Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analyzing the Vegetation Parameterization in the TU-Wien ASCAT Soil Moisture Retrieval

In microwave remote sensing of the Earth's surface, the satellite signal holds information on both soil moisture and vegetation. This necessitates a correction for vegetation effects when retrieving soil moisture. This paper assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the existing vegetation correction as part of the Vienna University of Technology (TU-Wien) method for soil moisture retrieval from coarse-scale active microwave observations. In this method, vegetation is based on a multiyear climatology of backscatter variations related to phenology. To assess the plausibility of the correction method, we first convert the correction terms for retrievals from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) into estimates of vegetation optical depth τa using a water-cloud model. The spatial and temporal behaviors of the newly developed τa are compared with the optical depth retrieved from passive microwave observations with the land parameter retrieval model τp. Spatial patterns correspond well, although low values for τa are found over boreal forests. Temporal correlation between the two products is high (R = 0.5), although negative correlations are observed in drylands. This comparison shows that τa and thus the vegetation correction method are sensitive to vegetation dynamics. Effects of the vegetation correction on soil moisture retrievals are investigated by comparing retrieved soil moisture before and after applying the correction term to modeled soil moisture. The vegetation correction increases the quality of the soil moisture product. In areas of high interannual variability in vegetation dynamics, we observed a negative impact of the vegetation correction on the soil moisture, with a decrease in correlation up to 0.4. It emphasizes the need for a dynamic vegetation correction in areas with high interannual variability.
Microsimulation model predicts survival benefit of radiofrequency ablation and stereotactic body radiotherapy versus radiotherapy for treating inoperable stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE A subset of patients with stage IA and IB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is ineligible for surgical resection and undergoes radiation therapy. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and stereotactic body radiotherapy are newer potentially attractive alternative therapies. MATERIALS AND METHODS We added RFA and stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment modules to a microsimulation model that simulates lung cancer's natural history, detection, and treatment. Natural history parameters were previously estimated via calibration against tumor registry data and cohort studies; the model was validated with screening study and cohort data. RFA model parameters were calibrated against 2-year survival from the Radiofrequency Ablation of Pulmonary Tumor Response Evaluation (RAPTURE) study, and stereotactic body radiotherapy model parameters were calibrated against 3-year survival from a phase 2 prospective trial. We simulated lifetime histories of identical patients with early-stage NSCLC who were ineligible for resection, who were treated with radiation therapy, RFA, or stereotactic body radiotherapy under a range of scenarios. From 5,000,000 simulated individuals, we selected a cohort of patients with stage I medically inoperable cancer for analysis (n = 2056 per treatment scenario). Main outcomes were life expectancy gains. RESULTS RFA or stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment in patients with peripheral stage IA or IB NSCLC who were nonoperative candidates resulted in life expectancy gains of 1.71 and 1.46 life-years, respectively, compared with universal radiation therapy. A strategy where patients with central tumors underwent stereotactic body radiotherapy and those with peripheral tumors underwent RFA resulted in a gain of 2.02 life-years compared with universal radiation therapy. Findings were robust with respect to changes in model parameters. CONCLUSION Microsimulation modeling results suggest that RFA and stereotactic body radiotherapy could provide life expectancy gains to patients with stage IA or IB NSCLC who are ineligible for resection.
Gamma Tropomyosin Gene Products Are Required for Embryonic Development

ABSTRACT The actin filament system is essential for many cellular functions, including shape, motility, cytokinesis, intracellular trafficking, and tissue organization. Tropomyosins (Tms) are rod-like components of most actin filaments that differentially affect their stability and flexibility. The Tm gene family consists of four genes, αTm, βTm, γTm (Tm5 NM, where “NM” indicates “nonmuscle”), and δTm (Tm4). Multiple isoforms of the Tm family are generated by alternative splicing of three of these genes, and their expression is highly regulated. Extensive spatial and temporal sorting of Tm isoforms into different cellular compartments has been shown to occur in several cell types. We have addressed the function of the low-molecular-weight Tms encoded by the γTm gene by eliminating the corresponding amino-terminal coding sequences from this gene. Heterozygous mice were generated, and subsequent intercrossing of the F1 pups did not result in any viable homozygous knockouts. Genotype analysis of day 2.5 morulae also failed to detect any homozygous knockouts. We have failed in our attempts to delete the second allele and generate in vitro double-knockout cells, although 51 clones displayed homologous recombination back into the originally targeted locus. We therefore conclude that low-molecular-weight products from the γTm gene are essential for both embryonic development and cell survival.
Improved asymptotical stability criteria for static recurrent neural networks

In this paper, the problem of asymptotical stability for static recurrent neural networks is investigated. Based on delay partitioning approach and a new Lyapunov–Krasvoskii functional, delay-independent conditions are proposed to ensure the asymptotic stability of the static recurrent neural networks. The delay-independent conditions are less conservative than the existing ones. Expressed in linear matrix inequalities, the stability conditions can be checked using the standard numerical software. Two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and the reduced conservatism of the proposed results.
A general purpose RNA-cleaving DNA enzyme.

An in vitro selection procedure was used to develop a DNA enzyme that can be made to cleave almost any targeted RNA substrate under simulated physiological conditions. The enzyme is comprised of a catalytic domain of 15 deoxynucleotides, flanked by two substrate-recognition domains of seven to eight deoxynucleotides each. The RNA substrate is bound through Watson-Crick base pairing and is cleaved at a particular phosphodiester located between an unpaired purine and a paired pyrimidine residue. Despite its small size, the DNA enzyme has a catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) of approximately 10(9) M-1.min-1 under multiple turnover conditions, exceeding that of any other known nucleic acid enzyme. Its activity is dependent on the presence of Mg2+ ion. By changing the sequence of the substrate-recognition domains, the DNA enzyme can be made to target different RNA substrates. In this study, for example, it was directed to cleave synthetic RNAs corresponding to the start codon region of HIV-1 gag/pol, env, vpr, tat, and nef mRNAs.
A Vibroacoustic Model of Selected Human Larynx Diseases

With the present development of digital registration and methods for processing speech it is possible to make effective objective acoustic diagnostics for medical purposes. These methods are useful as all pathologies and diseases of the human vocal tract influence the quality of a patient’s speech signal. Diagnostics of the voice organ can be defined as an unambiguous recognition of the current condition of a specific voice source. Such recognition is based on an evaluation of essential acoustic parameters of the speech signal. This requires creating a vibroacoustic model of selected deformations of Polish speech in relation to specific human larynx diseases. An analysis of speech and parameter mapping in 29-dimensional space is reviewed in this study. Speech parameters were extracted in time, frequency and cepstral (quefrency) domains resulting in diagrams that qualified symptoms and conditions of selected human larynx diseases. The paper presents graphically selected human larynx diseases.
Customer Relationship Management as Tool to Enhance Competitive Effectiveness: Model Revisited

Abstract Maintaining collaborative relationships of a business firm with the customer is very important in the contemporary competitive business scenario, besides the service rendered by it. Against this backdrop, the study was undertaken which aims to analyse the customer relationship management (CRM) practices and dimensions in the business. The past research studies were reviewed and the CRM frameworks given by the various authors, in particular of Sin, Tse, and Yim (2005, European Journal of Marketing, 11(12), 1264–1290), were critically examined. The research article based on the study revisited the four behavioural dimensions of CRM. A total of 225 respondents were conveniently contacted from banks and hotel establishments. In view of the challenges faced by the business organizations in the contemporary scenario, in particular in the service sector, this article identified and discusses ‘customer prospecting’ and ‘personalization’ as additional practices/dimensions that need to be incorporated to design a robust CRM framework which has been presented as revisited model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) had been used to validate the revisited model. These dimensions, though need to be ratified in the future research.
Energy-efficient coordinated user scheduling and power control in downlink multi-cell OFDMA networks

This paper considers the problem of energy-efficient communication in the downlink of a cellular OFDMA network. User scheduling and power allocation are jointly optimized across a cluster of coordinated base stations so as to maximize the weighted sum of the energy efficiencies on the available resource slots under a per-subcarrier power constraint. The asymptotic noise-limited regime is also discussed as a special case. Numerical results show that there is a wide range of operating regimes where a moderate reduction of the data rate can provide a large saving in terms of dissipated energy.
‘I owe my life to the kind individual who called the helpline’: exploring the interplay of self-views and social distance in narrative advertising on domestic violence prevention in India and the United States

Abstract The persuasiveness and popularity of narratives in commercial advertising has gained much attention but its application in inculcating responsible behaviour is severely limited. Domestic violence against women is a global issue and there is a dire need for effective bystander intervention campaigns. This two-part study delved into how narratives could be employed to elicit favourable ad attitudes and encourage bystanders to report instances of domestic abuse in their neighbourhood. Study 1 focused on testing the effectiveness of narratives in two culturally diverse countries – India and the United States. In general, findings showed that narratives (vs. non-narratives) were more persuasive in both countries. As the next step, using culture (interdependence vs. independence) and social distance (parents vs. neighbours), Study 2 found narratives with a socially proximal entity (parents) to be more persuasive in India while no differences between countries were observed for the socially distant entity (neighbours). Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
RF refocused echoes of J‐coupled spin systems: Effects on RARE‐based spectroscopic imaging

A numerical simulation tool was developed to calculate the echo amplitudes of J‐coupled resonances within a series of radiofrequency (RF) refocused echoes. The signal modulation due to J‐coupling in rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) is suppressed only when the inverse of the pulse interval (τ) is large compared to both the chemical shift (CS) difference (Δδ) of the coupled spins and the coupling constant. In contrast, the echo amplitudes in ultrafast low‐flip‐angle RARE (U‐FLARE) oscillate around a quasi‐steady‐state value that is greater than zero (neglecting relaxation and diffusion) even when Δδ > 1/τ. The flip‐angle distribution over the measured slice caused by the use of Gaussian‐shape slice‐selective refocusing pulses further reduces the echo oscillations. When the pulse interval falls short of the fast pulse rate regime, spectroscopic U‐FLARE provides an improved spatial impulse response in the phase‐encoding (PE) direction compared to spectroscopic RARE. Magn Reson Med 57:967–971, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Altered Ex Vivo Expression of Caspase 8, Caspase 9, and Bcl-2 Is Associated with T-Cell Hyporeactivity in Patients with Paracoccidioidomycosis

ABSTRACT To better understand the T-cell hyporesponsiveness of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis, we tested the hypothesis that the T cells were committed to apoptosis. We show here that T cells of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis overexpress caspase 9 and caspase 8 but express low Bcl-2 levels and that interleukin-2 was unable to revert the hyporesponsiveness. These data suggest that the T cells would in vivo be driven to a tolerant state and apoptosis.
[Expression of E-cadherin and uPA and their prognostic value in carcinoma of human larynx.].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of E-cadherin (ECD) and uPA in laryngeal cancer and evaluate their clinical value in prognosis. METHODS ECD and uPA were determined by immunohistochemistry of Envision methods in carcinoma tissues of 51 patients of laryngeal carcinoma. All patients were followed and the prognostic factors were analyzed. RESULTS Among 51 patients' tumor tissues, 24 (47.1%) were negative expression of ECD, and 26 (51.0%) were positive uPA immunoreaction was observed. There were four subgroups of patterns of ECD and uPA expression: 14 (27.1%) ECD-positive/uPA-negative, 13 (25.5%) ECD-negative/uPA-negative, 11 (21.6%) ECD-positive/uPA-positive, and 13 (25.5%) ECD-negative/uPA-positive. The tumor tissues with ECD-negative and uPA-positive expression were significant associated with lymph nodes metastasis (chi(2) = 5.545, 5.79, P = 0.019, 0.016 respectively). Patients with ECD-negative expression had a shorter survival than the patients with ECD positive expression but no statistic difference (chi(2) = 2.534, P > 0.05). Patients with uPA-positive expression had a significantly shorter survival time than those with uPA-negative expression (chi(2) = 6.259, P < 0.05). There was a difference for the median survival time between the patients with uPA-negative/ECD-positive and the patients with uPA-positive/ECD-negative in laryngeal cancer tissue (chi(2) = 6.559, P = 0.01), and the survival curves between these two groups was also statistically significant difference. Multivariate analysis of Cox revealed that clinical stage and ECD/uPA (P = 0.009, 0.007 respectively) were two independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS The combination analysis of uPA and ECD immunohistochemical expression in the laryngeal cancer tissue may be useful for predicting tumor metastatic risks and patient's prognosis.
Transcranial shear-mode ultrasound imaging Characterization of Point Spread Function and assessment of excitation techniques

This study presents work on an imaging technique that utilizes shear-wave propagation through the skull. The pulse-echo point spread functions (PSF) were obtained by imaging a point scatterer behind ex vivo human craniums at 1 MHz. Brightness images of the target obtained with either shear-mode or conventional longitudinal-mode transmission in the bone were assessed to quantify distortions to the PSF. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) limitations introduced by severe attenuation of shear-waves in the skull were overcome with frequency modulated (FM) coded excitations.
The Impact of innovativeness and collaboration complexity on university spin-off funding

The importance of university spin-offs has been widely acknowledged by literature. R&D collaborations with these spin-offs increasingly arise in order to gain access to researchers’ knowledge externalities and research competencies. Existing research found these collaborations to be beneficial to the innovative performance and commercialization process. However, acquiring funding is crucial to achieve this, which still has a limited research availability. Specifically the early stage success factors for acquiring funding support. The purpose of this study is to investigate in the impact of innovativeness and collaboration complexity within university spin-off development projects on the final decision of a Dutch funding agency for funding support. In order to test the hypotheses, 113 research proposals were analyzed by conducting a binary logistic regression. Findings indicate a positive effect of the innovativeness and collaboration complexity on the final decision for funding support. This study can be used for future university spin-offs engaging in R&D collaborations by taking these factors into consideration to increase the likelihood of acquiring funding support, which consequently helps to prevent project failure at the early stage.
Presentations and management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the elderly: a need for investigation

With an aging population increasing presentations of cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be expected to old age services. While progress has been made in recent years in relation to the understanding and development of aetiological theories, classification, assessment and management strategies and protocols in the adult population, similar advances have lagged behind for the elderly.
Control of a water delivery canal with cooperative distributed MPC

This article addresses the problem of controlling pool levels in a water delivery canal using a novel cooperative distributed MPC control algorithm that incorporates stability constraints. According to a distributed control strategy, a local control agent is associated to all canal gates (actuators). In order to achieve cooperative action, each control agent computes the corresponding gate position (manipulated variable) by performing the minimization of a cost function that considers not only its local control objectives, but also the ones of their immediate neighbors. For this purpose, a MPC algorithm with stability constraints is used (SIORHC). At the beginning of each sampling interval, local control agents exchange information with their neighbors and adjust their decisions in an iterative way. The resulting distributed MPC is denoted D-SIORHC and yields a stable closed-loop. Experimental results are provided to show the influence of the controller configuration parameters on the resulting performance.
1 Reinforcement vs . Balance Response in Sequential Choice

Psychologists often explore the impact of one act on a subsequent related act. With an eye to the marketing literature, this paper explores two properties of sequential choices that involve the resolution of competing goals. Reinforcement occurs when the goals driving the first choice are made stronger by that choice and result in a congruent subsequent choice. Balance occurs when the first choice satisfies or extinguishes the goals that led to the original decision, producing an incongruent subsequent choice. This review relates a number of psychological frameworks that account for reinforcement or balance responses in sequential choice, and identifies theoretically relevant moderating variables that lead to either response.
Review: Does Measurement of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow Reflect Synaptic Activity?—Implications for PET and fMRI

The energy metabolism of the adult human brain almost completely depends on glucose. The functional coupling of regional cerebral blood flow and local cerebral glucose metabolism has been established in a wide range of experiments using autoradiographic techniques in rats, cats, and monkeys as well as double-tracer techniques in humans. Glucose utilization in turn reflects neuronal activity and more specifically synaptic, mainly presynaptic, activity. The majority of glucose is needed for the maintenance of membrane potentials and restoration of ion gradients. PET as well as fMRI may be used to study changes in blood flow or flow-related phenomena in human subjects in vivo. Both techniques monitor changes of synaptic activity in a population of cells. These changes may be due to excitation or inhibition. More than 85% of cerebral glucose is used by neurons (mainly presynaptic axon terminals), while the remainder may at least partly account for metabolic processes in glial cells. Monitoring of regional cerebral blood flow with PET or fMRI thus mainly reflects neuronal and more specifically (pre-) synaptic activity.
Neutralization test in influenza: use in individuals without hemagglutination inhibition antibody

In influenza immunization trials, patients who were seronegative by the hemagglutination inhibition test could be divided into two groups according to preimmunization levels of neutralizing (Neut) and neuraminidase inhibition (NI) antibodies. The group with low levels of Neut and NI antibodies usually developed adequate levels of hemagglutination inhibition antibody after one dose of vaccine, and the group with undetectable Neut and NI antibodies did not.
Effect of Organizational Culture and Business Climate Within the Work Environment on Transfer of Training From the Perspective of Workers in Palestinian Government Hospitals

This study aims to identify the impact of organizational culture and business climate within the work environment on transfer of training from the perspective of workers in government hospitals in the northern West Bank. This study will attempt to establish more of these factors impact on the process of the transfer of training. The study attempts to examine hypotheses about the impact of (organizational culture, business climate) at the level of significance (0.05) on the transfer of training within the work environment from the perspective of the employees in government hospitals in the northern West Bank. This is a study of the reviewed studies, which depends on the resolution as a tool to gather information which has been applied to government hospitals in the northern West Bank. Where the study sample consisted of all health workers in government hospitals in the northern West Bank in each of the National Hospital, and Rafedia, and Thabet Thabet, Qalqilya, Jenin and Salfit, the study sample reached (486(. The results of the study indicated that the model was able to provide interpretation of 78.9 % of the transfer of training, 46.6 % related to organizational culture factors while 32.5 % related to the work environment. The study concluded that the previous models, which addressed the issue of the transfer of training to the work environment, has succeeded in explaining this phenomenon in the context of various social and economic problems, which gives a broader dimension to the transfer of training