Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The genus Striga: a witch profile.

UNLABELLED The genus Striga comprises about 30 obligate root-parasitic plants, commonly known as witchweeds. In particular, S. hermonthica, S. asiatica and S. gesnerioides cause immense losses to major stable crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Most Striga species parasitize grass species (Poaceae), but Striga gesnerioides has evolved to parasitize dicotyledonous plants. Aspects of phylogeny, economic impact, parasitic life style and molecular discoveries are briefly reviewed to profile one of the main biotic constraints to African agriculture. TAXONOMY Striga Lour. ; Kingdom Plant; Division Angiospermae; Clade Eudicots; Order Laminales; Family Orobanchaceae. IMPORTANT HOSTS Sorghum Moench. , maize (Zea mays L.), rice (Oryza L.), sugarcane (Saccharum L.), pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. ], cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. ]. DISEASE SYMPTOMS Stunted growth, drought-stressed-like appearance, in severe cases chlorosis and necrosis. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 1 billion $US per annum. DISEASE CONTROL Hand weeding, breeding, chemical control, intercropping with catch or trap crops. USEFUL WEBPAGES http://ppgp.huck. psu.edu; http://striga.psc. riken.jp.
Combined in vivo and in vitro Approaches to Analysis of Renal Tubule Function

The study of renal tubule function obtained its first impulse with whole kidney approaches, such as the clearance technique, and is presently centered on cellular analysis involving intracellular ion activities and on molecular studies describing the structure of transporter molecules and the function of their subunits and constitutional building blocks as well as their distribution along the nephron and within individual cells. Between these extremes a number of successful techniques have dominated the field, including the micropuncture methods which were pioneered by Richards, Walker and others in the late 1920s and 1930s, and were revived and perfectioned in the following decades leading to complex in vivo and in vitro micromethods that for an important period of time have been the center of scientific progress in this area. In the present paper, some of the methods in this field are shortly reviewed, specifically from the point of view of acid-base physiology applied to the renal tubule.
Thyroid nodules in an eleven-year DanThyr follow-up study

Anne Krejbjerg, Lena Bjergved, Inge Bülow Pedersen, Nils Knudsen, Torben Jørgensen, Hans Perrild, Lars Ovesen, Lone Banke Rasmussen, and Peter Laurberg Departments of Clinical Medicine and Endocrinology, Aalborg University and Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; Research Centre for Prevention and Health, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup, Denmark; Department of Endocrinology, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark; Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Gastroenterology, Slagelse Hospital, Slagelse, Denmark; Department of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark Key terms: thyroid, thyroid nodules, ultrasonography, prospective, follow-up, iodine, food fortification.
Hive plots - rational approach to visualizing networks

Networks are typically visualized with force-based or spectral layouts. These algorithms lack reproducibility and perceptual uniformity because they do not use a node coordinate system. The layouts can be difficult to interpret and are unsuitable for assessing differences in networks. To address these issues, we introduce hive plots (http://www.hiveplot.com) for generating informative, quantitative and comparable network layouts. Hive plots depict network structure transparently, are simple to understand and can be easily tuned to identify patterns of interest. The method is computationally straightforward, scales well and is amenable to a plugin for existing tools.
Chapter 2 Measuring Problem Solving Skills in Portal 2

L. Wang e-mail: lw10e@my.fsu. edu This chapter describes current research investigating the use of the video game Portal 2 (Valve Corporation) as a vehicle to assess and potentially support problem solving skills in students. Portal 2 is an example of a well-designed game in that it provides players with a very rich, interesting environment whereby players interact with complex problems, encounter adaptive challenges, receive ongoing feedback, and engage in meaningful learning (Gee 2003; Shute et al. 2011). As Van Eck (2007) has argued, playing games is an important part of the human experience, and serves as the basis for experiential learning. However, as we progress through life, playing-to-learn decreases, particularly in formal educational settings. A main reason why this research on assessing and supporting problem solving skills is important is because in today’s interconnected world, being able to solve complex problems is, and will continue to be, of great importance. However, students today are not receiving adequate practice solving such problems. Instead, they are exposed to problems that tend to be sterile and flat in classrooms and experimental settings (e.g., math word problems, Tower of Hanoi). We believe that schools need to move beyond the simple content-learning mindset and towards assessing and supporting important skills in the twenty-first century. A survey conducted by the Global Strategy Group (a leading American research firm) has suggested that college graduates today are not prepared for their future careers (as cited in Minners 2012). Participants included 500 elite business decision makers selected by the researchers. Nearly half (49 %) of them agreed that having strong problem-solving skills is the most important skill set they are looking for in job applicants. But schools are falling short of supplying students with these skills. One problem is that learning and succeeding in a complex and dynamic world is not easily or optimally measured by traditional types of assessment (e.g., multiple-choice
The role of CD4+ T-cells in the development of MS

Abstract Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive central nervous system (CNS) disease with unknown cause. Considerable evidence supports an autoimmune origin with an important role for cellular immune responses in its pathogenesis. Methods: We have reviewed the current literature dealing with lymphocyte responses and their interactions as it relates to MS and present supporting evidence from animal models. Results: Issues regarding CD4+ T-cell subpopulations, their functional differentiation and regulatory interactions as they relate to their presumed role in MS-related pathology have been updated with references to the current literature. Discussion: The evidence reviewed supports an important role of CD4+ T-cells in the immunopathogenesis of MS. The successful outcome of blocking CD4 cells entry into the CNS of animals with experimental demyelinating disease and humans with MS is a strong support for other evidence of an important role of these cell populations in the pathogenesis of MS. The understanding of the specific roles of CD4+ T-cells in the development of MS is crucial for better disease management and the prevention of neurological disability.
Scheduling for Data Collection in Multi-hop IEEE 802.15.4e TSCH Networks

This paper is to develop data collection mechanisms in multi-hop IEEE 802.15. 4e Time Slotted Channel Hopping (TSCH) networks. While scheduling, transmission link selection is considered based on the limitations of transmission conflict and transmission interference in ZigBee network topologies. Three scheduling algorithms for data collection are proposed. Furthermore, experiments are made for evaluating the performance of the proposed data scheduling mechanisms for multi-hop IEEE 802.15. 4e TSCH networks.
A content-oriented web cache poli

The increasing popularity of network-based multimedia applications poses many challenges for multimedia content providers to supply efficient and scalable multimedia services. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks have been shown to be a promising approach to provide large scale video services over Internet since these networks increase scalability and robustness. In this paper, we propose and analyze an object management policy approach for videos web cache in a P2P context, taking advantage of object's meta-data, e.g video popularity, and object's encoding techniques, e.g Scalable Video Coding (SVC). We carry out trace-driven simulation so as to evaluate the performance of our approach and compare it against traditional object management policy approaches. The experiment results show that our proposed approach can improve the performance of the cache substantially.
ALTID : Arabic/Latin Text Images Database for recognition research

This paper presents a new public offline database for Arabic/Latin printed and Arabic/Latin handwriting text. The database was developed to be employed in performance evaluation, result comparison and development of new methods related to document analysis and recognition. It may be used for, script identification, font identification, writer identification and word segmentation. The printed text is scanned from 731 pages of Latin and Arabic printed documents with grayscale format and 300 dpi resolutions. After preforming a manual segmentation, we obtained 1845 Arabic text and 2328 Latin text images. The handwritten dataset includes 460 Arabic and 582 Latin text-blocks which are written by 17 individuals with different ages and educational levels. Each text image of our database is provided with a ground truth file.
Atlas of world population history

in England, and his book will become a classic of its kind. Moreover, he indicates that material for similar studies is available, and it is to be hoped that others will continue this area of research. Meantime, both general and medical historians, as well as social and economic historians, and historical demographers, will wish to examine Dr. Gottfried's work closely. [no price stated]. Plague disappeared from the British Isles in the seventeenth century, but its appearance as close as Marseilles in 1720, and its constant presence in Asia throughout the eighteenth century, guaranteed British interest in the disease. The present volume is a facsimile reprint of a vivid, first-hand description of a devastating epidemic which occurred in Moscow in 1771. The author, a Belgian physician named Charles de Mertens (1737-1788), originally published his account in Latin in 1778, but translations into several European languages during the succeeding twenty years attest to the continued topicality of plague in Western Europe. The English version was first published in 1799. Mertens' English translator abridged the work somewhat, though retaining Mertens' account of the civic and medical measures taken to combat the Russian epidemic, and many of Mertens' shrewd observations on the treatment and prevention of plague. Mertens placed great stock in cleanliness, particularly in frequent sponging with vinegar and water. He was convinced that plague hospitals were the most effective way to contain the spread of the disease, and he decried the practice of quarantining both sick and well members of a family together. In addition to Mertens' text, this edition contains an excellent, fully-documented introduction by Professor John Alexander of the University of Kansas. Alexander describes the original British response to the Russian plague epidemic of 1770-72 and places Mertens' little book in its historical setting. (paperback). The authors aim to provide figures for the population of each country at regular intervals through historical time. There are six parts: Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and a global overview. Each of the first five sections has a general review, and then its countries are taken in turn, with a general account of demographic progress illustrated with graphs and maps, a discussion of primary sources for population data, and a bibliography. As can be imagined, this is a remarkably useful and accurate work of reference, and it will continue to be so for some time. It is also cheap, and will deservedly find …
Treatment of postural hypotension with a counter-pressure garment.

• Two types of garments designed to apply counterpressure over the body from the waist down were tried in 10 patients with severe postural hypotension. In two cases the condition followed bilateral sympathectomy for hypertension; in the others it was either idiopathic or associated with diabetes mellitus. One patient could not sit up without fainting, and six others had frequent or occasional episodes of syncope on standing. The air-filled suit was generally more effective than the elastic form of garment. The beneficial effects were explained by the increases observed in the blood pressure and cardiac output, which were measured on a tilting table. Four patients were able to return to part-time employment. They found the suit both practical and comfortable and could do work that involved longer periods of standing than they had been able to endure before.
High Frequency Trading: análise de retorno, volume e volatilidade

O artigo tem o objetivo de analisar a relacao entre a volatilidade dos precos e volume na bolsa de valores brasileira em momentos antes e pos-iniciacao das estrategias HFT. Para estudar a relacao entre as variaveis, buscou-se comparar os momentos do mercado brasileiro antes e pos HFT. O periodo antes HFT foi compreendido entre 2000 a 2005 e pos HFT entre os anos 2009 a 2014. Para estimacao dos parâmetros foi utilizado o metodo da maxima verossimilhanca com informacao completa (MV), o metodo de regressao em 3 estagios (3SLS), o metodo dos momentos generalizados (GMM), e o modelo GARCH(1,1) adotando para otimizacao o metodo de Marquadt. Quanto aos resultados, verificou-se que o numero de negociacoes influencia o volume transacionado e com o crescimento das operacoes HFT esta influencia apresentou ainda mais forca. Quanto a relacao entre volatilidade e volume, os coeficientes foram positivos e significativos, sendo que a forca da relacao tendeu a aumentar a medida que o numero de negociacoes aumentou. O artigo contribuiu ao demonstrar que a hipotese de distribuicao mista ( Mixture of Distribution Hypothesis - MDH) esta adequada ao mercado brasileiro. Alem de trazer um alerta aos operadores de mercado, o uso exagerado do HFT aumentara o volume transacionado, causando mais volatilidade no mercado.
Analyzing users' preferred color on websites based on demographic features

Despite the increasing use of internet by Iranians, the bounce rates of the e-commerce websites are still high. This is because the e-commerce institutions are not familiar with designing websites based on their own target market preferences. So the purpose of this paper is to identify and to evaluate the effective visual factors for attracting online users. This study has been conducted by an attitude assessment through an online user questionnaire to collect demographic data that influence the user's color preferences and interests. Next, statistical analysis was done through a variety of tests including T-Test, ANOVA-Test and Duncan-Test. These tests are employed to find the relationship between user's demographic features and his/her preferred color on websites. The results of this study can be useful to personalize the websites exploiting the extracted rules of colors.
Cell volume regulation: physiology and pathophysiology

Cell volume perturbation initiates a wide array of intracellular signalling cascades, leading to protective and adaptive events and, in most cases, activation of volume‐regulatory osmolyte transport, water loss, and hence restoration of cell volume and cellular function. Cell volume is challenged not only under physiological conditions, e.g. following accumulation of nutrients, during epithelial absorption/secretion processes, following hormonal/autocrine stimulation, and during induction of apoptosis, but also under pathophysiological conditions, e.g. hypoxia, ischaemia and hyponatremia/hypernatremia. On the other hand, it has recently become clear that an increase or reduction in cell volume can also serve as a specific signal in the regulation of physiological processes such as transepithelial transport, cell migration, proliferation and death. Although the mechanisms by which cell volume perturbations are sensed are still far from clear, significant progress has been made with respect to the nature of the sensors, transducers and effectors that convert a change in cell volume into a physiological response. In the present review, we summarize recent major developments in the field, and emphasize the relationship between cell volume regulation and organism physiology/pathophysiology.
Effects of Pattern Orientation and Number of Symmetry Axes on the Detection of Mirror Symmetry in Dot and Solid Patterns

It has been postulated that as the number of axes of symmetry in a pattern increases, so pattern ‘goodness’ increases. Recently, a distinction was made between two different theoretical accounts of regularity or ‘goodness’ in relation to patterns with mirror symmetry: the ‘transformational’ and the ‘holographic’ models. It was argued that the former predicts a ‘goodness’ ordering of four > three > two > one whereas the latter predicts four > two > three > one, where ‘>’ means greater regularity or goodness. In three experiments, we have tested these predictions. In experiment 1, we measured percentage correct and reaction time to dot patterns which had one, two, three, or four axes of symmetry and were flashed for 150 ms. Experiment 2 was identical except that patterns were presented for 2000 ms. In experiment 3, dot patterns were replaced by solid shapes which also had one, two, three, or four axes of symmetry. Although it was found that stimuli with four axes clearly allowed superior performance to that of stimuli with one axis, results obtained with stimuli with two and three axes were almost identical and in between those obtained with one and four axes. The data thus support the suggestion that extra axes add ‘goodness’ to symmetrical patterns but not in a monotonic fashion.
Antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen in infectious mononucleosis.

Development of antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus-associated nuclear antigen (EBNA) was studied in 72 patients with heterophil antibody-positive infectious mononucleosis. In contrast to the early response of antibodies to Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigens observed in all patients and to the D component of the Epstein-Barr virus-induced early antigens in 80% of the patients, antibodies to EBNA arose usually only one or more months after onset; in a few patients, however, these antibodies became detectable within three weeks. All patients eventually developed antibodies to EBNA. The geometric mean titer increased gradually, but even after one year it did not match that in healthy donors. After primary infections antibody to EBNA probably persists for life, since all donors with antibody to viral capsid antigen (some of them over 50 years old) showed antibody to EBNA. Conversely, no donor without antibody to viral capsid antigen had antibody to EBNA. The time of appearance of antibody to EBNA during infectious mononucleosis was unrelated to severity of illness.
No correlation was observed between vitamin D levels and disability of patients with multiple sclerosis between latitudes 18° and 30° South

ABSTRACT Objective: Vitamin D has taken center stage in research and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective of the present study was to assess the serum vitamin D levels of a large population of patients with MS and controls living in a restricted tropical area. Methods: Data from 535 patients with MS and 350 control subjects were obtained from 14 cities around the Tropic of Capricorn. Results: The mean serum 25-OH vitamin D level was 26.07 ± 10.27 ng/mL for the control subjects, and 28.03 ± 12.19 ng/mL for patients with MS. No correlation was observed between vitamin D levels and the disability of patients over the disease duration. Conclusion: At least for the region around the Tropic of Capricorn, serum levels of vitamin D typically are within the range of 20 to 30 ng/mL for controls and patients with MS.
POKE: a new way of sharing emotional touches during phone conversations

We present POKE, which is a device that enables callers to share touches during calls. POKE delivers these touches through an inflatable surface on the front of the device that receives index finger pressure inputs on the back of another device, while allowing the callers to maintain a conventional phone-calling posture. A user can receive a call by looking at the physical movement of POKE if the other person is making the user's device move up and down by touch inputs. Callers can send different touches according to pressure strength, frequency, and pattern. POKE also enables non-verbal tactile communication by exchanging pokes and poke backs. This opens possibilities for developing affective tactile languages over phone calls.
Continuous infusion versus bolus injection of loop diuretics in congestive heart failure.

BACKGROUND Loop diuretics, when given as intermittent bolus injections in acutely decompensated heart failure, may cause fluctuations in intravascular volume, increased toxicity and development of tolerance. Continuous infusion has been proposed to avoid these complications and result in greater diuresis, hopefully leading to faster symptom resolution, decrease in morbidity and possibly, mortality. OBJECTIVES To compare the effects and adverse effects of continuous intravenous infusion of loop diuretics with those of bolus intravenous administration among patients with congestive heart failure Class III-IV. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library Issue 2, 2003), MEDLINE (1966 to 2003), EMBASE (1980 to 2003) and the HERDIN database. We also contacted pharmaceutical companies. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of continuous intravenous infusion versus bolus intravenous administration of loop diuretics in congestive heart failure were included DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers independently assessed study eligibility, methodological quality and did data extraction. Included studies were assessed for validity. Authors were contacted when feasible. Adverse effects information was collected from the trials. MAIN RESULTS Eight trials involving 254 patients were included. In seven studies which reported on urine output, the output (as measured in cc/24 hours) was noted to be greater in patients given continuous infusion with a weighted mean difference (WMD) of 271 cc/24 hour (95%CI 93.1 to 449; p<0.01). Electrolyte disturbances (hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia) were not significantly different in the two treatment groups with a relative risk (RR) of 1.47 (95%CI 0.52 to 4.15; p=0.5). Less adverse effects (tinnitus and hearing loss) were noted when continuous infusion was given, RR 0.06 (95%CI 0.01 to 0.44; p=0.005). Based on a single study, the duration of hospital stay was significantly shortened by 3.1days with continuous infusion WMD -3.1 (95%CI -4.06 to -2.20; p<0.0001) while cardiac mortality was not significantly different in the two treatment groups, RR 0.47 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.69; p<0.0001). Based on two studies, all cause mortality was not significantly different in the two treatment groups, RR 0.52 (95%CI 0.38 to 0.71; p<0.0001). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Currently available data are insufficient to confidently assess the merits of the two methods of giving intravenous diuretics. Based on small and relatively heterogenous studies, this review showed greater diuresis and a better safety profile when loop diuretics were given as continuous infusion. The existing data still does not allow definitive recommendations for clinical practice and larger studies should be done to more adequately settle this issue.