Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The rise of Laminaria ochroleuca in the Western English Channel (UK) and comparisons with its competitor and assemblage dominant Laminaria hyperborea

The distribution of species is shifting in response to recent climate change. Changes in the abundance and distributions of habitat-forming species can have knock-on effects on community structure, biodiversity patterns and ecological processes. We empirically examined temporal changes in the abundance of the warm-water kelp Laminaria ochroleuca at its poleward range edge in the Western English Channel. Resurveys of historical sites indicated that the abundance of L. ochroleuca has increased significantly in recent decades. Moreover, examination of historical records suggested that L. ochroleuca has extended its distribution from sheltered coasts on to moderately wave-exposed open coasts, where it now co-exists and competes with the assemblage dominant Laminaria hyperborea. Proliferation of L. ochroleuca at its poleward range edge corresponds with a period of rapid warming in the Western English Channel. Preliminary comparisons between L. ochroleuca and L. hyperborea highlighted some subtle but ecologically significant differences in structure and function. In summer, the average biomass of epiphytic stipe assemblages on L. hyperborea was 86 times greater than on L. ochroleuca whereas, on average, L. ochroleuca had a greater stipe length and its blade supported 18 times as many gastropod grazers (Gibbula cineraria). Differences in summer growth rates were also recorded, with L. ochroleuca being more productive than L. hyperborea throughout July. Comprehensive seasonally replicated comparisons are needed to examine the wider implications of proliferation of L. ochroleuca at its poleward range edge, but our study suggests that local biodiversity patterns and ecological processes (e.g. timing of productivity and trophic pathways) on shallow subtidal reefs may be altered by shifts in the relative abundances of habitat-forming kelp species.
Le continuum de prise en charge de l ’ asthme de la Société canadienne de thoracologie – Sommaire consensuel 2010 pour les enfants de six ans et plus et les adultes

1Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario; 2University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec; 3University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; 4University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec; 5University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia; 6University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta; 7University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario; 8University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta; 9Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia; 10University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba; 11Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec Correspondence: Dr M Diane Lougheed, Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, Queen’s University, 102 Stuart Street, Kingston, Ontario K7L 2V6. Telephone 613-548-2348, fax 613-549-1459, e-mail mdl@queensu.ca Reprints: Ms Lise Dingwell, Administrative Coordinator, The Canadian Thoracic Society. Telephone 613-569-6411 ext 270, e-mail infocts@lung.ca The most recent, formal update of Canadian guidelines summarizing evidence-based care for adult (1) and pediatric (2) asthma was during a 2003 consensus conference. Since that revision, new scientific evidence regarding asthma epidemiology, pathophysiology and pharmacotherapy has been published. The Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) Respiratory Guidelines Committee has established formal processes for the development of new guidelines and the revision or adaptation of existing guidelines. The CTS Asthma Committee will follow the ADAPTE process (www.adapte.org) to conduct a detailed update of the 2003 Canadian Asthma Consensus Guidelines, beginning in the spring of 2010, focusing primarily on published international and national guidelines (3-5) and new literature. Recognizing this as a lengthy, formal process, the Asthma Committee identified the need for an updated comprehensive management continuum diagram encompassing asthma management for Canadians of all ages. The complexities and SpeCiAl ArTiCle
Nitrification in the euphotic zone as evidenced by nitrate dual isotopic composition: Observations from Monterey Bay, California

Coupled measurements of nitrate (NO3−), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) isotopic composition (δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3) were made in surface waters of Monterey Bay to investigate multiple N cycling processes occurring within surface waters. Profiles collected throughout the year at three sites exhibit a wide range of values, suggesting simultaneous and variable influence of both phytoplankton NO3− assimilation and nitrification within the euphotic zone. Specifically, increases in δ18ONO3 were consistently greater than those in δ15NNO3. A coupled isotope steady state box model was used to estimate the amount of NO3− supplied by nitrification in surface waters relative to that supplied from deeper water. The model highlights the importance of the branching reaction during ammonium (NH4+) consumption, in which NH4+ either serves as a substrate for regenerated production or for nitrification. Our observations indicate that a previously unrecognized proportion of nitrate‐based productivity, on average 15 to 27%, is supported by nitrification in surface waters and should not be considered new production. This work also highlights the need for a better understanding of isotope effects of NH4+ oxidation, NH4+ assimilation, and NO3− assimilation in marine environments.
A growing care gap? The supply of unpaid care for older people by their adult children in England to 2032

ABSTRACT A key feature of population ageing in Europe and other more economically developed countries is the projected unprecedented rise in need for long-term care in the next two decades. There is, however, considerable uncertainty over the future supply of unpaid care for older people by their adult children. The future of family care is particularly important in countries planning to reform their long-term care systems, as is the case in England. This article makes new projections of the supply of intense unpaid care for parents aged 65 and over in England to 2032, and compares these projections with existing projections of demand for unpaid care by older people with disabilities from their children. The results show that the supply of unpaid care to older people with disabilities by their adult children in England is unlikely to keep pace with demand in future. By 2032, there is projected to be a shortfall of 160,000 care-givers in England. Demand for unpaid care will begin to exceed supply by 2017 and the unpaid ‘care gap’ will grow rapidly from then onwards. The article concludes by examining how far this unpaid ‘care gap’ is likely to be met by other sources of unpaid care or by developments in new technology and examines the implications of the findings for long-term care policy.
Distortion estimation to improve tsai calibration for cameras with large optical distortion

Tsai's calibration has several advantages over the current state-of-the-art, Zhang calibration, when it comes to field-work and calibration systems requiring little user interaction. Unfortunately Tsai's calibration performs less well against cameras with large optical distortion, such as those used in conjunction with Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) systems. The goal of this work is to solve this problem by estimating distortion from a Tsai calibration object prior to calibration. The proposed approach implicitly preserves the pin-hole model within a homography representation and determines distortion based on the linearly of the system of equations linking calibration object feature points to image feature points. The experimental results presented in this work demonstrate that the proposed approach leads to more accurate calibrated models and inter-frame models than current existing approaches with respect to Tsai calibration.
Anticoagulation Therapy In Heart Failure Patients With Normal Heart Rhythm: A Review Of The Evidence

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to explore the current clinical trial data to determine if the use of anticoagulants in heart failure patients with systolic dysfunction and without demonstrated rhythm disturbances results in decreased mortality or a reduction in thromboembolic events.Data Sources: A literature search was conducted using Pub Med, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library databases. The literature review was limited to randomized control trials with primary and secondary end points of all causes of mortality, embolic events (including stroke and myocardial infarction), and frequency of hospitalization that compared oral anticoagulants to control or placebo in patients with left ventricular systolic heart failure.Conclusions: Limited evidence exists to support the use of oral anticoagulation in heart failure patients without the presence of additional risk factors such as atrial fibrillation, severely depressed left ventricular contractility with known history of previous embolic event, or evidence of mural thrombus. Current studies established no significant difference in the primary endpoints for study participants, but demonstrated a trend toward increased risk of bleeding for those patients receiving warfarin therapy.Implications for practice: Health care practitioners should not contribute to the polypharmacy of this vulnerable patient population without clear evidence of benefit. Until more definitive data are available, clinicians should assess the use of oral anticoagulation in heart failure on a case by case basis. The use of oral anticoagulants should be limited to those heart failure patients with additional risk factors.
A Low-Profile Broadband Circularly Polarized Microstrip Antenna With Wide Beamwidth

A low-profile broadband circularly polarized (CP) microstrip antenna with a wide beamwidth is proposed for a global navigation satellite system. Four claw-shaped parasitic branches are placed on the corners of the ground to widen the impedance bandwidth (IBW) and half-power beamwidth (HPBW) simultaneously. Several slots are etched on the radiation patch to obtain impedance matching. The proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. The experimental results show that the IBW for VSWR ≤ 2 is 72.5% from 1.02 to 2.18 GHz, and the 3 dB axial-ratio bandwidth is 54% from 1.15 to 2 GHz. The HPBW is beyond 100° overall CP bandwidth. Its dimensions are 70 mm × 70 mm × 12 mm, (0.35 × 0.35 × 0.06) λ<sub>0</sub><sup>3</sup>, where λ<sub>0</sub> is the wavelength of the center frequency.
Robust fingerprint verification for enhancing security in healthcare system

Ensuring the security and privacy in electronic healthcare systems is becoming an increasingly important problem due to the sensitive nature of health data. Electronic health record (eHR) systems provide opportunities for information sharing which may enhance healthcare services for both patients and healthcare professionals. However, appropriate information management measures are essential for privacy preservation and security. The privacy and security issues currently arising in eHealth domain are mainly centered around user authentication, data confidentiality, and patient privacy protection. However, the traditional authentication and access control measures cannot match the electronic health record system scenario, where the roles and requirements of all stakeholders must be addressed properly. Biometrics technology has considerable opportunities to cope with the above security problems by providing reliable and secure user authentication and authorization to access the health data. In addressing the security and privacy challenges, this paper proposes a robust and efficient scheme for user verification and authorization using fingerprint biometrics to enhance privacy and security in eHealth record systems.
Antiphospholipid Syndrome Associated with Lupus Nephritis in a Resource-Poor Setting: A Case Report in Orlu, Nigeria

The incidence of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) in Nigeria is not well-defined. Concomitant occurrence of APS and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is rare in Nigeria. Documented here is a case of APS associated with SLE, complicated by lupus nephritis, in a young woman in Nigeria. Patient was a 31-year-old woman on evaluation for 2 consecutive mid-trimester pregnancy losses, each preceded by a history of leg swelling and passage of blood in urine. Two of her sisters, about her age, have a similar history of recurrent mid-trimester pregnancy losses. Her blood pressure was normal. She has proteinuria +++, 24-hour urine protein 2942mg, and positive serology results for ANA, dsDNA, antiphospholipid antibody, and lupus anticoagulant. She was placed on Aspirin and Prednisolone, among others. Repeat urine protein was 1242mg/day at 4 weeks and 419mg/day at 12 weeks on follow-up. This case report highlights the need for consideration of the possibility of APS in association with SLE in the evaluation of miscarriages and proteinuric diseases in pregnancy.
PALLAS: Planetary Analogues Laboratory for Light, Atmosphere, and Surface Simulations

Abstract Humankind has been interested in space throughout the ages and studies of the universe and our own solar system have been ongoing since the first observations of celestial bodies. In the current era space exploration has provided in situ data for the different bodies in our solar system. To fully comprehend the underlying processes occurring in these bodies, missions and telescope observations are, however, not sufficient and additional modelling studies, both numerical and analogue, are necessary. In this paper we present a new facility specifically designed to experimentally study organic compounds under simulated planetary (sub)surface conditions on rocky bodies in our solar system: PALLAS, the Planetary Analogues Laboratory for Light, Atmosphere, and Surface Simulations. We give an overview of planetary conditions that can be simulated in this facility and that are known to affect organic compounds: radiation, atmospheric composition, temperature and surface composition.
Mucin-1 aptamer-armed superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted delivery of doxorubicin to breast cancer cells

Introduction: Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) can be functionalized with various agents (e.g., targeting and therapeutic agents) and used for targeted imaging/therapy of cancer. In the present study, we engineered doxorubicin (DOX)-conjugated anti-mucin -1 (MUC-1) aptamer (Ap)-armed PEGylated SPIONs for targeted delivery of DOX molecules to the breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Methods: The SPIONs were synthesized using the thermal decomposition method and modified by polyethylene glycol (PEG) to maximize their biocompatibility and minimize any undesired cytotoxicity effects. Subsequently, DOX molecules were loaded onto the SPIONs, which were further armed with amine-modified MUC-1 aptamer by EDC/NHS chemistry. Results: The morphologic and size analyses of nanoparticles (NPs) by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed spherical and monodisperse MNPs with a size range of 5-64 nm. The FT-IR spectrophotometry and 1 HNMR analysis confirmed the surface modification of NPs. The cytotoxicity assay of the aptamer-armed MNPs exhibited a higher death rate in the MUC-1 over-expressing MCF-7 cells as compared to the MUC-1 under-expressing MDA-MB-231 cells. The flow cytometry analysis of the engineered Ap-armed SPIONs revealed a higher uptake as compared to the SPIONs alone. Conclusion: Based on our findings, the anti-MUC-1 Ap-armed PEGylated SPIONs loaded with DOX molecules could serve as an effective multifunctional theranostics for simultaneous detection and eradication of MUC-1-positive breast cancer cells.
Acupuncture for Diarrhoea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Network Meta-Analysis

Background The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and side effects of acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and drugs in the treatment of diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effects of acupuncture and drugs were comprehensively retrieved from electronic databases (such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and CBM) up to December 2017. Additional references were obtained from review articles. With document quality evaluations and data extraction, Network Meta-Analysis was performed using a random-effects model under a frequentist framework. Results A total of 29 studies (n = 9369) were included; 19 were high-quality studies, and 10 were low-quality studies. NMA showed the following: (1) the ranking of treatments in terms of efficacy in diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is acupuncture, sham acupuncture, pinaverium bromide, alosetron = eluxadoline, ramosetron, and rifaximin; (2) the ranking of treatments in terms of severity of side effects in diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is rifaximin, alosetron, ramosetron = pinaverium bromide, sham acupuncture, and acupuncture; and (3) the treatment of diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome includes common acupoints such as ST25, ST36, ST37, SP6, GV20, and EX-HN3. Conclusion Acupuncture may improve diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome better than drugs and has the fewest side effects. Sham acupuncture may have curative effect except for placebo effect. In the future, it is necessary to perform highly qualified research to prove this result. Pinaverium bromide also has good curative effects with fewer side effects than other drugs.
Answering Hindsight Queries with Lifted Dynamic Junction Trees

The lifted dynamic junction tree algorithm (LDJT) efficiently answers filtering and prediction queries for probabilistic relational temporal models by building and then reusing a first-order cluster representation of a knowledge base for multiple queries and time steps. We extend LDJT to (i) solve the smoothing inference problem to answer hindsight queries by introducing an efficient backward pass and (ii) discuss different options to instantiate a first-order cluster representation during a backward pass. Further, our relational forward backward algorithm makes hindsight queries to the very beginning feasible. LDJT answers multiple temporal queries faster than the static lifted junction tree algorithm on an unrolled model, which performs smoothing during message passing.
Performance Tradeoff between User Fairness and Energy Conservation in Downlink NOMA Systems

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has been recognized as an efficient means to boost the spectral utilization and increase the number of connections for the next generation mobile communications systems. User fairness is a crucial performance metric in the design of downlink NOMA systems, but its optimum is reaped at the cost of excessive power consumption. In this paper, we study the performance tradeoff between user fairness and energy conservation by means of power allocation, and we formulate the problem as a bi-objective optimization. To obtain the complete Pareto optimal solutions, we transfer the above bi-objective optimization into a single-objective one using the weighted Tchebycheff method and solve the resulting non-convex optimization with the generalized Benders decomposition. In addition, we investigate several important properties of the proposed mechanism, including the convergence, computational complexity, and applicability to the case with imperfect successive interference cancellation. Based on the Monte Carlo simulations, we validate the necessity of conducting the tradeoff optimization and the efficiency of the proposed mechanism.
A Minkowski fractal ultrawide band antenna for 5G applications

A compact Minkowski fractal UWB microstrip patch antenna is presented for future mobile technologies. The proposed antenna is very compact having the size of just 18mm×25mm and is optimized to be operated in the frequency range from 23GHz to 60GHz with a fractional bandwidth of more than 89%. Rogers RO4232 (lossy) material of 1.52mm thickness with a dielectric constant of 3.2 and loss tangent of 0.0018 has been used as a substrate for the proposed structure. The peak realized gain of 8.5dBi at 36GHz is accomplished and average gain of 6.1dBi is maintained through out the impedance bandwidth of the proposed antenna. Various result curves as S- parameter, VSWR, Input impedance and radiation properties of the antenna have been analyzed in the paper.
Biodegradation of chlorpyrifos by co-culture of Cellulomonas fimi and Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Chlorpyrifos is one of the major organophosphorous pesticides used in agriculture to control insect pests. Due to the widespread toxicity of chlorpyrifos in the environment, exploration of various chlorpyrifos-degrading microbes to clean-up the pollutant is of immense importance. A bacterial strain (Cellulomonas fimi), that could transform chlorpyrifos to 3,5,6-trichloro-2 pyridinol (TCP) and a TCP utilizing fungal strain (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) were obtained from microbial type culture collection (MTCC), microbial type of culture collection, Chandigarh. The fungus could also degrade 50 mg chlorpyrifos L-1 within 6 days. Co culture completely mineralized 50 mg chlorpyrifos L-1 with 16 h at 33oC and at pH 8.4 using a total inoculam of 0.13 g biomass L-1. These results showed that, the chlorpyrifos degrading bacterial and fungal strains had the potential to clean up the organophosphorous pesticide-contaminated environment. Key words: Chlorpyrifos, organophosphorous, Mineralization, Cellulomonas fimi, Phanerochaete chrysosporium.
Flexible Fractal Electromagnetic Bandgap for Millimeter-Wave Wearable Antennas

This letter presents a novel design of a uniplanar compact electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) for millimeter-wave wearable antennas. The unit cell of the EBG has a flexible fractal design with self-similar window-like structure, which can be easily fabricated at millimeter scale. The fabricated EBG is a 3 × 3 cell array laser-cut from adhesive copper foil on polyester fabric substrate. Results show that the gain and −10 dB bandwidth of a wearable coplanar waveguide (CPW) antenna backed by the proposed EBG are improved by 3 dB and 40%, respectively, across the frequency range from 20 to 40 GHz. Backward radiation is also decreased by 15 dB, significantly reducing the potential health risk posed by the radiating antenna to the human wearer. Furthermore, on-body measurements show that the CPW-EBG antenna performances are not highly sensitive to human body proximity.
Life Cycle of Transactional Data in In-memory Databases

The last decade has witnessed an explosive growth in database engines optimized for main memory based execution. However, the requirement to store all the data in-memory makes such processing commercially costly and unviable for very large databases. In this paper, we present novel techniques optimized for transactional workloads where only a small portion of the entire database is "hot" and needs to be in-memory. The SAP ASE hybrid database engine delivers high-performance transaction processing transparently on tiered storage consisting of traditional page-oriented disk based storage, for cold data, and in-memory row storage for fast processing. Our techniques make storage choice for the rows based on access patterns of the OLTP workload. This is done by monitoring and analysing the workload running in the system with minimal impact to the transaction performance. The techniques also adapt to the workload to alter storage choices for the data, which is completely transparent to the application and provides continuous data access. The storage choices are not made at gross table or partition level but made at the level of individual row and type of DML operation. Our result show that these techniques help reduce the memory footprint by a large margin in OLTP workload even while providing performance parity with a setup where all data is stored in-memory.