Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Support Vector Machine and Neural Network Classification of Metallic Objects Using Coefficients of the Spheroidal MQS Response Modes

Two different supervised learning algorithms, support vector machine (SVM) and neural networks (NN), are applied in classifying metallic objects according to size using the expansion coefficients of their magneto-quasistatic response in the spheroidal coordinate system. The classified objects include homogeneous spheroids and composite metallic assemblages meant to resemble unexploded ordnance. An analytical model is used to generate the necessary training data for each learning method. SVM and NN are shown to be successful in classifying three different types of objects on the basis of size. They are capable of fast classification, making them suitable for real-time application. Furthermore, both methods are robust and have a good tolerance of 20-dB SNR additive Gaussian noise. SVM shows promise in dealing with noise due to uncertainty in the object's position and orientation.
Transient increase in the risk of breast cancer after giving birth.

BACKGROUND The effect of pregnancy on the risk of breast cancer is not clear. We tested the hypothesis that the risk of breast cancer increases transiently after pregnancy but then falls to a level below that of age-matched nulliparous women. METHODS We conducted a case-control study of a nationwide cohort in Sweden, using a computerized record linkage between the Cancer Registry and the Fertility Registry. The study subjects were women born from 1925 through 1960 who were resident citizens of Sweden at the time of the 1960 census. A total of 12,666 patients with breast cancer were compared with 62,121 age-matched control subjects. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios for the development of breast cancer at different ages, according to maternal age at first delivery (in uniparous as compared with nulliparous women) and age at second delivery (in biparous as compared with uniparous women). RESULTS Uniparous women were at higher risk of breast cancer than nulliparous women for up to 15 years after childbirth and at lower risk thereafter. The excess risk was most pronounced among women who were older at the time of their first delivery (odds ratio 5 years after delivery among women 35 years old at first delivery, 1.26; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.10 to 1.44). Women who had two pregnancies had a less striking increase in risk. CONCLUSIONS Pregnancy has a dual effect on the risk of breast cancer: it transiently increases the risk after childbirth but reduces the risk in later years. In women with two pregnancies, the short-term adverse effect is masked by the long-term protection imparted by the first pregnancy. A plausible biologic interpretation is that pregnancy increases the short-term risk of breast cancer by stimulating the growth of cells that have undergone the early stages of malignant transformation but that it confers long-term protection by inducing the differentiation of normal mammary stem cells that have the potential for neoplastic change.
Congenital limb deficiencies in newborn infants: prevalence, characteristics and prenatal diagnosis

Congenital limb deficiency (CLD) occurs in 0.54 to 0.59/1000 live‐born infants and varies according to its anatomic location, type and cause. Our aim was to present a fetus with a prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis of CLD (transverse reduction deficiency of the left upper limb), and to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of CLD at a tertiary medical centre in Israel. Among 78 500 live‐born infants, there were 24 cases of CLD (0.31/1000): 45.8% of the CLD cases with affected upper limbs, 45.8% with affected lower limbs, and 8.4% with both limbs affected; 88.4% of the limb deficiencies were longitudinal and 11.6% were transverse; and, 33.3% (8/24) of the affected newborn infants had additional congenital anomalies. We conclude that CLD is not an infrequent finding in live‐born infants. Comprehensive ultrasonography of the fetus allows early prenatal diagnosis of CLD and provides the parents with important information and helps them in their decision regarding the fate of the pregnancy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Metabolic and performance effects of warm‐up intensity on sprint cycling

Warm‐up is generally considered beneficial for performance, although the reduction in anaerobic glycolytic metabolism may be detrimental to sprinting. This study examined the effect of warm‐up intensity on metabolism and performance in sprint cycling. The mean power was determined during a 1‐min sprint on 11 trained males preceded by easy (WE), moderate (WM) or hard (WH) warm‐up and a 10‐min recovery. Aerobic, anaerobic glycolytic and phosphocreatine energy provision to the sprint was determined from oxygen uptake and lactate production. Blood lactate concentration before the sprint increased with the warm‐up intensity (WE: 1.2±0.3; WM: 2.0±0.3; WH: 4.2±0.9 mmol/L, P<0.001), with WH reducing the increase in lactate production during exercise vs WE (WE: 11.6±1.6; WM: 10.9±1.9; WH: 9.2±1.4 mmol/L, P<0.05). Despite the lower relative anaerobic glycolytic energy provision in WH vs WE (WH: 38±5; WM: 36±6; WE: 34±3%, P<0.05), the mean power was unaffected (WE: 516±28; WM: 521±26; WH: 526±34 W, P>0.05) due to increased oxygen uptake in WH during the sprint (WE: 3.2±0.4; WM: 3.3±0.3; WH: 3.4±0.4 liters, P<0.05). This study supports a warm‐up‐induced reduction in glycolytic rate, although sprint performance, at least of a long duration, may be maintained due to increased oxygen utilization.
Plasma Delivery of Retinoic Acid to Tissues in the Rat (*)

All-trans-retinoic acid (RA) activates ligand-dependent transcription factors that regulate retinoid-responsive gene expression. It is assumed that all-trans-RA is formed within cells through in situ oxidation of retinol derived from the circulation. However, the circulation contains low levels of all-trans-RA (approximately 0.2-0.7% of that of plasma retinol). Our studies investigated the extent to which plasma all-trans-RA contributes to tissue pools of this retinoid and explored factors responsible for regulating its uptake by tissues and cells. Rats were continuously infused, to steady state, with all-trans-[3H]RA. From measures of specific activities of all-trans-[3H]RA at steady state, we determined that the preponderance of all-trans-RA in brain and liver was derived from the circulation. For six other tissues, approximately 10-30% of the retinoid was derived from the circulation, but pancreas and testis derived very little from the circulating pool. In other studies, we showed that retinoid nutritional status influences clearance of a bolus dose of all-trans-RA and that neither the rate of cellular all-trans-RA uptake nor its intracellular half-life is influenced by cellular lipid levels. Taken together, our data indicate that plasma all-trans-RA contributes to tissue pools of this retinoid and that specific and physiologically responsive cellular processes mediate its uptake.
Fixing Faults in C and Java Source Code

We carried out a family of controlled experiments to investigate whether the use of abbreviated identifier names, with respect to full-word identifier names, affects fault fixing in C and Java source code. This family consists of an original (or baseline) controlled experiment and three replications. We involved 100 participants with different backgrounds and experiences in total. Overall results suggested that there is no difference in terms of effort, effectiveness, and efficiency to fix faults, when source code contains either only abbreviated or only full-word identifier names. We also conducted a qualitative study to understand the values, beliefs, and assumptions that inform and shape fault fixing when identifier names are either abbreviated or full-word. We involved in this qualitative study six professional developers with 1--3 years of work experience. A number of insights emerged from this qualitative study and can be considered a useful complement to the quantitative results from our family of experiments. One of the most interesting insights is that developers, when working on source code with abbreviated identifier names, adopt a more methodical approach to identify and fix faults by extending their focus point and only in a few cases do they expand abbreviated identifiers.
Adding and Reversing Arcs in Semicomplete Digraphs

Let T be a semicomplete digraph on n vertices. Let ak(T) denote the minimum number of arcs whose addition to T results in a k-connected semicomplete digraph and let rk(T) denote the minimum number of arcs whose reversal in T results in a k-connected semicomplete digraph. We prove that if n[ges ]3k−1, then ak(T)=rk(T). We also show that this bound on n is best possible.
Propagation of slow waves in the guinea‐pig gastric antrum

Intracellular recordings were made from the circular layer of the intact muscular wall of the guinea‐pig gastric antrum in preparations where much of the corpus remained attached. When two electrodes were positioned parallel to and near to the greater curvature, slow waves were first detected at the oral site and subsequently at the anal site: the oro‐anal conduction velocity was found to be 2.5 mm s−1. When one electrode was positioned near the greater curvature and the other at a circumferential location, slow waves were first detected near the greater curvature and subsequently at the circumferential site: the circumferential conduction velocity was 13.9 mm s−1. When recordings were made from preparations in which the circular muscle layer had been removed, the oro‐anal and the circumferential conduction velocities were both about 3.5 mm s−1. When slow waves were recorded from preparations in which much of the myenteric network of antral interstitial cells (ICCMY) had been dissected away, slow waves were first detected near the region of intact ICCMY and subsequently at a circumferential location: the circumferential conduction velocity of slow waves in regions devoid of ICCMY was 14.7 mm s−1. When the electrical properties of isolated single bundles of circular muscle were determined, their length constants were about 3 mm and their time constant about 230 ms, giving an asymptotic electrotonic propagation velocity of 25 mm s−1. Oro‐anal electrical coupling between adjacent bundles of circular muscle was found to vary widely: some bundles were well connected to neighbouring bundles whereas others were not. Together the observations suggest that the slow oro‐anal progression of slow waves results from a slow conduction velocity of pacemaker potentials in the myenteric network of interstitial cells. The rapid circumferential conduction of slow waves results from the electrical properties of the circular muscle layer which allow intramuscular ICC (ICCIM) to support the radial spread of slow waves: regions of high resistance between bundles prevent the anally directed spread of slow waves within the circular layer.
Effect of environmental conditions on the relationship between solar‐induced fluorescence and gross primary productivity at an OzFlux grassland site

Recent studies have utilized coarse spatial and temporal resolution remotely sensed solar‐induced fluorescence (SIF) for modeling terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP) at regional scales. Although these studies have demonstrated the potential of SIF, there have been concerns about the ecophysiological basis of the relationship between SIF and GPP in different environmental conditions. Launched in 2014, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐2 (OCO‐2) has enabled fine‐scale (1.3 by 2.5 km) retrievals of SIF that are comparable with measurements recorded at eddy covariance towers. In this study, we examine the effect of environmental conditions on the relationship of OCO‐2 SIF with tower GPP over the course of a growing season at a well‐characterized natural grassland site. Combining OCO‐2 SIF and eddy covariance tower data with a canopy radiative transfer and an ecosystem model, we also assess the potential of OCO‐2 SIF to constrain the estimates of Vcmax, one of the most important parameters in ecosystem models. Based on the results, we suggest that although environmental conditions play a role in determining the nature of relationship between SIF and GPP, overall, the linear relationship is more robust at ecosystem scale than the theory based on leaf‐level processes might suggest. Our study also shows that the ability of SIF to constrain Vcmax is weak at the selected site.
Polymorphisms of alpha-adducin and salt sensitivity in patients with essential hypertension.

BACKGROUND Abnormalities in renal sodium transport may be involved in hypertension. Adducin, an alpha/beta heterodimeric protein found in the renal tubule is thought to regulate ion transport through changes in the actin cytoskeleton. We investigated whether an alpha-adducin polymorphism (Gly 460 Trp) is involved in essential hypertension in two separate populations. METHODS Linkage analysis of three DNA markers at different distances from the alpha-adducin locus (20-2500 kb) was done in 137 hypertensive sibling-pairs. 477 hypertensive and 322 normotensive individuals were genotyped for the alpha-adducin polymorphism. The blood-pressure response to acute and chronic changes in sodium balance was studied in hypertensive individuals with and without the 460 Trp alpha-adducin allele. FINDINGS Significant linkage was found for all three markers in the sibling-pair study. The extra shared alleles (9.1%, 6.5%, and 4.7%) and the significance level for linkage (p = 0.0006, p = 0.0119, and p = 0.0211) both decreased with increasing distance from the alpha-adducin locus. There was a significant association between the 460 Trp mutation and hypertension (p = 0.0003). In the salt-sensitivity test, to assess the acute blood-pressure response to changes in body sodium in 86 hypertensive patients, the decrease in mean arterial pressure was greater in 65 patients who were heterozygous for the mutant allele (Gly/Trp) than in 21 wild-type homozygotes (Gly/Gly) (mean decrease 15.9 [SE 2.0] vs 7.4 [1.3] mm Hg; p = 0.001). Similarly, 21 heterozygous hypertensive patients showed a greater fall in mean arterial pressure in response to 2 months' treatment with hydrochlorothiazide than did 37 wild-type homozygous hypertensive patients (mean decrease 14.7 [2.2] vs 6.8 [1.4] mm Hg; p = 0.002). INTERPRETATION Our findings of significant linkage of the alpha-adducin locus to essential hypertension and greater sensitivity to changes in sodium balance among patients with the mutant allele suggest that alpha-adducin is associated with a salt-sensitive form of essential hypertension. We suggest the alpha-adducin polymorphism may identify hypertensive patients who will benefit from diuretic treatment or manoeuvres to reduce total body sodium.
Acute Myocardial Infarction by Right Coronary Artery Occlusion Presenting as Precordial ST Elevation on Electrocardiography

It is rare to observe ST-segment elevation in only the anterior leads and not the inferior leads during right coronary artery occlusion. We describe a case with acute myocardial infarction (MI) by right coronary artery occlusion who developed ST-segment elevation only in the precordial leads V1 to V3.
Blessèd pain relief.

Increased prescription of opioids leads to improved care, particularly for patients with cancer pain. If you share that opinion, you may find you change your mind about the situation in Germany after reading the article “Increase in Opiate Prescription in Germany Between 2000 and 2010: A Study Based on Insurance Data” by Ingrid Schubert, Peter Ihle, and Rainer Sabatowski (1). There was indeed a 37% increase in the rate of opioid prescription in the authors’ sample between 2000 and 2010, together with a 109% increase in total daily doses. Distinguishing between different preparations of WHO step 2 and step 3 opioids and between patients with and without cancer disease shows the following: While the prescription of immediate release preparations of WHO step 2 opioids decreased moderately, there was a marked increase in the frequency of prescription of immediate release WHO step 3 opioids. The prevalence of treatment with extended release WHO step 3 opioids was similar in patients with and without cancer in the year 2000, but 10 years later the treatment prevalence in patients without cancer disease was almost double that in in patients with cancer disease. A particularly sharp rise was observed in the prescription volume of fentanyl. Overall, 76.7% of all opioids prescribed in 2010 were for patients without cancer disease. The proportion of long-term treatments (>90 days) rose from 4.3% to 7.5% during the observation period. Despite all the limitations of using routine data from health insurance providers, the study by Schubert et al. highlights some alarming trends. The steep increase in the prescription frequency of immediate release WHO step 3 opioids and the intensification of opioid treatment in patients without cancer disease may point to the same kind of undesirable developments in opioid treatment that have already been described in other European countries and especially in the USA.
Pulse Pressure – Independent Predictor of Poor Early Outcome and Mortality following Ischemic Stroke

Background: Pulse pressure (PP) in acute stroke may be related to the outcome. The link between PP in the first week following ischemic stroke and early outcome was assessed. Methods: We calculated mean PPs during the first 7 days after stroke onset in 1,677 patients. Poor outcome at hospital discharge was defined as a modified Rankin scale score of 3 or more points or death. Logistic regression was developed to evaluate PP as an independent predictor of early outcome. Results: For patients with poor outcomes the mean PP during the first week was higher than that for patients with non-poor outcomes. A logistic regression model confirmed that elevated mean PP was independently associated with poor outcome at discharge and 30-day mortality. Conclusion: Elevated PP during the acute phase of ischemic stroke is an independent predictor of poor early outcome at hospital discharge and 30-day mortality.
A 0.5-V 1.28-MS/s 10-bit SAR ADC with switching detect logic

This paper presents a 10-bit successive approximation register (SAR) ADC with a detect logic for DAC switching. The proposed switching detect logic can avoid switch power wasted and reduce the impact of capacitor mismatch from the layout parasitic as well as improve the resolution performance of SAR ADC. The ADC consumes 3 uW at 0.5-V supply and 1.28-MS/s sampling rate, achieves high ENOB and FOM performance of 9.95-bit and 2.36 fJ/conversion-step, respectively. This SAR ADC is fabricated with the TSMC 90 nm CMOS process and occupies an active area of 238μm×200μm.
The conditioning theory of fear-acquisition: a critical examination.

The conditioning theory of fear-acquisition is outlined and the supporting evidence and arguments presented. It is argued that the theory lacks comprehensiveness and is also inadequate in other respects. Six arguments against acceptance of the theory are advanced. People fail to acquire fears in what are theoretically fear-evoking situations (e.g. air raids). It is difficult to produce conditioned fear reactions in human subjects in the laboratory. The theory rests on the untenable equipotentiality premise. The distribution of human fears is not consistent with the theory. Many phobic patients recount histories inconsistent with the theory. Lastly, fears can be acquired indirectly, contrary to the demands of the conditioning theory. It is suggested that fears can be acquired by three pathways: conditioning, vicarious exposures and by the transmission of information and instruction. Vicarious and informational transmission of fears can take place in the absence of direct contact with the fear stimuli.
Plant Diseases Detection Based on Color Features and Kapur’S Method

Plant diseases have become an important issue because they cause important reduction in each quality and amount of agricultural products. Automatic detection of plant diseases is an important analysis topic because it could significantly help in observation giant fields, and enable automatic detection the symptoms of diseases as soon as they appear on the plant leaves. In this paper an algorithm for plant disease detection using different color models is proposed and tested. Plant leaf images were first transformed into RGB, YCbCr, HSI or CIELAB color model. Noise in transformed image was reduced by applying median filter. At the end, disease spots were detected by using Kapur’s thresholding method. Based on the experimental results, HSI color model is the most suitable for automatic plant disease detection, while RGB is practically unusable.
Tracing energy flow in stream food webs using stable isotopes of hydrogen

Summary 1. Use of the natural ratios of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes as tracers of trophic interactions has some clear advantages over alternative methods for food web analyses, yet is limited to situations where organic materials of interest have adequate isotopic separation between potential sources. This constrains the use of natural abundance stable isotope approaches to a subset of ecosystems with biogeochemical conditions favourable to source separation. 2. Recent studies suggest that stable hydrogen isotopes (δD) could provide a robust tracer to distinguish contributions of aquatic and terrestrial production in food webs, but variation in δD of consumers and their organic food sources are poorly known. To explore the utility of the stable hydrogen isotope approach, we examined variation in δD in stream food webs in a forested catchment where variation in δ13C has been described previously. 3. Although algal δD varied by taxa and, to a small degree, between sites, we found consistent and clear separation (by an average of 67‰) from terrestrial carbon sources. Environmental conditions known to affect algal δ13C, such as water velocity and stream productivity did not greatly influence algal δD, and there was no evidence of seasonal variation. In contrast, algal δ13C was strongly affected by environmental factors both within and across sites, was seasonally variable at all sites, and partially overlapped with terrestrial δ13C in all streams with catchment areas larger than 10 km2. 4. While knowledge of isotopic exchange with water and trophic fractionation of δD for aquatic consumers is limited, consistent source separation in streams suggests that δD may provide a complementary food web tracer to δ13C in aquatic food webs. Lack of significant seasonal or spatial variation in δD is a distinct advantage over δ13C for applications in many aquatic ecosystems.
Implementation and evaluation of particle filtering for indoor positioning

We implement the classic k-nearest neighbours probabilistic indoor positioning algorithm and compare its performance against two more modern variants, namely the Compass method and a particle filtering approach. Our implementation runs on off-the-shelf mobile hardware and uses the Android platform to realistically appraise the effectiveness of all algorithms in a practical setting. The parameters used in the implementation are outlined in detail and an investigation of optimal values is conducted to ensure adequate algorithmic performance. Our results indicate that while an indoor positioning estimate to within a few meters can be achieved there is significant variance in accuracy. The methods examined do not differ significantly in performance and generally follow the same effectiveness trends, which suggests that further research is needed to draw confident conclusions on their efficacy. We make the implementation of the positioning systems as well as the evaluation tools available to the community to encourage further research and aid duplication of results.