Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Use of Remote Sensing Indices to Determine Wildland Burn Severity in Semiarid Sagebrush Steppe Rangelands Using Landsat ETM + and SPOT 5

This study evaluates ten remote sensing indices to detect burned areas and burn severity in a southeastern Idaho study area. While fire-related studies have been performed in forested ecosystems, few have been conducted in sagebrush steppe rangelands. Burn severity, defined as the completeness of aboveground vegetation removal during the burn, is useful in determining the type and location of treatment(s) that land managers can implement to speed recovery, and thus assess effectiveness and speed of landscape recovery. This study utilizes preand post-fire field based sampling as ground control for image processing of Landsat ETM+ and SPOT 5 multispectral imagery. Single and multi-date indices were validated through accuracy assessment techniques. Remote sensing indices comparing burned with unburned areas had better overall, user’s, and producer’s accuracies than indices comparing levels of burn severity. The best burn versus unburned index was the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI; 100% overall accuracy) derived from SPOT imagery, and the best burn severity index was the relative differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR; 73% overall accuracy) derived from Landsat imagery. These two indices provided the highest user’s and producer’s accuracies.
“Natural course” of disease in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer: Survival and prognostic factors without life-prolonging treatment

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to determine survival and prognostic factors in unselected patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), who never received life-prolonging treatment. Materials and methods: The study was a retrospective analysis of a consecutive sample of patients with mCRPC seen at the urological unit of a local hospital from 2000 to 2005, their mCRPC diagnosis based on rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) during androgen depletion treatment (ADT). Results: Median overall survival was 12.3 months (range 0.2–108 months), the 3 year survival was 16.9% (95% confidence interval 0.11–0.24) and two patients were alive at the end of follow-up. Compared to a PSA nadir of greater than 11 μg/l during ADT, a PSA nadir of less than 1 μg/l significantly decreased the risk of death by 71%. A PSA doubling time less than 1.6 months during the early phase of mCRCP almost tripled the risk of death compared to a PSA doubling time longer than 3 months. Alkaline phosphatase serum levels and hemoglobin levels within the normal range indicated a favorable prognosis. Conclusions: The “natural course” of mCRPC varies without life-prolonging treatment along with PSA nadir during ADT, PSA doubling time, alkaline phosphatase and hemoglobin level at mCRPC diagnosis. 3-year survival or longer is observed in 16.9% of patients. In clinical intervention trials among mCRPC patients, all known prognostic factors should be taken into account during the randomization process and during survival analyses.
[Epstein-Barr virus associated acute retinal necrosis].

CASE REPORT This article reports a case of an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated acute retinal necrosis. A 72-year-old male patient presented in the emergency department complaining of progressive loss of vision. During patient management an acute retinal necrosis was suspected and the subsequent diagnostics from a vitreal body biopsy showed positive results only for the EBV genome. OBJECTIVE The EBV is a rare cause of ocular inflammation. With this report we would like to draw the attention of colleagues to this unusual finding. CONCLUSION Although EBV screening is not part of the standard diagnostic procedure, its implementation in relevant clinical situations could possibly assist the differentiation between causal relationship and morbidity.
Photodynamic Antitumor Activity of Fullerene Modified with Poly(ethylene glycol) with Different Molecular Weights and Terminal Structures

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of molecular size and terminal structure of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the antitumor activity of PEG-modified fullerene (C60). PEG samples with different terminal structures and molecular weights were covalently coupled to C60 and their superoxide anion generation, in vitro or in vivo antitumor activity, and body distribution were assessed for the effect of the photosensitizer, used in photodynamic therapy (PDT), on the tumor. Irrespective of the molecular weight and terminal structure of PEG used, the C60–PEG conjugates exhibited a similar ability of superoxide anion generation and in vitro antitumor activity. On the contrary, a strong suppression of the in vivo tumor growth was observed for the C60–PEG conjugates prepared with methyl-terminated PEG with the highest molecular weight, which showed the longest half-life period in the blood circulation and the highest tumor accumulation among all the conjugates used. It is concluded that the superior tumor targetability of C60–PEG conjugates is one of the keys to enhance the PDT activity.
Rapid rule-based machine translation between Dutch and Afrikaans

This paper describes the design, development and evaluation of a machine translation system between Dutch and Afrikaans developed over a period of around a month and a half. The system relies heavily on the re-use of existing publically available resources such as Wiktionary, Wikipedia and the Apertium machine translation platform. A method of translating compound words between the languages by means of left-to-right longest match lookup is also introduced and evaluated.
Subject matter: Human behavior, psychological expertise, and therapeutic lives

Few have greater confidence in psychology’s ability to mold subjectivity than its critics. However, there is a tension in much of the historical and sociological literature on psychology and the psychological society between a commitment to a microphysics of power (Foucault, 1977) and the kinds of sources and voices that get included in such analyses. ‘Subjectification’ (Rose, 1996) is all too often taken for granted, rather than made into a matter of inquiry involving contestation, multiplicity, and rejection. Relationships between scientists and publics are largely understood in terms of a hypodermic needle model of
Antiepileptic Drug Development: I. History and a Program for Progress

Malgré les besoins indiscutables en matiére de thérapies nouvelles, l'évaluation de la valeur commerciale d'un nouveau medicament anti‐epileptique risque d'etre defavorisee aujourd'hui si elle est entreprise par une firme pharmaceutique dépourvue de moyens suffisants. Au cours des 10 dernieres annees, I'Epilepsy Branch (du programme des maladies neurologiques des Instituts Nationaux de la Sante aux U.S.A.) a essays de contribuer aux expertises scientifiques et aux subventions financieres concernant cette evaluation. Le programme pour le developpement des medicaments antiepileptiques de I'Epilepsy Branch a, non seulement aide a com‐mercialiser les trois medicaments antiepileptiques les plus nouveaux, mais il a provoque un renouvellement d'intérêt sur l''épilepsie et les medicaments qui la traitent.
Subwavelength focusing and resolution with hyperbolic transmission line metamaterial

We show the potential of using two dimensional hyperbolic metamaterials (HMs) made of microstrip transmission line (TL) grids loaded by lumped components for achieving subwavelength focusing and resolution at microwave frequencies. The designed planar HM exhibits a very flat wavevector-dispersion diagram over a wide frequency range, signature of the so-called canalization regime. The canalization regime allows us to transfer the field profile of a single point source at the interface through the HM, with full width half maximum of λg / 69, where λg is the guided wavelength in the isotropic TL grid at 200 MHz. We also report the ability to resolve two point sources with subwavelength distance of λg / 15.
Probiotics as potential biotherapeutics in the management of type 2 diabetes – prospects and perspectives

Diabetes mellitus is a looming epidemic worldwide, affecting almost all major sections of society, creating burdens on global health and economy. A large number of studies have identified a series of multiple risk factors such as genetic predisposition, epigenetic changes, unhealthy lifestyle, and altered gut microbiota that cause increased adiposity, β‐cell dysfunction, hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, adiposity, dyslipidaemia, metabolic endotoxemia, systemic inflammation, intestinal permeability (leaky gut), defective secretion of incretins and oxidative stress associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Recent studies have proposed multifactorial interventions including dietary manipulation in the management of T2D. The same interventions have also been recommended by many national and international diabetes associations. These studies are aimed at deciphering the gut microbial influence on health and disease. Interestingly, results from several genomic, metagenomic and metabolomic studies have provided substantial information to target gut microbiota by dietary interventions for the management of T2D. Probiotics particularly lactobacilli and bifidobacteria have recently emerged as the prospective biotherapeutics with proven efficacy demonstrated in various in vitro and in vivo animal models adequately supported with their established multifunctional roles and mechanism of action for the prevention and disease treatment. The dietary interventions in conjunction with probiotics – a novel multifactorial strategy to abrogate progression and development of diabetes – hold considerable promise through improving the altered gut microbial composition and by targeting all the possible risk factors. This review will highlight the new developments in probiotic interventions and future prospects for exploring probiotic therapy in the prevention and control of lifestyle diseases like T2D. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Migration of Applications across Object-Oriented APIs

Software developers often encapsulate reusable code as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The co-evolution of applications and APIs may motivate an API migration: the replacement of application dependencies to an original API by dependencies to an alternative API that provides similar functionality and abstractions. In this dissertation, we investigate issues associated with API migration in objectoriented systems, with special focus on wrapping approaches. We present two studies and a set of developer interviews that elicit issues in the process and techniques used in API migration in practice. The results suggest that the most pressing issues relate to discovery and specification of differences between APIs, and to assessment of migration correctness. This dissertation introduces techniques and a method to address these issues. We propose the use of design patterns to support the specification of API wrappers. API wrapping design patterns encode solutions to common wrapping design problems. We present an initial catalog of such patterns that were abstracted from programming idioms found in existing API wrappers. We introduce the concept of compliance testing for API migration, a form of automated testing. Compliance testing supports the discovery of behavioral differences between a wrapper and its corresponding original API, as well as assessment of wrapper correctness. Compliance testing uses API contracts and assertion tunings to explicitly capture and enforce the notion of a “good enough” wrapper that is informal in practice. We present the Koloo method for wrapper-based API migration. The method prescribes practical steps to use compliance testing as a means to elicit the requirements for the API migration, and to assess its correctness. Koloo fits within the iterative, sample-driven general API migration process usually followed by developers in practice. We evaluate the Koloo method in an empirical study. The subjects cover the domains of XML processing, GUI programming and bytecode engineering. The results provide evidence that Koloo is superior to alternative methods in driving the development of a wrapper that is tailored for the application under migration. The results also show that API contracts help driving the evolution of the wrapper, and assertion tuning is necessary to relax the semantics of strict equality contracts, and useful to compromise on features that are difficult to emulate perfectly. Finally, we validate that the proposed design patterns are used in practical wrappers.
Very Simple Active Snubber Based on the Use of a Low Cost Integrated Switch

Many topologies need over-voltage snubbers to improve the reliability of the main switch operation. In general, industrial solutions consist of an RCD network because it is the simplest solution. However, the energy driven by the snubber is lost in a resistor. In medium and high power applications, the power losses in the snubber become a problem due to the size of the resistor and the temperature management on that component. Obviously, it is possible to give that power back to the input source. However, this usually means using complicated and expensive circuits which are not too competitive. This paper presents a very simple and cost effective over-voltage snubber based on the use of a low cost integrated switch. The system allows returning the snubber energy back to the input, improving the efficiency of the system and simplifying the temperature management in the converter
“ Competitiveness and its Essential Components ”

Most people approach the issue of competitiveness by attempting to define what it is or what it should be. However, it is also interesting to approach the matter from a different angle by examining what factors are not essential in establishing a country’s competitiveness on world markets. While certain factors are certainly helpful for promoting competitiveness, they nonetheless should not be considered essential for a country to demonstrate competitiveness on world markets. Focusing on these factors can help explain what lies behind success in the globalized economy. Thus competitiveness is not dependent upon:
Effect of clinical characteristics on cognitive performance in service members and veterans with histories of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury

Abstract Objective: To examine the relationship between clinical characteristics and cognitive performance in service members and veterans with histories of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Design: This study consisted of 40 Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) service members and veterans; 20 participants reported blast exposure and alteration of mental status consistent with mTBI and 20 participants denied blast exposure and had no history of traumatic brain injury (TBI), but could have experienced extra-cranial injuries. Measures of simple reaction time, processing speed, visual attention, working memory and mathematical processing were used to assess long-term effects of mTBI. Measures of post-traumatic stress symptom severity, pain intensity, sleep difficulty and subjective appraisal of cognition at time of testing were also obtained. Multivariate analyses were conducted with clinical characteristics and mTBI history as predictors of cognitive performance. Results: There was no evidence of an effect of mTBI history on cognitive performance in this sample. However, post-traumatic stress symptom severity was significantly related to two measures of cognitive performance. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the importance of considering the effects of current clinical symptoms (e.g. post-traumatic stress) as possibly having greater influence on current cognitive functioning than the effects of a remote history of mTBI.
A three-stage cross correlation-based timing synchronization algorithm for MB-OFDM UWB systems

We propose a three-stage cross correlation-based timing synchronization algorithm for multiband-OFDM UWB systems. By utilizing the time-domain base sequence of the packet/frame synchronization preamble, the proposed algorithm first performs a coarse estimation on the reference symbol boundary, followed by a fine estimation on locating the exact boundary of the FFT window for the symbol, and a final check if the exact boundary is within an intersymbol interference-free zone. Numerical results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in terms of mean square error and synchronization probability with respect to prior works.
Does Soil Disturbance Affect Soil Phosphorus Fractions

Increased turnover of organic matter as a result of soil disturbance (e.g. by soil tillage) is described in principle, but the direct influence of soil disturbance on soil P turnover especially for organic farming systems has not been sufficiently proven. The objective of the study was to evaluate the short term effect of soil disturbance on different soil P fractions in a soil shaking experiment. Four soils were incubated for 10 days in the dark with three different disturbance treatments: 1) no disturbance, 2) overhead shaking for 2 h at the beginning of the experiment and 3) continuous overhead shaking at 5 r. p. m. The four investigated soils were: 1) a silty loam soil with long term bio-compost application and 2) the corresponding soil without bio-compost application, 3) a long-term organically managed clay loam soil and 4) a clay loam soil with long time application of pig manure, all not and from Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. We determined NaHCO3-, NaOH- and H2SO4-extractable inorganic and organic P fractions (Pi and Po, resp.) in a sequential extraction. Furthermore, the potentially plant available P as Calcium-acetate-lactate-extractable P (CAL-P) and P extractable by electro-ultra-filtration (EUF-P), and aqua regia extractable total P (PT) were determined. Furthermore, we determined microbial biomass carbon (MBC), nitrogen (MBN) and phosphorus (MBP), and acid phosphatase activity in soil. The organically managed soil had the highest PT contents (1300 mg·kg-1). The soil with pig manure application had the smallest potentially labile P fractions (NaHCO3-Pi and -Po and NaOH-Pi). The ecologically managed soil had the biggest organic P fractions (114 mg·kg-1 NaHCO3-Po and 463 mg·kg-1 NaOH-Po), but, this soil was the lowest in CAL-P (5 mg·kg-1). Short term soil disturbance had effects on labile organic P fractions of two of the four analyzed soils, but inorganic P was rather unaffected. In the compost amended COMP(+) soil, there was an incorporation of P from the less available NaOH-P fractions into the more available NaHCO3-Po fraction. However, if taking all investigated soils and treatments into account, the effects of soil disturbance were limited and not consistent.
Continuity, transition and participation: Preparing clients for life in the community post-stroke

Aims. To examine issues of continuity and transition facing clients as they return to life in the community following stroke and the role of rehabilitation in this process. Key findings and implications. The sudden onset of disability following a stroke represents a major disruption to the continuity of a person's life experience. Rehabilitation has an important role in the transition from the non-disabled to the disabled state however current rehabilitation services and outcomes post-stroke focus on functional recovery rather than on a return to meaningful roles and activities and pay little attention to the transition from the non-disabled to the disabled self. Although some current rehabilitation models address the importance of involvement in a life situation, they do not adequately address issues of the role of the environment, the nature of community, the importance of meaning and choice when thinking about life situations, and change in abilities across the life course. Conclusions. Models of rehabilitation service delivery need to move to a chronic disease management model that incorporates outcomes that are meaningful to clients, and not the assumed needs or outcomes as defined by rehabilitation professionals.
Virtual humans with personalized perception and dynamic levels of knowledge

Not everything is perceived as it is provided by the environment. Depending on focus and attention perception can vary and therefore also the knowledge about the world. Virtual humans are sensing the virtual world, storing knowledge and using it to perform tasks. This paper describes our approach to model perceiving, storing and forgetting knowledge as the main regulation of tasks. We use different forms and levels of knowledge which can be independently adapted to different personalities and situations by combining computer graphics methods with psychological models. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Implementation of 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Network in Real-time Monitoring and Control System for Green House

In order to meet the increasing need for quality conscience crops and to utilize the resources efficiently, the concept of Greenhouse was introduced. It assists in accurate monitoring and controlling of various parameters, in order to nurture healthy crops. In this paper efforts are made to acknowledge the problems associated with maintaining precise environmental conditions, and to implement a sophisticated system to supervise the real-time monitoring and controlling operation inside the Greenhouse. The necessity for an Automated System deploying wireless communication and remote sensing is considered. This paper illustrates the implementation of a WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) based embedded system supported by ZigBee network (over IEEE 802.15.4) for organizing Greenhouse parameters. The establishment of various topologies supported by ZigBee network viz. Star topology & Mesh Topology are illustrated. It also demonstrates the real time supervision of parameters such as temperature, humidity as well as the total power consumption of the system, along with appropriate sensors. With the help of a PC based GUI application developed on Java platform graphs are plotted to evaluate the system performance.
Relationship between ultrasonic tissue characterization and myocardial deformation for prediction of left ventricular reverse remodelling in non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

AIMS This study was to evaluate the relationship between ultrasonic tissue characterization by integrated backscatter (IBS) and myocardial deformation assessed by two-dimensional speckled tracking (2DS) imaging for prediction of left ventricular (LV) reverse remodelling in patients with non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-five consecutive patients with non-ischaemic DCM were enrolled prospectively. The mean cyclic variation of integrated backscatter (CVIBS) was calculated as the mean of the septal and posterior wall CVIBS. LV global longitudinal, radial, and circumferential peak strain (GLS, GRS, and GCS, respectively) and twist were obtained. LV reverse remodelling was decided with follow-up echocardiography 12 months. The GLS, GRS, and GCS were correlated with the mean CVIBS. The mean CVIBS and GCS were significantly larger in the 24 patients who had LV reverse remodelling than the 21 patients who had no LV reverse remodelling and the GRS tended to be larger; the GLS and twist did not differ between the two groups. The mean CVIBS and GCS were independent predictors of LV reverse remodelling. CONCLUSION Myocardial deformation assessed by 2DS was related to myocardial fibrosis assessed by IBS. LV reverse remodelling was predicted by mean CVIBS and GCS in patients with non-ischaemic DCM and GCS assessed by 2DS imaging is a simple method and therefore it can be readily used in clinical practice.