization of clinical diagnoses is challenging, both nationally and internationally; moreover, IBC coding definitions used by registries have changed over time. This study aimed to compare diagnostic factors of IBC reported in a U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry to clinical criteria found in the medical records of all invasive breast cancer cases at a single institution. We conducted a medical record review of all female invasive breast cancers (n = 915) seen at an NCI‐designated comprehensive cancer center in Detroit from 2007 to 2009. IBC cases were identified based on the presence of the main clinical characteristics of the disease (erythema, edema, peau d'orange). We compared the proportion of IBC out of all breast cancers, using these clinical criteria and the standard SEER IBC codes. In the reviewed cases, the clinical criteria identified significantly more IBC cases (n = 74, 8.1%) than the standard IBC SEER definition (n = 19, 2.1%; p < 0.0001). No IBC cases were identified in the cancer center records using the SEER pathologic coding, which requires the diagnosis of inflammatory carcinoma on the pathology report, a notation that is rarely made. Emphasis must be placed on the documentation of clinical and pathologic characteristics of IBC in the medical record, so that analysis of putative IBC subtypes will be possible. Our results indicate the need for a consensus on the definition of IBC to be utilized in future research.
What do adolescent girls learn about gender roles from advertising images

Purpose – A qualitative study by autovideography was conducted to examine adolescent girls' negotiation of their gender roles through the consumption of advertising images. This paper aims to document the study.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 20 adolescent girls aged 15 to 18 in Hong Kong were asked to take pictures from the media that could illustrate “what girls or women should or should not be and what girls or women should or should not do”. Advertising images captured by the interviewees and their interpretations of those images were analyzed.Findings – Seven dominant themes were isolated from the interpretations: appearance; personality; skills and work; activities, interests and lifestyle; family; health and safety; and caring for people and the environment. The findings show that adolescent girls pay much attention to images about slimming, body image and physical appearance. They criticized female images in ads as unrealistic but identified with female images that were natural and convent.
High Prevalence of Gonococcal and Chlamydial Infection in Men Who Have Sex With Men With Newly Diagnosed HIV Infection: An Opportunity for Same-Day Presumptive Treatment

Background:The increasing use of point-of-care HIV tests in sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics allows for rapid identification of patients with newly diagnosed HIV infection who may also be at risk for more common sexually transmitted infections. Positive point-of-care HIV test results might be used to identify and provide presumptive treatment to patients who are likely to be coinfected with gonorrhea (GC) and chlamydia (CT). Methods:Data from 6864 STD clinic visits by men who have sex with men (MSM) with no history of HIV infection and an HIV antibody test at that visit were analyzed. Results from rectal, pharyngeal, and urine nucleic acid amplification tests were used to calculate the prevalence of infection with GC and CT. Results:MSM with newly diagnosed HIV infection were more likely than HIV-uninfected MSM to be infected with GC (25.9% [53 of 205] vs. 10.9% [728 of 6659]; P < 0.001) and CT (18.5% [38 of 205] vs. 7.8% [518 of 6659]; P < 0.001). Conclusions:GC and CT are common in MSM with newly diagnosed HIV infection at an STD clinic. In this population, a positive point-of-care HIV test result is a useful risk marker for untreated gonococcal and chlamydial infections and provides a justification for presumptive GC and CT treatment.
Impaired nitroglycerin biotransformation in patients with chronic heart failure

Objective: Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) often require higher doses of nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate, GTN) than patients with normal cardiac function to achieve a given haemodynamic goal. Two pathways leading to biotransformation of GTN have been characterized; a high‐affinity pathway operative in nanomolar concentration ranges yielding predominantly 1,2‐glyceryl dinitrate (1,2‐GDN), and a low‐affinity pathway operative at higher, micromolar concentrations of GTN associated with a greater proportion of 1,3‐GDN formation. We tested the hypothesis that, at a given GTN‐induced blood pressure reduction, the CHF group would present with: (i) higher concentrations of GTN; and (ii) decreased ratios of 1,2‐GDN/GTN and 1,2‐GDN/1,3‐GDN compared with healthy subjects (HS).
Towards a Survey of the Deployment Space for Internet Applications

Internet applications are deployed over increasingly complex collections of devices located in network topologies of increasing variety. We seek to develop a complete development environment in which such applications can be designed, implemented and deployed. A major part of this will be the ability to specify the deployment of an application -- i.e. after designing the application as a set of components supports a number of tasks; the designer should be able to state where each component will reside and which technology it will use. In order to achieve this, the environment must embody all the deployment options so that the designer can choose from them. This paper is a first attempt to categorise and itemise the options which will be available.
Seated stepping exercise in a dual-task condition improves ambulatory function with a secondary task: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS A close relationship exists between dual-task (DT)-related gait changes and the risk of falling in the elderly. However, the impact of DT training on the incidence of falls in the elderly remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effects of a seated stepping exercise in DT conditions to improve walking ability in community-dwelling elderly. METHODS This was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in community-dwelling elderly in Japan. Fifty-three participants were randomly assigned to a DT group (stepping exercise in DT conditions, n=26) and a singletask (ST) group (stepping exercise in ST conditions, n=27). All participants received 50 min group training sessions, once a week for 24 weeks. Outcome measures were based on differences in walking ability in singletask (ST), cognitive-task (CT), and manual-task (MT) conditions between DT and ST groups. RESULTS Participants in the DT group showed significantly greater improvement in outcome measures, including 10-m gait speed, walking cadence, and cost during cognitive and manual tasks. The number of enumerated figures during CT, as well as the numbers of steps taken and of enumerated figures during stepping with MT demonstrated significant Group × Time interactions (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS This RCT suggests that the seated stepping exercise is more effective at improving ambulatory function in DT conditions than in ST conditions.
Formal models and verification of memory management in a hypervisor. (Modèles formels et vérification de la gestion de la mémoire dans un hyperviseur)

A hypervisor is a software which virtualizes hardware resources, allowing several guest operating systems to run simultaneously on the same machine. Since the hypervisor manages the access to resources, a bug can be critical for the guest Oses. In this thesis, we focus on memory isolation properties of a type 1 hypervisor, which virtualizes memory using Shadow Page Tables. More precisely, we present a low-level and a high-level model of the hypervisor, and we formally prove that guest OSes cannot access or tamper with private data of other guests, unless they have the authorization to do so. We use the language and the proof assistant developed by Prove & Run. There are many optimizations in the low-level model, which makes the data structures and algorithms complexes. It is therefore difficult to reason on such a model. To circumvent this issue, we design an abstract model in which it is easier to reason. We prove properties on the abstract model, and we prove its correspondence with the low-level model, in such a way that properties proved on the abstract model also hold for the low-level model. The correspondence proof is valid only for low-level states which respect some properties. We prove that these properties are invariants of the low-level system. The proof can be divided into three parts : the proof of invariants preservation on the low-level, the proof of correspondence between abstract and low-level models, and proof of the security properties on the abstract level.
Age limit for surgical treatment of poor-grade patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage: A project of the Chugoku-Shikoku division of the Japan neurosurgical society

Objective: Management of elderly patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) remains controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there is an age-dependent difference in the outcome of poor-grade SAH after surgical obliteration of the aneurysm. Methods: Data were reviewed retrospectively for 156 patients with poor-grade aneurysmal SAH at multiple centers in Chugoku and Shikoku, Japan. Patients were divided into age groups of 65-74 and ≥75 years old. Factors influencing a favorable outcome at discharge (Glasgow Outcome Scale, good recovery or moderately disabled) were determined using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: A favorable outcome at discharge was achieved in 37 of the 156 patients (23.7%). Advanced age (≥75 years old, P < 0.01), improvement of World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) Grade after admission (P = 0.02), Fisher grade (P < 0.001), and a low density area (LDA) associated with vasospasm on computed tomography (CT) (P < 0.01) were significantly associated with outcome. Multivariate analysis identified advanced age (≥75 years old, P = 0.01), Fisher group 4 (P = 0.002), and a new LDA associated with vasospasm on CT (P = 0.007) as predictors of a poor outcome in elderly patients with poor-grade SAH after surgical obliteration of the aneurysm. WFNS Grade V at admission (P = 0.052) was weakly associated with a poor outcome. Conclusions: Advanced age (≥75 years old), Fisher group 4, and LDA associated with vasospasm on CT were independent predictors of clinical outcome in elderly patients with poor-grade SAH. A favorable outcome in these patients occurred more frequently after Guglielmi detachable coil embolization than after surgical clipping, but without a significant difference.
Mental Health Perspectives Following the Gulf Oil Spill

© 2012 Guilford Publications, Inc. Howard J. Osofsky, M.D., Ph.D., is Kathleen and John Brick Chair, Professor, and Head of the LSU Health Sciences Center Department of Psychiatry in New Orleans, LA. Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D., is affiliated with LSU Health Sciences Center Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry in New Orleans, LA. Tonya C. Hansel, Ph.D., is affiliated with LSU Health Sciences Center Department of Psychiatry in New Orleans, LA. Address correspondence to Howard J. Osofsky, LSU Health Sciences Center Department of Psychiatry, 1542 Tulane Ave., 2nd Floor, New Orleans, LA 70112. E-mail: HOsofs@lsuhsc.edu. Commentary on “Lessons Learned from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill” Osofsky et al.
Site-heterogeneous mutation-selection models within the PhyloBayes-MPI package

Motivation: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the potential of codon substitution models for a variety of applications. However, the computational demands of these models have sometimes lead to the adoption of oversimplified assumptions, questionable statistical methods or a limited focus on small data sets. Results: Here, we offer a scalable, message-passing-interface-based Bayesian implementation of site-heterogeneous codon models in the mutation-selection framework. Our software jointly infers the global mutational parameters at the nucleotide level, the branch lengths of the tree and a Dirichlet process governing across-site variation at the amino acid level. We focus on an example estimation of the distribution of selection coefficients from an alignment of several hundred sequences of the influenza PB2 gene, and highlight the site-specific characterization enabled by such a modeling approach. Finally, we discuss future potential applications of the software for conducting evolutionary inferences. Availability and implementation: The models are implemented within the PhyloBayes-MPI package, (available at phylobayes.org) along with usage details in the accompanying manual. Contact: nicolas.rodrigue@ucalgary.ca
Determining the Smallest Emotional Unit for Level of Arousal Classification

Most state-of-the-art emotion recognition methods are based on turn- and frame-level analysis independent from phonetic transcription. Currently "affective computing" community could not specify the smallest emotional standard unit which can be easily classified and determined by any "advanced" and "non-advanced" listener. It is known that, acoustic modeling on the smallest phonetic unit (phoneme) started a new era in automatic speech recognition: switch from speaker dependent isolated word recognition to speaker independent continuous speech recognition. In or current research we showed that phoneme can be used as as smallest unit for high and low arousal emotion classification task. We trained our classifications models on the VAM dataset material and evaluated them on speech samples from the DES dataset. For our experiments we employed two different emotion classification approaches: general (phonetic pattern independent) and phoneme-based (phonetic pattern dependent). Both classification approaches used MFFC features extracted on the frame level. Our experimental results impressively show that the proposed phoneme-based classification technique could increase emotion classification performance by about 9.68% absolute (15.98% relative). We showed that phoneme-level emotion models trained on "natural" emotions could provide impressive classification performance on dataset with acted affective content.
A tale of two cohorts: Measuring and understanding the learning experience of the double cohort

The present study examines the extent of variation in learning experience between two concurrent cohorts of first year students as a result of Education Reform in Hong Kong (known as the double cohort): students under the existing academic structure being admitted to the old three-year curriculum and students under the new academic structure being admitted to the new four-year curriculum. The Student Learning Experience Questionnaire (SLEQ), an instrument designed to measure students’ learning experience in higher education was validated in the present study in a sample of 3102 first year students at a Hong Kong university, including 1445 students of the three-year cohort and 1657 students of the four-year cohort. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the scales of students’ perceptions of learning environment (active learning, feedback from teacher, motivation, clear goals and standards, and appropriate assessment) in the SLEQ measured correlated constructs in a five-factor structure. In the comparison between the two cohorts on the factorial structure, results from the multiplegroup confirmatory factor analysis imply that the two cohorts interpreted and responded to the studied scales in a similar manner. However, group difference existed between the two cohorts in their perceptions on feedback from teacher and clear goals and standards. These findings could enhance teaching and learning through a better understanding of the learning experience perceived by the double cohort. Implications of the present study to re-thinking higher education research, professional development and evaluation in globalized world (sub-theme of HERDSA 2014) will be addressed.
Multi-Agent System Design for Safety-Critical Self-Optimizing Mechatronic Systems with UML

One of the concepts proposed for controlling and optimizing the complex mechatronic systems that will emerge when mechatronic components formerly operating in isolation become interconnected is agent-oriented software. As mechatronic systems are often safety-critical, the inherent flexibility of such software seems to be at odds with the need for thorough validation and verification, however. The presented approach resolves this conflict by means of a specific UML based design approach for safety-critical multi-agent macroand micro-architectures. The macro-architecture ensures that all local interactions between agents are governed by a set of social rules, termed as culture, specified by means of patterns and roles. Employing compositional verification techniques, we can then preclude hazards addressed by the cultures for the entire system. In the micro-architectural view, agents can then be specified by refining the verified roles. Within the scope of correct refinements, the agents may employ selfoptimization techniques without invalidating the guarantees about safe system behavior made by the patterns.