Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An in situ study of the effects of surface anisotropy on the remote sensing of burned savannah

This Letter presents field‐based evidence of the perturbing effects of surface anisotropy on the remote sensing of burned savannah. The analysis is based on bidirectional spectral reflectance data collected at different solar illumination angles and convolved to Moderate‐resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) reflective bands. Results from a grass savannah site show that burning reduces the anisotropy of the surface compared to its pre‐burn state. In contrast, at a shrub savannah site, burning reduces or increases surface anisotropy. Spectral indices defined from 1.240 µm and 2.130 µm reflectance, and 1.640 µm and 2.130 µm reflectance, provided stronger diurnal separation between burned and unburned areas than individual reflectance bands but do not eliminate anisotropic effects. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provides weak diurnal separation relative to these near‐ and mid‐infrared based indices. Implications of the findings are discussed for burned area mapping.
Perioperative risk factors impact outcomes in emergency versus nonemergency surgery differently: Time to separate our national risk-adjustment models?

BACKGROUND Emergency surgery (ES) is acknowledged to be riskier than nonemergency surgery (NES). Yet, little is known about the relative impact of individual perioperative risk factors on 30-day outcomes in ES versus NES. METHODS Using the 2011–2012 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program nationwide database, the 20 most common ES procedures were identified by Current Procedural Terminology code. Current Procedural Terminology codes with less than 300 observations in either ES or NES were excluded. Emergency surgery cases were defined as “emergent” and “nonelective” per American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program criteria. Multivariable regression models were constructed to identify predictors of 30-day major morbidity and mortality (MMM) in each group, controlling for demographics, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, comorbidities, preoperative laboratory values, and procedure type. The odds ratios of independent predictors of MMM in ES and NES were derived then individually compared between the two groups; “effect modification” of procedure status (ES vs. NES) on each risk factor was subsequently calculated. RESULTS Of 986,034 patients, 170,131 met inclusion criteria (59,949 ES; 110,182 NES). The overall risk of MMM was significantly higher in ES versus NES (16.75% vs. 9.73%, p < 0.001; odds ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–1.24; p < 0.001). Of 40 ES- and 38 NES-identified independent risk factors, preoperative transfusion and white blood cell count of 4.5 × 103/&mgr;L or less carried significantly higher relative risk of MMM in ES versus NES. Conversely, ascites, preoperative anemia, and white blood cell count of 11 × 103/&mgr;L to 25 × 103/&mgr;L carried greater relative risk for MMM in NES. Four procedures (laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparotomy, and umbilical and incisional herniorrhaphy) were inherently riskier in ES versus NES. The effect modification of ES (vs. NES) ranged between 0.68 (0.52–0.88) for ascites and 2.56 (1.67–3.92) for umbilical hernia repair. CONCLUSIONS Perioperative risk factors and procedure type impact postoperative morbidity and mortality differently in ES versus NES. Instead of using the same risk-adjustment model for both ES and NES, as currently practiced, our findings strongly suggest the need to benchmark emergent and elective surgeries separately. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic/epidemiologic study, level III.
BreAst Cancer Segmentation Based On GVF snake

Breast cancer is a mysterious disease that forms through the formation of cancer in the cells of the breast. It is one of the most dangerous cancer diagnosed in women and may lead to the increasing number of deaths all over the world. In this paper, Gradient Vector Flow (GVF) Snake technique is proposed to detect cancerous cells in breast tissues. Ten images of mammograms were tested by using the GVF Snake technique. The mammography images were pre-processed at first using Gaussian Low Pass Filter to remove the unwanted noise and followed by contrast enhancement. After that, the GVF Snake technique is then used to segment the particular cancerous region in the breast tissue as it is allows for flexible initialization of deformable surface and encourages convergence to boundary concavities. The GVF Snake technique showed positive results in segmenting the cancerous region in breast tissue.
The origin of a descending pathway with monosynaptic action on flexor motoneurones.

The postsynaptic effects evoked in lumbar motoneurones were studied following electrical stimulation of the brain stem in the cat. The spinal cord was transected at the lower thoracic level leaving only the ipsilateral ventral quadrant intact. With a stereotactical method a low threshold focus was found in the medial brain stem from which monosynaptic EPSPs could be evoked in flexor motoneurones. It is concluded that this effect is mediated by fibres descending in the ipsilateral medial longitudinal fascicle and it is tentatively suggested that these fibres originate from the ipsilateral upper medullary or lower pontine reticular formation. Monosynaptic EPSPs were also evoked in some extensor motoneurones from this medial brain stem region and at such a strength of stimulation that stimulus escape to the lateral vestibulospinal tract is excluded.
The Medial Extended Amygdala in Male Reproductive Behavior A Node in the Mammalian Social Behavior Network

ABSTRACT: Hormonal and chemosensory signals regulate social behaviors in a wide variety of mammals. In the male Syrian hamster, these signals are integrated in nuclei of the medial extended amygdala, where olfactory and vomeronasal system transmission is modulated by populations of androgen‐ and estrogen‐sensitive neurons. Evidence from behavioral changes following lesions and from immediate early gene expression supports the hypothesis that the medial extended amygdala and medial preoptic area belong to a circuit that functions selectively in male sexual behavior. However, accumulated behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neuroendocrine data in hamsters, other rodents, and other mammals indicate that this circuit is embedded in a larger integrated network that controls not only male mating behavior, but female sexual behavior, parental behavior, and various forms of aggression. In this context, perhaps an individual animal's social responses can be more eaisly understood as a repertoire of closely interrelated, hormone‐regulated behaviors, shaped by development and experience and modulated acutely by the environmental signals and the hormonal milieu of the brain.
Camera calibration: active versus passive targets

Traditionally, most camera calibrations rely on a planar target with well-known marks. However, the localization error of the marks in the image is a source of inaccuracy. We propose the use of high-resolution digital displays as active calibration targets to obtain more accurate calibration results for all types of cameras. The display shows a series of coded patterns to generate correspondences between world points and image points. This has several advantages. No special calibration hardware is necessary because suitable displays are practically ubiquitious. The method is fully automatic, and no identification of marks is necessary. For a coding scheme based on phase shifting, the localization accuracy is approximately independent of the camera's focus settings. Most importantly, higher accuracy can be achieved compared to passive targets, such as printed checkerboards. A rigorous evaluation is performed to substantiate this claim. Our active target method is compared to standard calibrations using a checkerboard target. We perform camera, calibrations with different combinations of displays, cameras, and lenses, as well as with simulated images and find markedly lower reprojection errors when using active targets. For example, in a stereo reconstruction task, the accuracy of a system calibrated with an active target is five times better.
Title Ezrin interacts with the SARS coronavirus spike protein andrestrains infection at the entry stage

Background: Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and its envelope fusion with host cell membrane are controlled by a series of complex molecular mechanisms, largely dependent on the viral envelope glycoprotein Spike (S). There are still many unknowns on the implication of cellular factors that regulate the entry process. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed a yeast two-hybrid screen using as bait the carboxy-terminal endodomain of S, which faces the cytosol during and after opening of the fusion pore at early stages of the virus life cycle. Here we show that the ezrin membrane-actin linker interacts with S endodomain through the F1 lobe of its FERM domain and that both the eight carboxy-terminal amino-acids and a membrane-proximal cysteine cluster of S endodomain are important for this interaction in vitro. Interestingly, we found that ezrin is present at the site of entry of S-pseudotyped lentiviral particles in Vero E6 cells. Targeting ezrin function by small interfering RNA increased S-mediated entry of pseudotyped particles in epithelial cells. Furthermore, deletion of the eight carboxy-terminal amino acids of S enhanced S-pseudotyped particles infection. Expression of the ezrin dominant negative FERM domain enhanced cell susceptibility to infection by SARS-CoV and S-pseudotyped particles and potentiated S-dependent membrane fusion. Conclusions/Significance: Ezrin interacts with SARS-CoV S endodomain and limits virus entry and fusion. Our data present a novel mechanism involving a cellular factor in the regulation of S-dependent early events of infection. Citation: Millet JK, Kien F, Cheung C-Y, Siu Y-L, Chan W-L, et al. (2012) Ezrin Interacts with the SARS Coronavirus Spike Protein and Restrains Infection at the Entry Stage. PLoS ONE 7(11): e49566. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0049566 Editor: Stefan Pöhlmann, German Primate Center, Germany Received August 5, 2011; Accepted October 15, 2012; Published November 21, 2012 Copyright: 2012 Millet et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (RGC#760208); http://www.ugc. edu.hk/eng/rgc/index.htm. the RESPARI project of the International Network of Pasteur Institutes; http://www.hkupasteur. hku.hk/respari/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: beatrice.nal-rogier@brunel.ac. uk ¤a Current address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States, ¤b Current address: Centre for Infection, Immunity and Disease Mechanisms, Division of Biosciences, School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University, Uxbridge, United Kingdom
QoS adaptation in real-time systems

We propose to design, implement, and evaluate a software framework, called the Adaptware, that consists of architectural support, resource-management mechanisms, and programming abstractions for adapting Quality-of-Service (QoS) to dynamically-fluctuating resource capacity and demands. This framework is to reduce the cost and time of real-time software development by providing the infrastructure necessary for building reusable multi-purpose real-time software components. In much the same way as today's consumers can buy software and hardware components from different vendors and construct a computing environment tailored to their needs, the proposed framework will provide the means of building and integrating real-time system components so as to preserve their temporal correctness while making it possible to dynamically compute predictable end-to-end temporal guarantees commensurate with available resources. The benefits of our framework are demonstrated by building a testbed and executing representative applications, drawn from both soft real-time systems such as multimedia, and hard real-time systems such as automated flight and process control. Software development costs of these applications will be reduced significantly by separating real-time application design from resource-capacity assumptions on the target platform, hence facilitating changes in platform capacity, configuration or load. We also demonstrate how our abstraction of platform capacity (away from the programmer) can help build real-time systems that can tolerate a range of violations of their load and failure hypotheses by adapting application QoS dynamically to the resources available.
A combined Approach to Arabic Named Entity recognition Using SVM and Pattern Extracted method applied to Topic Detection

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is a clue task for automatic text processing that is required in a wide variety of applications. NER techniques range from handcrafted rules to machine learning approaches. In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of an Arabic Named Entity Recognition (ANER) System, based on machine learning approach. We used SVM classifier with a set of dependent and independent language features. We also investigate the use of patterns to ameliorate the ANER task by implementing an automatic pattern extractor framework based on Part Of Speech (POS) Information and linguistic filters. Finally, we investigate the impact of several features combinations on the performances of the developed system. Our system achieves an overall average F-measure value of 83,20%. To the best of our knowledge Named Entities vocabulary has never been used in Arabic documents topic's detection. We applied the ANER system using NEs as features for topic detection in a previously developed system [1]. The obtained results were very encouraging. Keywords—Automatic Natural Language Processing; Arabic Named Entity Recognition; Hybrid approach; Topic Detection; SVM; Pattern Extractor; Jaccard Indicator.
Fully plastic actuator through layer-by-layer casting with ionic-liquid-based bucky gel.

Printable electrical devices are attractive for the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) including sensors, switches, and micromachines. In particular, printable actuators that can infinitely operate in air at low voltages would give a breakthrough in the design of miniaturized mechanical devices. Conjugated polymers can be regarded as potential materials for the fabrication of such soft actuators. Although a few examples of conjugated polymer actuators that can work in air have been reported, their complicated configurations require multistage processing that involve, for example, sputter deposition of metallic layer electrodes and electrochemical deposition of polymer layers. Herein we report the first dry actuator that can be fabricated simply through layer-by-layer casting with “bucky gel”, a
Morphological and Immunohistochemical Characterization of Sarcomatous Tumors in Wild-Type and Genetically Engineered Mice

Malignant soft tissue tumors are commonly observed in wild-type and gene-targeted mice. These tumors have different degrees of differentiation, cellularity, cellular atypia, nuclear pleomorphism, normal and abnormal mitosis, and giant tumor cells with enlarged polylobulated nuclei. They are often diagnosed as pleomorphic sarcoma, undifferentiated sarcoma, fibrosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, sarcoma, or sarcoma, not otherwise specified. Pleomorphic sarcomas have no morphological differentiation toward a differentiated mesenchymal or other tumor type in hematoxylin and eosin–stained sections. With the use of immunohistochemistry, human and mouse, tumors associated with these broad nonspecific diagnoses can often be demonstrated to be of a specific cellular lineage. With mouse models being used to delineate the molecular mechanisms, pathogenesis, and cellular origin of human sarcomas, it will be necessary to correlate the morphological and cellular lineage and the molecular profiles of the pleomorphic tumors associated with these mouse models. The results presented here show that with the use of immunohistochemistry, the cellular lineage of many mouse tumors with pleomorphic features can be determined.
Psychotherapy in community methadone programs: a validation study.

OBJECTIVE The authors tested the efficacy of individual psychotherapy in the rehabilitation counseling of psychiatrically symptomatic opiate-dependent patients during methadone maintenance treatment in community programs. METHOD Volunteers in three community programs were randomly assigned to 24 weeks of counseling plus supplemental drug counseling or to counseling plus supportive-expressive psychotherapy. Follow-ups were done 1 and 6 months after treatment ended. A total of 84 subjects were evaluated at both follow-up points. RESULTS During the study the patients receiving supportive-expressive psychotherapy and those receiving drug counseling had similar proportions of opiate-positive urine samples, but the patients receiving supportive-expressive psychotherapy had fewer cocaine-positive urine samples and required lower doses of methadone. One month after the extra therapy ended both groups had made significant gains, but there were no significant differences between groups. By 6-month follow-up many of the gains made by the drug counseling patients had diminished, whereas most of the gains made by the patients who received supportive-expressive psychotherapy remained or were still evident; many significant differences emerged, all favoring supportive-expressive psychotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Psychotherapy can be delivered to psychiatrically impaired patients in community methadone programs. Additional counseling is associated with early benefits comparable to those from psychotherapy, but these gains are not sustained. The gains associated with psychotherapy persist and in some cases strengthen for at least 6 months after the end of therapy.
Proximate study, mineral and anti-nutrient composition of Moringa oleifera leaves harvested from Lafia, Nigeria: potential benefits in poultry nutrition and health

The leaves of Moringa oleifera were harvested from Lafia in Nasarawa State of Nigeria during the rainy season in June 2011 for proximate, mineral and phytochemical analysis. The results of proximate analysis revealed the presence of high crude protein (17.01% ±0.1) and carbohydrate (63.11% ±0.09). The leaves also contained appreciable amounts of crude fibre (7.09% ±0.11), ash (7.93% ± 0.12), crude fat (2.11% ±0.11) and fatty acid (1.69% ±0.09). The total ash content showed it contained minerals, Ca (1.91% ±0.08), K (0.97% ±0.01), Na (192.95±4.4), Fe (107.48±8.2), Mn (81.65±2.31), Zn (60.06±0.3) and P (30.15±0.5) parts per million (ppm). Magnesium (0.38% ±0.01) and copper (6.10±0.19) were the least. The results of phytochemical analysis and anti-nutrients showed presence of tannins (21.19% ±0.25), phytates (2.57% ±0.13), trypsin inhibitors (3.0% ±0.04), saponins (1.60% ±0.05), oxalates (0.45% ±0.01) and cyanide content ((0.1% ±0.01). The presence of these essential nutrients and minerals implies Moringa oleifera leaves from Lafia, Nasarawa State could be utilized as a source of feed supplement to improve growth performance and health status of poultry. The benefits of essential nutrients and minerals in maintaining good health were also highlighted in this study.
Making power adapters smarter and greener

Many current-generation electronic products rely upon device-specific AC-DC power adapters for power. Unfortunately, each product has a unique optimal voltage and amperage level. That has lead to the development of disposable, device-specific power adapters. However, it is possible to make a single, multi-port power adapter that is able to serve power concurrently to various devices that all operate optimally in different power ranges. Digital communication between the device under power (the load) and the power adapter (the source) is essential to dynamically meet the needs of whatever devices are plugged into the smart power hub. Also, once digital communication is in place, a wide range of power monitoring and control applications become possible that were not possible without communication.
Evaluating sympathetic activity in human hypertension

Aim To review the use of plasma norepinephrine to evaluate sympathetic activity in humans, and to discuss the improvement in assessment of human sympathetic activity brought about by the norepinephrine spillover method and by microneurography. Method Literature survey. Results These methods have limitations, and an accurate assessment of sympathetic cardiovascular control should not be limited to an investigation of sympathetic nerve firing or norepinephrine secretion but include cardiac and vascular responses. These responses can be assessed by traditional pharmacological means (for example, a reduction in vascular resistance induced by a-adrenergic blockade) or by a variety of approaches aimed at examining sympathetic cardiovascular modulation in a more integrated fashion, such as the recently developed power spectrum analysis of blood pressure and heart rate. Conclusion The sensitivity and specificity of all these methods is still under investigation, but in almost every case an increase in sympathetic cardiovascular influence has been reported to occur in hypertension, indicating that sympathetic activation has a pathogenic effect on this condition.
Long-term accumulation of carbonate shells reflects a 100-fold drop in loss rate

Shells in modern seabeds can be thousands of years old, far older than would be extrapolated from the rapid rates of shell loss detected in short-term experiments. An extensive shelldating program on the Southern California (USA) shelf permits rigorous modeling of the dynamics of shell loss in the mixed layer, discriminating the key rates of carbonate disintegration and sequestration for the first time. We find that bivalve shells experience an initially high disintegration rate l 1 (~ decadal half-lives) but shift abruptly, within the first ~500 yr postmortem, to a 100-fold lower disintegration rate l 2 (~ millennial half-lives) at sequestration rate t (burial and/or diagenetic stabilization). This drop permits accrual of a long tail of very old shells even when sequestration is very slow, and allows only a minority (<1%) of all shells to survive the first phase. These high rates of disintegration and low rates of sequestration are consistent with independent measures of high carbonate loss and slow sedimentation on this shelf. Our two-phase model thus reveals significant spatial and temporal partitioning of car bonate loss rates within the mixed layer, and shows how shell age-frequency distributions can yield rigorous and realistic estimates of carbonate recycling on geological time scales.