Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoraggio dello stato di salute delle api in cinque Aree Naturali Protette italiane

Parole chiave Gestione degli alveari, Inquinamento ambientale, Mortalità delle api, Monitoraggio, Aree Naturali Protette. Riassunto Il presente studio riporta i risultati del monitoraggio dello stato di salute delle api effettuato da ottobre 2009 a dicembre 2010 in cinque Aree Naturali Protette italiane, scelte per rappresentare le aree biogeografiche alpina, continentale e mediterranea. All'interno di ciascuna è stato posizionato un apiario di 20 alveari vicino a potenziali fonti di inquinamento (ad esempio aree agricole, aree industriali o insediamenti urbani) e un altro apiario di 20 alveari lontano da possibili fonti di inquinamento. Per monitorare lo stato di salute delle api, è stata messa in relazione la mortalità degli alveari con la presenza di malattie delle api, con l'ambiente (Naturality Index, presenza di prodotti fitosanitari ed esposizione a metalli pesanti) e la gestione dell’apiario. Non sono stati osservati effetti significativi degli inquinanti di origine antropica e dei patogeni sulla mortalità degli alveari, mentre la capacità di gestione degli alveari da parte degli apicoltori è risultata strettamente correlata alla mortalità delle colonie. Monitoraggio dello stato di salute delle api in cinque Aree Naturali Protette italiane
Endogenous expression of UNC-59/Septin in C. elegans

Figure 1: Expression pattern of exc-7::gfp in the OH16020 strain. exc-7 was endogenously tagged at its genomic locus with a gfp::3xflag tag (A). Embryonic expression (B) was observed in the excretory canal cell (arrow) and other unidentified cells (*). Broad expression was observed in L1 (C) and young adult head (D’), mid body (D’’), and tail (D’’’), including the excretory canal cell at both stages (arrow). In young adult, individual neurons expressing exc-7 were identified in the head (E’) and in the ventral nerve cord (E’’). All exc-7 expressing neurons are listed in panel (F) (grey box). Scale bar, 10 μm.
Approaching Archival Photographic Collections with Advanced Image Retrieval Technology

Nowadays, the volume of archival photographic collections is increasing with an unprecedented pace, posing significant challenges to traditional text-based image management systems. Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) technology has made considerable progress after two decades of intensive research. Instead of using text annotation, it directly uses visual content to conduct image search, making it more efficient in handling large collections. This paper introduces a prototype image retrieval system that applies the state-of-the-art CBIR technology to the archival photographic collection of National Archives of Australia, and discusses the advantages that it can bring forth. From the demonstrated result, it can be expected that CBIR technology will make important contributions to archival management and research in the digital era.
A Survey on Topology based Reactive Routing Protocols in Vanets

VANETS comes under the shadow of MANETS. It provides a prominent approach to the intelligent transport system. In this paper, we have explained the different number of topology-based reactive routing protocols for the smart transport system. Vanets provides many applications with its infrastructure less topology like traffic information, vehicle safety etc. Designing a new and efficient routing protocol for all the applications of vanets is very difficult so we have compared all the protocols with a detailed analysis so that we may find the best among them after that we may improve the routing process by considering the different types of parameters. At first, we will discuss about the basics of vanets and its characteristics later we will discuss the categories of routing protocols and their comparative analysis.
Guidelines for estimating causal effects in pragmatic randomized trials

Pragmatic randomized trials are designed to provide evidence for clinical decision-making rather than regulatory approval. Common features of these trials include the inclusion of heterogeneous or diverse patient populations in a wide range of care settings, the use of active treatment strategies as comparators, unblinded treatment assignment, and the study of long-term, clinically relevant outcomes. These features can greatly increase the usefulness of the trial results for patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders. However, these features also introduce an increased risk of non-adherence, which reduces the value of the intention-to-treat effect as a patient-centered measure of causal effect. In these settings, the per-protocol effect provides useful complementary information for decision making. Unfortunately, there is little guidance for valid estimation of the per-protocol effect. Here, we present our full guidelines for analyses of pragmatic trials that will result in more informative causal inferences for both the intention-to-treat effect and the per-protocol effect.
Cardiac Arrest with Multi-vessel Coronary Artery Disease and Successful Treatment After Long Conventional Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: How Long Is Too Long?

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common killer disease, responsible for about one-third of all deaths at ages above 35. The majority of all survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests present to the emergency department (ED) with an initial shockable rhythm (ventricular fibrillation or pulse-less ventricular tachycardia), which is a predictor of survival. Odds for survival are less for non-shockable rhythm and favorable neurologic outcomes decrease as the length of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) increases. The median time-to-return of spontaneous circulation among those with favorable neurological outcomes is less than 10 minutes. On the other hand, a large review of more than 64,000 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrests showed that patients with longer median resuscitation times had a greater chance of the return of spontaneous circulation and survival to discharge. We described a case of prolonged resuscitation lasting almost three hours of CPR followed by successful percutaneous intervention with a favorable neurologic outcome.
Stellar population models based on the SDSS-IV MaStar library of stellar spectra – I. Intermediate-age/old models

We use the first release of the SDSS/MaStar stellar library comprising ∼9000, high S/N spectra, to calculate integrated spectra of stellar population models. The models extend over the wavelength range 0.36–1.03 µm and share the same spectral resolution ($R\sim 1800$) and flux calibration as the SDSS-IV/MaNGA galaxy data. The parameter space covered by the stellar spectra collected thus far allows the calculation of models with ages and chemical composition in the range $\rm {\mathit{ t}\gt 200 \,Myr, -2 \lt = [Z/H] \lt = + 0.35}$, which will be extended as MaStar proceeds. Notably, the models include spectra for dwarf main-sequence stars close to the core H-burning limit, as well as spectra for cold, metal-rich giants. Both stellar types are crucial for modelling λ > 0.7 µm absorption spectra. Moreover, a better parameter coverage at low metallicity allows the calculation of models as young as 500 Myr and the full account of the blue horizontal branch phase of old populations. We present models adopting two independent sets of stellar parameters (Teff, log g, [Z/H]). In a novel approach, their reliability is tested ‘on the fly’ using the stellar population models themselves. We perform tests with Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds globular clusters, finding that the new models recover their ages and metallicities remarkably well, with systematics as low as a few per cent for homogeneous calibration sets. We also fit a MaNGA galaxy spectrum, finding residuals of the order of a few per cent comparable to the state-of-art models, but now over a wider wavelength range.
An evaluation of the efficiency of similarity functions in density-based clustering of spatial trajectories

ABSTRACT Spatiotemporal movement pattern discovery has stimulated considerable interest due to its numerous applications, including data analysis, machine learning, data segmentation, data reduction, abnormal behaviour detection, noise filtering, and pattern recognition. Trajectory clustering is among the most widely used approaches of extracting interesting patterns in large trajectory datasets. In this paper, regarding the optimal performance of density-based clustering, we present a comparison between eight similarity measures in density-based clustering of moving objects’ trajectories. In particular, Distance Functions such as Euclidean, L1, Hausdorff, Fréchet, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW), Longest Common SubSequence (LCSS), Edit Distance on Real signals (EDR), and Edit distance with Real Penalty (ERP) are applied in DBSCAN on three different datasets with varying characteristics. Also, experimental results are evaluated using both internal and external indices. Furthermore, we propose two modified validation measures for density-based trajectory clustering, which can deal with arbitrarily shaped clusters with different densities and sizes. These proposed measures were aimed at evaluating trajectory clusters effectively in both spatial and spatio-temporal aspects. The evaluation results show that choosing an appropriate Distance Function is dependent on data and its movement parameters. However, in total, Euclidean distance proves to show superiority over the other Distance Functions regarding the Purity index and EDR distance can provide better performance in terms of spatial and spatio-temporal quality of clusters. Finally, in terms of computation time and scalability, Euclidean, L1, and LCSS are the most efficient Distance Functions.
Effect of Cholecalciferol Supplementation on Glycemic Control, Beta Cell Function and Insulin Resistance among Type 2 Diabetics Attending the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic Affiliated to Suez Canal University Hospital, Ismailia City, Egypt

Background: Diabetes is a complex chronic illness that adversely affects patients' quality of life. Approximately 425 million adults (20-79 years) were living with diabetes in 2017. Vitamin D levels had been shown to alter insulin synthesis and secretion suggesting its role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Aim of Study: To promote the quality of care provided to type 2 diabetic patients in the family practice setting. Patients and Methods: This is a randomized controlled trial conducted on 60 uncontrolled type 2 diabetics. Patients were randomly allocated to Vitamin D 3 group; received oral daily 2000IU of Cholecalciferol plus their usual care and a control group; received only their usual care for 3 months. Baseline anthropometrics, blood pressure, FBS, HBA 1 C, fasting insulin, HOMA indices and lipid profile were measured and repeated after 3 months. Results: No statistically significant sociodemographic differences were found between both groups. The majority were younger than 60 years, hypertension was found in 76.7% of them. There were post intervention statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between both groups in blood pressure, FBS and HOMA-β . The pre-post relation in the intervention group shows statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in blood pressure, FBS, fasting insulin, HOMAβ and HOMAIR. There is a statistically significant positive correlation between HBA 1 C, blood pressure, and FBS. Conclusion: Adding a daily dose of 2000IU of oral Vitamin D 3 for type 2 diabetic patients may be beneficial through improving blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and HOMA-β .
DNMT 3 A-448 A > G polymorphism and the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma

DNA-methyltransferase (DNMT) 3A plays a signifi cant role in carcinogenesis. Findings of a previous study suggested an association between the DNMT3A -448A>G single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and susceptibility to gastric cancer (GC) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy, with a similar expression pattern to GC. The aim of this casecontrol study was to determine whether there is an association between DNMT3A gene polymorphism and susceptibility to HCC. Real-time quantitive PCR (qPCR) was employed to detect DNMT3A expression in tumor and non-cancer liver tissue from 13 HCC patients. An increased expression of DNMT3A was detected, as well as -448A>G polymorphisms of DNMT3A promoter by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), confirmed by sequencing. The distribution of -448A>G polymorphisms was examined in 108 HCC patients and 225 healthy controls who were matched for age and gender. The association of -448A>G polymorphisms of DNMT3A and the risk of HCC was evaluated by stratified analysis according to the patient's age and gender. The allele frequency of -448A among HCC patients and the controls was 24.07 vs. 24.22%, respectively. The frequency of genotypes GG, AG, AA was 55.56 vs. 56.89%, 40.74 vs. 37.78%, 3.7 vs. 5.33%, respectively. The results indicated that -448A>G is not associated with susceptibility to HCC, although -448A>G is a functional single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and increased the expression of DNMT3A in HCC cases. Findings of the present study suggested that the DNMT3A -448A>G polymorphism is an insufficient biomarker to predict the susceptibility to HCC.
Ocular Manifestations of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Complications of Hydroxychloroquine Treatment

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune disease. Ocular manifestations of RA vary and are mainly keratoconjunctivitis sicca, episcleritis, scleritis and keratitis. Antimalarial drugs [hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ)] have been used for the treatment of RA. Objective: The aim of this study was to study the ocular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis and the complications of the use of hydroxychloroquine in treatment. Patients and methods: A prospective study that was conducted at Al-Zahraa University Hospital. The study included a total of 80 eyes of 40 patients. Patients were divided into two groups: Group (1) 20 RA patients not using HCQ treatment and group (2) 20 RA patients using HCQ treatment. All patients underwent complete ophthalmic examination including SD-OCT. Results: the most ocular manifestations found in patients were keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) 93.8%, scleritis and episcleritis 2.5%, acute anterior uveitis (AAU) and sclerosing keratitis 1.3%. Regarding SD-OCT finding comparing between the two groups, we found signs of early HCQ retinopathy in patients of group 2 in the form of parafoveal and perifoveal thining compared to group 1. Conclusion: RA is associated with many extra-articular manifestations, HCQ and CQ used in treatment of RA have significant efficacy and safety, but with long duration of using can cause retinopathy, and follow up of patients is necessary to detect early retinopathy.
A model for the dynamic coordination of multiple competing goals

A general framework for the problem of coordination of multiple competing goals in dynamic environments for physical agents is presented. This approach to goal coordination is a novel tool to incorporate a deep coordination ability to pure reactive agents. The framework presented is based on the notion of multi-objective optimisation. In this article we propose a kind of ‘aggregating functions’ formulation with the particularity that the aggregation is weighted by means of a dynamic weighting unitary vector , which is dependent from the system dynamic state allowing the agent to dynamically coordinate the priorities of its single goals. This dynamic weighting unitary vector is represented as a (n − 1) set of angles. The dynamic coordination must be established by means of a mapping between the state of the agent's environment S to the set of angles Φ i (S) by means of any sort of machine-learning tool. In this work, we investigate the use of Reinforcement Learning as a first approach to learn that mapping.
A Fast Encoding Method of QC-LDPC Code Used in ABS-S System

First, the paper introduces a new generation satellite broadcasting system in China named Advanced Broadcasting System-Satellite (ABS-S) that offers system performance and service versatility suitable for future satellite digital broadcasting. Meanwhile the new system utilizes fixed frame structure to realize the CCM, VCM and ACM working modes adopted by DVB-S2 system to further simplify the complexity of the implementation. Secondly, this paper points out the shortcomings of LDPC code used in DVB-S2 and detailedly describes the LDPC code used in ABS-S. Then, based on the simulation result, we can say that the performance of LDPC codes used in ABS-S is better than that of DVB-S2 and the complexity is also lower than that of DVB-S2. At last, we put forward a fast method to encode the QC-LDPC code used in ABS-S system.
Effect of L-Arginine and Selenium on Metabolic Features, Insulin Resistance and Hepatic Function Tests in Obese Women

To investigate the beneficial effect of L-arginine and selenium along with hypocaloric diet on metabolic features, insulin resistance and hepatic function tests this study were conducted on women with central obesity. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was undertaken among 68 premenopausal women with central obesity. After 2 weeks of run-in period of an isocaloric diet, participants were randomly assigned into four groups of hypocaloric control diet (HCD), Larginine (5 g / d) + HCD, selenium (200 µg / d) + HCD, or L-arginine + selenium + HCD for 6 weeks. The following variables were assessed at baseline (start of intervention) and 3 and 6 weeks after intervention: Waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting serum concentrations of triglyceride (TG), High-density lipoprotein-cholestrol (HDL-C), fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin, homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartat aminotransferase (AST). When t-test was used for data analysis, HCD reduced SBP (P = 0.009) and TG (P = 0.05); HCD + L-arginine reduced WC more than HCD (P = 0.008); HCD + Selenium reduced fasting serum concentration of ALT (P = 0.007); and selenium reduced fasting serum concentrations of insulin (P = 0.05) and HOMA - IR (P = 0.04), after 6 weeks of interventions. The study showed beneficial effects of L-arginine on central obesity, selenium on insulin resistance and hepatic function and HCD on blood pressure and serum lipid profile.
Trastuzumab (T) and CNS metastases in women with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC)

683 Background: A high rate of CNS metastases has been described in women with MBC over-expressing HER-2 who receive T-based therapy. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of and potential risk factors for CNS metastases in these women. Our a priori hypotheses were that in MBC patients treated with T, CNS metastases occurred: 1) more frequently than historical controls, and 2) in women with controlled systemic disease. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 28 patients with MBC cancer over-expressing HER-2 and treated with T and chemotherapy was performed. Results: 22/25 (88%) patients who initially responded to T had progressed by the time of analysis. CNS metastases occurred in 11/28 (39%) patients and the remaining 11 patients had progressed elsewhere. At diagnosis of CNS metastases, 9/11 (82%) patients had controlled systemic disease (CR=2, PR=6, SD=1, PD=2 patients). There were trends for patients with CNS metastases to have > 1 site of metastatic disease at the commencement of T thera.
Data sharing in group work

Data sharing is fundamental to computer-supported cooperative work: 'people share information through explicit communication channels and through their coordinated use of shared databases. Database support tools are therefore critical to the effective implementation of software for group work. This paper surveys data sharing requirements for group work, highlighting new database technologies that are especially likely to affect our ability to build computer systems supporting group work.
Uncertainty as a Tool in Software Engineering

Uncertainty can be harmful in some cases and beneficial in other cases. At the beginning, the software universe only appreciates the beneficial side of uncertainty, although it took advantage of it. Software is practically useless without uncertainty. Nowadays, uncertainty is more used as a tool but this is not recognized and it causes several problems. In that sense, this work proves uncertainty can be used as a tool in order: 1) to simplify descriptive and uncertainty complexity; it means, to reduce development and maintenance effort. 2) To analyse and forecast key properties of software engineering components. 3) To appreciate relations between these components and the harmonic place corresponding to each of them. In short, this work proves uncertainty dimension is a basic element in the current theoretical framework of software engineering.
Pharmacokinetics of oral 17 beta-estradiol.

Abstract The pharmacokinetics of oral 17 beta-estradiol (E2) were evaluated: only a limited amount of information is available on the subject. Because of the first passage hepatic effect, the blood levels of estrone (E1) are greater than those of E2; similar profiles exist for oral E1 sulfate, micronized E2 and E2 valerate. However, the short-term effects of oral E2 versus E1 on hepatic parameters may vary somewhat. Peak levels of E1 and E2 are achieved four hours after the administration of 1 mg of E2 and average 200 and 40-50 pg/mL, respectively. A dose-response relationship exists for serum levels achieved after oral E2 administration. Twelve-hour values are representative of the 24-hour profile. With prolonged use, the 24-hour levels may be equally representative and serum E2 levels increase, suggesting some cumulative effects. Smoking enhances the hepatic metabolism of oral estrogen and results primarily in a lower unbound E2 level.
Using the chemical equilibrium partitioning space

F. Wania, Y. D. Lei, C. Wang, J. P. D. Abbatt, and K. -U. Goss Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada Department of Analytical Environmental Chemistry, Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig-Halle, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Chemistry, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Straße 2, 06120 Halle, Germany
Relationship of Internal Social Capital and Organization Performance

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrated model to examine the relationship between internal social capital, knowledge creation, core competence and firm performance. It takes into account the moderating role of product modularity and explains how a firm’s internal social capital to recognize the value of knowledge creation, assimilate core competence and in turn facilitate financial performance.
Improving Evidence Detection by Leveraging Warrants

Recognizing the implicit link between a claim and a piece of evidence (i.e. warrant) is the key to improving the performance of evidence detection. In this work, we explore the effectiveness of automatically extracted warrants for evidence detection. Given a claim and candidate evidence, our proposed method extracts multiple warrants via similarity search from an existing, structured corpus of arguments. We then attentively aggregate the extracted warrants, considering the consistency between the given argument and the acquired warrants. Although a qualitative analysis on the warrants shows that the extraction method needs to be improved, our results indicate that our method can still improve the performance of evidence detection.