Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AAFC annual crop inventory

Understanding the state and trends in agriculture production is essential to combat both short-term and long-term threats to stable and reliable access to food for all, and to ensure a profitable agricultural sector. In 2007, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) took its first steps towards the development of an operational software system for mapping the crop types of individual fields using satellite observations. Focusing on the Prairie Provinces in 2009 and 2010, a Decision Tree (DT) based methodology was applied using optical (Landsat-5, AWiFS, DMC, SPOT) and radar (Radarsat-2) imagery. For the 2011 growing season and further years, this activity is extended to other provinces in support of a national crop inventory. At present, this approach can consistently deliver a crop inventory that meets the overall target accuracy of at least 85% at a final spatial resolution of 30m. To achieve full operational status, however, further development is required to optimize the data processing chain. Crop maps covering Canada's entire agricultural region are typically delivered eight months following the end of the growing season. To better meet the needs of AAFC and its partners, as well as those of potential new users, map delivery needs to be more timely. Indeed, there is considerable demand for two map products: an estimated within-season inventory (released during the growing season) as well as a final end-of-season inventory (released shortly after the end of the growing season). To this end, Earth Observation Service (EOS) staff is implementing a new and fully automated crop classifier that should significantly reduce production time. In 2012, the lack of affordable optical data forced AAFC to rely mostly on RADARSAT-2 data. This brings new challenges, given a doubling of the number of images as compared to 2011. In the coming years, new EO data (Landsat 8, Radarsat Constellation Mission, Sentinel-2) will have a significant positive impact on the quality of the AAFC crop inventory.
Pressure‐Flow Characteristics of Coronary Stenoses in Unsedated Dogs at Rest and during Coronary Vasodilation

The pressure-flow characteristics of 100 left circumflex stenoses in 10 chronically instrumented unsedated dogs were studied under resting conditions and during pharmacological coronary vasodilation. At rest, the pressure loss (ΔP) due to a stenosis and arterial flow velocity (V) were related by the equation, ΔP = FV + SV2, where F is the coefficient of pressure loss due to viscous friction in the stenotic segment and S is the coefficient of pressure loss due to flow separation at the diverging end of the stenosis. The linear term due to viscous friction accounted for 65% and the nonlinear term due to flow separation accounted for 35% of the total pressure loss at resting coronary flow. At peak coronary flow after coronary vasodilation, the pressure loss due to viscous friction accounted for 33% and pressure loss due to flow separation accounted for 67% of the total pressure loss. The pressure gradient-velocity relationship at high flows was characterized by the same general equation but with proportionately larger values of the coefficient S and therefore greater pressure loss associated with flow separation than predicted by the resting gradient-velocity relationship. The pressure loss predicted for high coronary flow velocities on the basis of the gradient-velocity equation at rest was only 64% of the actual experimentally observed pressure gradient at peak coronary flow. The augmented separation loss following coronary vasodilation probably was due to dilation of the epicardial artery adjacent to the fixed stenotic segment which caused more severe relative percent narrowing and a larger divergence angle at the distal end of the stenosis, the primary geometric determinants of separation losses.
Appendicitis in children--impact of US and CT on the negative appendectomy rate.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) have proved useful for the evaluation of suspected appendicitis and were introduced as diagnostic tools at our institution about ten and five years ago, respectively. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the negative appendectomy and perforation rates have changed with increased use of US and CT. METHODS The medical records of 600 children who underwent appendectomy during years 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2000 were reviewed. Perforation in perforated appendicitis was considered to have occurred after admission if the time interval between the first health professional contact and surgery exceeded 12 hours. RESULTS The total number of appendectomies during the years 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2000 was 406, 334, 407, and 397, respectively. The negative appendectomy rate for the same years was 23%, 8.7%, 8.0%, and 4.0%, respectively. The overall rate of perforations and the perforation rate after admission was 32% and 12%, 34% and 7.3%, 34% and 13%, and 29% and 2.1%, respectively. The rate of patients who underwent US and CT during each period was 1.0% and 0.0%, 41% and 0.0%, 91% and 21% and 98% and 59%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The negative appendectomy rate has been substantially reduced after the introduction of both US and CT. The rate of perforation after admission has not increased.
Drugs targeting nitric oxide synthase for migraine treatment

Introduction: Ample evidence that nitric oxide (NO) is a causative molecule in migraine has encouraged research to develop drugs that target the NO-cGMP cascade for migraine treatment. NO synthase (NOS) inhibition is an innovative therapeutic principle. Areas covered: This paper reviews the rationale underlying NOS inhibition in migraine treatment. It also provides a review on the efficacy and safety data for NOS inhibitors (nonselective NOS inhibitor L-NG-methyl-arginine hydrochloride [L-NMMA], selective inducible NOS [iNOS] inhibitors GW273629 and GW274150, combined neuronal NOS [nNOS] inhibitor and 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonist NXN-188) in acute or preventive migraine treatment. Expert opinion: The data highlighted herein, from four placebo-controlled trials and 1 open-labeled clinical trial using 4 different NOS inhibitors on a total of 705 patients, provide convincing efficacy data only for the nonselective NOS inhibitor L-NMMA. Unfortunately, this NOS inhibitor raises cardiovascular safety concerns and has an unfavorable pharmacokinetic profile. As experimental studies predicted, iNOS inhibitors are ineffective in migraine. Still, upcoming selective nNOS inhibitors are a hope for migraine treatment, with the nNOS isoform being most clearly involved in trigeminovascular transmission and central sensitization. Future studies should help to clarify whether NOS inhibition is equally fruitful in acute and preventive treatment. It should also clarify if nNOS inhibition holds promise as a therapeutic tool for the treatment of chronic migraine and other forms of headache.
PoMSA: An Efficient and Precise Position-based Multiple Sequence Alignment Technique

Analyzing the relation between a set of biological sequences can help to identify and understand the evolutionary history of these sequences and the functional relations among them. Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) is the main obstacle to proper design and develop homology and evolutionary modeling applications since these kinds of applications require an effective MSA technique with high accuracy. This work proposes a novel Position-based Multiple Sequence Alignment (PoMSA) technique -- which depends on generating a position matrix for a given set of biological sequences. This position matrix can be used to reconstruct the given set of sequences in more aligned format. On the contrary of existing techniques, PoMSA uses position matrix instead of distance matrix to correctly adding gaps in sequences which improve the efficiency of the alignment operation. We have evaluated the proposed technique with different datasets benchmarks such as BAliBASE, OXBench, and SMART. The experiments show that PoMSA technique satisfies higher alignment score compared to existing state-of-art algorithms: Clustal-Omega, MAFTT, and MUSCLE.
Activation of frontal premotor areas during suprathreshold transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left primary sensorimotor cortex: A glucose metabolic PET study

We employed cerebral 18Fluoro‐deoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([18F]FDG‐PET) to visualize neuronal activation of the frontal motor and premotor cortex during suprathreshold repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to the left primary sensorimotor hand area (SM1HAND). Twelve right‐handed normal subjects underwent two [18F]FDG‐PET measurements at baseline without rTMS and during suprathreshold 2 Hz rTMS of the left SM1HAND. In the rTMS condition, 1,800 magnetic stimuli at an intensity of 140% of motor‐resting threshold were delivered immediately after intravenous injection of [18F]FDG. Relative differences in the normalized regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (rCMRglc) between the rTMS condition and baseline were determined using a voxel‐by‐voxel Student's t‐test and a volume‐of‐interest analysis. Data analysis was a priori restricted to primary motor and premotor areas in the frontal cortex, namely the SM1, the supplementary motor area (SMA), the lateral premotor cortex (PMC), and the caudal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of either hemisphere. In addition to a relative increase in normalized rCMRglc in the stimulated SM1HAND, suprathreshold rTMS was associated with well‐localized increases in normalized rCMRglc in the caudal SMA and ACC on the medial wall of the frontal cortex and in the right precentral gyrus in the lateral PMC rostrally to the SM1. These data demonstrate that a selective activation of the SM1HAND is paralleled by an activation of a distinct set of remote premotor areas, suggesting a functional interaction between the primary motor and premotor cortex in humans. Hum. Brain Mapping 12:157–167, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Verbal Episodic Memory: rTMS Evidence

Long-term, episodic memory processing is supposed to involve the prefrontal cortex asymmetrically. Here we investigate the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in encoding and retrieval of semantically related or unrelated word pairs. Subjects were required to perform a task consisting of two parts: a study phase (encoding), in which word pairs were presented, and a test phase (retrieval), during which stimuli previously presented had to be recognized among other stimuli. Consistently with our previous findings using pictures, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) had a significant impact on episodic memory. The performance was significantly disrupted when rTMS was applied to the left or right DLPFC during encoding, and to the right DLPFC in retrieval, but only for unrelated word pairs. These results indicate that the nature of the material to be remembered interacts with the encodingretrieval DLPFC asymmetry; moreover, the crucial role of DLPFC is evident only for novel stimuli.
Weak-Form Test of Efficient Market Hypothesis (Case Study of Indonesian Stock Market on LQ-45 Index)

An efficient capital market is a market where all the price of the stock/convertible bond marketed reflected all available information [4]. Fama (1970) classified the efficient market form into three EMH, i.e. Efficient in weak form, efficient in semi strong form, and efficient strong form. This research focused only to the weak form efficient market. With weak form efficient market is meant that the past information (historic) will be reflected in the present formed price. Therefore, the historical information such as price, trade volume and the past event could not be used to predict the future price change, because it has been reflected in the present price. The implication is the investor could not predict the future stock market value using the historical data, as done in the technical analysis [4].
Effects of Different Video Types about Procedural Knowledge on Cognitive Load, Learning Flow, and Performance

Instructional videos have been widely used in MOOCs. This study explores how four instructional videos about procedural knowledge affect cognitive load, learning flow and performance by using an experimental design with the recall test and transfer test, cognitive load questionnaire and learning flow questionnaire filled out. Results show that the type of words and pictures explaining with instructor and software procedure recording with instructor result in better learning performance than that of words and pictures explaining type and software procedure recording type. Additionally, cognitive load do not differ amongst the four video groups and the type of words and pictures explaining with instructor causes higher learning flow than words and pictures explaining type. Results of this study are helpful to those who involve in MOOCs resources construction, as well as teachers who need to develop micro-lecture resources.
Emergence of Algal Blooms: The Effects of Short-Term Variability in Water Quality on Phytoplankton Abundance, Diversity, and Community Composition in a Tidal Estuary

Algal blooms are dynamic phenomena, often attributed to environmental parameters that vary on short timescales (e.g., hours to days). Phytoplankton monitoring programs are largely designed to examine long-term trends and interannual variability. In order to better understand and evaluate the relationships between water quality variables and the genesis of algal blooms, daily samples were collected over a 34 day period in the eutrophic Lafayette River, a tidal tributary within Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine complex, during spring 2006. During this period two distinct algal blooms occurred; the first was a cryptomonad bloom and this was followed by a bloom of the mixotrophic dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium instriatum. Chlorophyll a, nutrient concentrations, and physical and chemical parameters were measured daily along with phytoplankton abundance and community composition. While 65 phytoplankton species from eight major taxonomic groups were identified in samples and total micro- and nano-phytoplankton cell densities ranged from 5.8 × 106 to 7.8 × 107 cells L−1, during blooms, cryptomonads and G. instriatum were 91.6% and 99.0%, respectively, of the total phytoplankton biomass during blooms. The cryptomonad bloom developed following a period of rainfall and concomitant increases in inorganic nitrogen concentrations. Nitrate, nitrite and ammonium concentrations 0 to 5 days prior were positively lag-correlated with cryptomonad abundance. In contrast, the G. insriatum bloom developed during periods of low dissolved nitrogen concentrations and their abundance was negatively correlated with inorganic nitrogen concentrations.
Cytokinesis in fission yeast: A myosin pas de deux

Cytokinesis in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe consists of two distinct but overlapping events: the assembly and constriction of a cytokinetic actomyosin ring (CAR) and the formation of a cross wall or septum. These two processes must be spatially and temporally coordinated both with each other and with other cell cycle events, most notably spindle formation and anaphase chromosome segregation. In fission yeast, the CAR contains two unusual type II myosins, Myo2, encoded by the gene myo2+, and Myp2, encoded by myp2+. The relationship of these two proteins to each other and their relative contribution to CAR assembly and contraction is largely unknown. Here we review what is known about the role of each myosin in cytokinesis and present some new information concerning their regulation and possible physical interaction. Microsc. Res. Tech. 49:152–160, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An emotion aware agent platform for interactive storytelling and gaming

As an emerging medium and industry, computer games received a lot of attention from scholars across a variety of disciplines. The realistic 3D graphics, intelligent non-player characters (NPC) and fascinating game play have made a great impact on user experience in the entertainment domain, e-Learning and other gaming related applications. In this paper, we investigate the game from another perspective - how the game can be affected by the player's real-time experience, such as emotion and gesture. A generic goal oriented software agent platform is proposed to automatically refine the animation, the NPC's personality and emotions, and the game story by learning from the player's realtime feedback from the emotion analyzing and gesture tracking modules. Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) and data mining techniques are used to infer the mutual influences between the player's real world experience and the contents of the game. The adaptation of game to the player's real-time reactions will bring dynamism into the player's game experience. The proposed agent platform has been integrated with several commercial game engines including Unreal Engine 3, and Torque, etc.
Invisible delay quality - SDQM model lights up what could not be seen

The quality of delay testing focused on small delay defects is not clear when traditional fault models are used. We therefore evaluated the feasibility of using the statistical delay quality model (SDQM) - which reflects fabrication process quality, design delay quality, test timing accuracy, and test pattern quality - by using a commercial automatic test program generation (ATPG) tool to apply it to a large data set. The SDQM can also provide a measure predicting the defect level of a chip, and by simulating test patterns we show experimentally here that this measure can be calculated within a reasonable CPU time when using a reasonable amount of memory. Because we found when using SDF information to calculate path lengths accurately that the transition test patterns are not good at detecting small delay defects in long paths, a new test algorithm that detects small delay defects should be developed
Health Claims in Food Marketing: Evidence on Knowledge and Behavior in the Cereal Market

This study examines the ready-to-eat cereal market during a period in which producers were initially prohibited from advertising cereals’ health benefits but were later permitted to make health claims. Results indicate that producer health claims led to significant increases in consumer knowledge of the fiber-cancer relationship, in fiber cereal consumption and in product innovation. Government and general information sources had limited impact on fiber cereal choices in the years prior to the advertising, despite the accumulation of scientific evidence linking fiber to colon cancer. Most segments of the population increased their fiber cereal consumption once health claims were added to the market, but some informationally disadvantaged segments that had responded less to government and other sources of information responded disproportionately to health claims compared to other segments. These findings suggest that policies governing producers’ use of health claims should be evaluated not only on how well they control deceptive or misleading claims, but also on how well they encourage producers to disseminate evolving health information to consumers.
Evaluation of a Panel of Tumor Markers for Molecular Detection of Circulating Cancer Cells in Women with Suspected Breast Cancer

Purpose: We examined the feasibility of using molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells as a method for early detection of breast cancer. Research Design: Women without a prior history of cancer who had a breast abnormality detected on imaging followed by a breast biopsy were enrolled in this study. Density gradient centrifugation and immunomagnetic capture were used to enrich for epithelial cells from ∼20 mL of blood. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR was used to quantitate the expression levels of the highly breast-specific genes, mammaglobin, γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor π subunit (GABA Aπ), B305D-C, and B726P in the epithelial cell–enriched samples. Results: The assay was technically feasible in 154 of 199 accrued patients. From their clinical assessment, 100 patients had benign breast disease, 10 patients had ductal carcinoma in situ, and 44 patients had invasive breast cancer. We constructed a diagnostic test that classified patients with mammaglobin levels of at least 32.2 copies/pg β-actin (units) in their circulating epithelial cells as positive for invasive breast cancer. This resulted in a sensitivity and specificity of 63.3% and 75.0%, respectively. A diagnostic test that classified patients as positive for invasive breast cancer when either mammaglobin levels were >46.3 units or B305D-C levels were >11.6 units increased the sensitivity and specificity to 70.5% and 81.0%, respectively. In the latter test, 12 of the 14 node-positive breast cancer patients were correctly identified. Including GABA Aπ and B726P in the test did not increase its diagnostic potential. Conclusions: These results suggest that molecular characterization of circulating epithelial cells using mammaglobin and B305D-C offers potential for early detection of invasive breast cancer.
Broadband Filtering Dielectric Resonator Antenna With Wide Stopband

A low profile stacked dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) and a microstrip metasurface (MS) antenna are investigated and compared in this communication. It has been found that very similar radiation performance including resonant modes, reflection coefficients, boresight gains, and radiation patterns can be obtained between them, indicating that the dielectric superstrate of stacked DRA plays analogous role with MS in enhancing the antenna bandwidth and realized gain. Based on this observation, a broadband, low profile, and high gain filtering cylindrical stacked DRA is inspired by an MS-based filtering antenna. Four resonant modes including the higher order HEM<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{31\delta }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mode and HEM<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{13\delta }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mode are simultaneously excited in the DRA to provide a broad bandwidth of 61.4% and a peak gain of 11.4 dBi within passband, whereas a shorting via and two pairs of transverse stubs are introduced into the feeding microstrip line to generate radiation nulls in stopband and realize filtering function. Second harmonic suppression has been achieved without increasing the footprint of the antenna, and an out-of-band suppression of more than 23 dB is obtained within the wide stopband.
Model-based control of FES-induced single joint movements

A crucial issue of functional electrical stimulation (FES) is the control of motor function by the artificial activation of paralyzed muscles. Major problems that limit the success of current FES systems are the nonlinearity of the target system and the rapid change of muscle properties due to fatigue. In this study, four different strategies, including an adaptive algorithm, to control the movement of the freely swinging shank were developed on the basis of computer simulations and experimentally evaluated on two subjects with paraplegia due to a complete thoracic spinal cord injury. After developing a nonlinear, physiologically based model describing the dynamic behavior of the knee joint and muscles, an open-loop approach, a closed-loop approach, and a combination of both were tested. In order to automate the individual adjustments cited, we further evaluated the performance of an adaptive feedforward controller. The two parameters chosen for the adaptation were the threshold pulse width and the scaling factor for adjusting the active moment produced by the stimulated muscle to the fitness of the muscle. These parameters have been chosen because of their significant time variability. The first three controllers with fixed parameters yielded satisfactory result. An additional improvement was achieved by applying the adaptive algorithm that could cope with problems due to muscle fatigue, thus permitting on-line identification of critical parameters of the plant. Although the present study is limited to a simplified experimental setup, its applicability to more complex and functional movements can be expected.