Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A History of World Agriculture: From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis

Ce livre a pour objet d’etablir une connaissance methodique de la genealogie et des caracteristiques des principales formes d’agricultures qui ont ete pratiquees par l’humanite depuis 10 000 ans, sous la forme synthetique d’une theorie de l’evolution historique et de la differenciation geographique des systemes agraires. A partir de la, il vise a expliquer le role que la crise agraire des pays en developpement joue dans la formation de la crise generale, et a montrer comment la sauvegarde et le developpement de l’agriculture pauvre faiblement equipee et tres peu productive, qui est de loin la plus repandue dans le monde d’aujourd’hui, peut contribuer a remedier a la crise contemporaine. Ainsi, les onze chapitres abordent successivement : 1 – l’agriculture dans l’evolution de la vie et dans l’histoire de l’homme ; 2 – les origines de l’agriculture a l’epoque neolithique ; 3 – les systemes de culture sur abattis-brulis des milieux boises et les consequences de la deforestation ; 4 – les systemes agraires hydrauliques de la vallee du Nil egyptien ; 5 – le systeme agraire inca ; 6 – les systemes de culture attelee legere avec jachere et elevage associe des regions temperees d’Europe : la revolution agricole de l’Antiquite ; 7 - les systemes de culture attelee lourde avec jachere et elevage associe des regions temperees froides : la revolution agricole du Moyen-Age ; 8 – les systemes de culture attelee lourde sans jachere issus de la premiere revolution agricole des Temps modernes dans les regions temperees ; 9 – la mecanisation de la traction animale et des transports, et la premiere crise mondiale de surproduction agricole ; 10 – les systemes motorises, mecanises, chimises et specialises issus de la deuxieme revolution agricole des Temps modernes ; 11 – la crise agraire dans les pays en developpement et ses relations avec la crise generale.
Performance analysis of VANETs under Rayleigh, Rician, Nakagami-m and Weibull fading

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) are considered as one of the promising technologies for reduction of accidents and provisioning of infotainment services on the road. Due to high mobility of vehicles, wireless channel response rapidly changes from time to time which results into random fading. Therefore, this paper provides in depth analysis of performance of VANETs under different fading channels. To be specific, we adopt the cluster based approach to analytically model VANETs. Closed-form expressions of packet loss probability for different fading (i.e. Rayleigh, Rician, Nakagami-m and Weibull channel) models have been provided considering both MAC and Physical Layer characteristics. The derived expressions also encompass the effect of decoding failure and packet collision based on signal to noise ratio (SNR) and back-off timer, respectively. Our results characterizes the impact of channel conditions, vehicle speed, and contention window on the performance of the cluster based VANETs. Extensive simulations are performed to verify our findings.
Overtraining

Overtraining syndrome is a serious problem marked by decreased performance, increased fatigue, persistent muscle soreness, mood disturbances, and feeling ‘burnt out’ or ‘stale. ’ The diagnosis of overtraining is usually complicated, there are no exact diagnostic criteria, and physicians must rule out other diseases before the diagnosis can be made. An orthostatic challenge shows promise as a diagnostic tool, but the subjective feelings of the patient remain one of the most reliable early warning signs. Prevention is still the best treatment, and certain subjective and objective parameters can be used by athletes and their trainers to prevent overtraining. Further studies are needed to find a reliable diagnostic test and determine if proposed aids to speed recovery will be effective.
Aerogenous infection of microbiologically defined minipigs with Streptococcus suis serotype 2

Streptococcus suis serotype 2 is the cause of serious infections in animals and humans, but certain aspects of the infection pathogenesis still remain unclear. In this study an experimental model of aerogenous infection and induction of septicemia with S. suis serotype 2 was established in microbiologically defined Göttingen minipigs. Ten animals were exposed to aerosolized S. suis after previous exposure to mild acetic acid in aerosol. Six of the animals were immunosuppressed with prednisolone acetate on different days. All the animals were monitored clinically until euthanasia on days 6 to 13 after exposure. Necropsy was performed and samples were taken for microbiology, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry. Three out of four animals immunosuppressed on days 5 to 7 after exposure developed S. suis septicemia, and S. suis could be detected in the tonsil of the soft palate and/or the nasal cavity of all exposed animals. Thus, using the presented model, local as well as systemic infection with S. suis serotype 2 was established in the Göttingen minipig. Since this breed is defined as free of S. suis and a range of other endemic porcine pathogens, the experimental model could prove useful in the study of this infection.
Befunde zur Unterscheidung von immanenter und ultimativer Gerechtigkeit : 2. Ergebnisse aus einer Untersuchung zur Verantwortungsübernahme für den Aufbau an ostdeutschen Hochschulen

In einer frueheren Studie des Autors waren zwei Varianten des Glaubens an eine gerechte Welt unterschieden worden: immanente Gerechtigkeit und ultimative Gerechtigkeit. Nur der Glaube an immanente Gerechtigkeit fuehrte zur Abwertung und Verantwortlichmachung unschuldiger Opfer, waehrend der Glaube an ultimative Gerechtigkeit zu positiven Bewertungen der Opfer fuehrte und zudem positive Korrelationen mit adaptiven Prozessen wie Optimismus und Zuversicht in die eigenen Bewaeltigungsmoeglichkeiten zeigte. Diese Ergebnisse wurden aus einer Fragebogenuntersuchung zur Wahrnehmung von Krebskrankheiten und Krebskranken gewonnen, die Items waren deshalb in bereichsspezifischer Weise formuliert. In der aktuellen Untersuchung wird ueberprueft, ob diese Ergebnisse mit einem allgemeinen Gerechte-Welt-Fragebogen repliziert werden koennen. Ein solcher Fragebogen wurde in einer Studie zur Hilfsbereitschaft von westdeutschen Studierenden gegenueber ostdeutschen Studierenden eingesetzt und lieferte reliable Skalen zur Messung der beiden Varianten des Gerechte-Welt-Glaubens. Diese beiden Skalen wurden hinsichtlich ihrer Korrelationsmuster miteinander verglichen. Dabei konnten einige der frueheren Ergebnisse bestaetigt werden: Erneut zeigte sich, dass nur ultimative Gerechtigkeit mit positiven Bewertungen der Benachteiligtengruppe und Hilfsbereitschaft einhergeht, waehrend der Glaube an eine immanente Gerechtigkeit solche Hilfe eher ausschliesst und andere fuer die Behebung der Probleme verantwortlich macht. Zusaetzlich zur Replikation solcher Befunde wurden erstmals die Korrelationsmuster der beiden Varianten mit anderen Variablen wie der Praeferenz fuer Prinzipien der Verteilungsgerechtigkeit, Werten oder Reaktanzneigung untersucht.
High-altitude medicine

Sojourns to high altitude have become common for recreation and adventure purposes. In most individuals, gradual ascent to a high altitude leads to a series of adaptive changes in the body, termed as acclimatization. These include changes in the respiratory, cardiovascular, hematologic systems and cellular adaptations that enhance oxygen delivery to the tissues and augment oxygen uptake. Thus there is an increase in pulmonary ventilation, increase in diffusing capacity in the lung, an increase in the cardiac output and increase in the red blood cell count due to an increase in erythropoietin secretion by the kidney, all of which enhance oxygen delivery to the cells. Cellular changes like increase in the number of mitochondria and augmentation of cytochrome oxidase systems take months or years to develop. Too rapid an ascent or inability to acclimatize leads to high-altitude illnesses. These include acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). Acute mountain sickness is self limiting if recognized early. Both HACE and HAPE are life threatening and need to be treated aggressively. The key to treatment of these illnesses is early recognition; administration of supplemental oxygen; and descent if required. Drugs like acetazolamide, dexamethasone, nifedipine may be administered as recommended.
Emerging and established global life-style risk factors for cancer of the upper aero-digestive tract.

INTRODUCTION Upper aero-digestive tract cancer is a multidimensional problem, international trends showing complex rises and falls in incidence and mortality across the globe, with variation across different cultural and socio-economic groups. This paper seeks some explanations and identifies some research and policy needs. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH The literature illustrates the multifactorial nature of carcinogenesis. At the cellular level, it is viewed as a multistep process involving multiple mutations and selection for cells with progressively increasing capacity for proliferation, survival, invasion, and metastasis. Established and emerging risk factors, in addition to changes in incidence and prevalence of cancers of the upper aero-digestive tract, were identified. RISK FACTORS Exposure to tobacco and alcohol, as well as diets inadequate in fresh fruits and vegetables, remain the major risk factors, with persistent infection by particular so-called "high risk" genotypes of human papillomavirus increasingly recognised as also playing an important role in a subset of cases, particularly for the oropharynx. Chronic trauma to oral mucosa from poor restorations and prostheses, in addition to poor oral hygiene with a consequent heavy microbial load in the mouth, are also emerging as significant risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Understanding and quantifying the impact of individual risk factors for these cancers is vital for health decision-making, planning and prevention. National policies and programmes should be designed and implemented to control exposure to environmental risks, by legislation if necessary, and to raise awareness so that people are provided with the information and support they need to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Using Correlated Regression Models to Calculate Cumulative Attributes for Age Estimation

Facial age estimation requires accurately capturing the mapping relationship between facial features and corresponding ages, so as to precisely estimate ages for new input facial images. Previous works usually use one-layer regression model to learn this complex mapping relationship, resulting in low estimation accuracy. In this letter, we propose a new gender-specific regression model with a two-layer structure for more accurate age estimation. Different from recent two-layer models that use a global regressor to calculate cumulative attributes (CA) and use CA to estimate age, we use gender-specific ones to calculate CA with more flexibility and precision. Extensive experimental results on FG-NET and Morph 2 datasets demonstrate the superiority of our method over other state-of-theart age estimation methods. key words: cumulative attributes, gender-specific age estimation
Real-time traffic shape monitoring system for video/audio streaming systems

This paper introduces the requirements, concept and effects of a high time-resolution traffic volume transition-shape monitoring system that enables us to observe selected traffic flow shapes using a well-considered time-resolution in a real-time manner. We determined the time-resolution to be one millisecond, based on the relationship between the behavior of the streaming applications and the statistical assumptions used to calculate the traffic volume. This prototype can display traffic volume transition shapes in an oscilloscope style and clearly indicates traffic shape differences that cannot be observed using conventional monitoring systems
Calcium requirements for secretion in bovine chromaffin cells.

1. Measurements of membrane capacitance and intracellular Ca2+ concentration, [Ca2+]i, were used to examine the Ca2+ dependence of secretion in single adrenal chromaffin cells. 2. Intracellular dialysis of Ca2+, through a patch pipette, promoted secretion; the rate of secretion increased monotonically as [Ca2+]i was elevated, while the total amount of secretion reached a maximum at 1.5 microM‐Ca2+ and declined at high [Ca2+]i. 3. Release of Ca2+ from internal stores, using bradykinin or ionomycin, transiently elevated [Ca2+]i and the rate of secretion. 4. Considering responses to both Ca2+ dialysis and release from internal stores, it appears that the rate of secretion increases over a range of [Ca2+]i levels above 0.2 microM and saturates at concentrations greater than 10 microM, if at all. Secretion appears to have a Hill coefficient for Ca2+ of about 2. At [Ca2+]i greater than 1‐2 microM, prolonged elevation of [Ca2+]i, via dialysis, produced lower rates of secretion than transient elevation of [Ca2+]i caused by release from internal stores. This may have been caused by a depletion of readily releasable chromaffin granules during prolonged elevation of [Ca2+]i. 5. Brief depolarizing pulses produced transient rises in both [Ca2+]i and the rate of secretion. The ability of these pulses to evoke secretion ‘washed out’ during prolonged intracellular dialysis, due to both reduced Ca2+ influx and a diminished ability of the cell to secrete in response to a given Ca2+ load. 6. The kinetics of the secretory response depended upon the size of the depolarization‐induced Ca2+ load; small rises in [Ca2+]i increased membrane capacitance only during the depolarization, while larger rises in [Ca2+]i produced increases both during and following the depolarization. The secretory responses that outlasted the depolarization appeared to be due to persistent elevation of [Ca2+]i. Secretory responses were sometimes followed by a slower decline in membrane capacitance, probably due to endocytosis of membrane. 7. Comparison of the rates of secretion measured during depolarization to those produced by Ca2+ dialysis or release from internal stores suggests that [Ca2+]i at secretory sites can exceed 10 microM during depolarization. The spatially averaged measurements of [Ca2+]i indicate much smaller levels of [Ca2+]i; thus, there must be pronounced spatial gradients of [Ca2+]i during depolarization.
Protective role of sialophorin (CD43)-expressing cells in experimental Staphylococcus aureus infection

Sialophorin (CD43) is a major surface mucin on most hematopoietic cell lineages, including phagocytes. Defects of CD43 expression occur in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, a disease characterized by susceptibility to pyogenic infections. In a newly established rat model of septic Staphylococcus aureus arthritis, we have investigated the role of CD43-expressing cells in the progression of the disease. A single injection of a monoclonal antibody specific for CD43 induced a highly erosive course of arthritis and increased mortality in animals exposed to a suboptimal dose of bacteria. Our results demonstrate that sialophorin-expressing cells play a protective role in the early stage of staphylococcal infection.
Rofecoxib Increases Susceptibility of Human LDL and Membrane Lipids to Oxidative Damage: A Mechanism of Cardiotoxicity

Clinical investigations have demonstrated a relationship between the extended use of rofecoxib and the increased risk for atherothrombotic events. This has led to the removal of rofecoxib from the market and concern over the cardiovascular safety of other cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 selective agents. Experimental findings from independent laboratories now indicate that the cardiotoxicity of rofecoxib may not be a class effect but because of its intrinsic chemical properties. Specifically, rofecoxib has been shown to increase the susceptibility of human low-density lipoprotein and cellular membrane lipids to oxidative modification, a contributing factor to plaque instability and thrombus formation. Independently of COX-2 inhibition, rofecoxib also promoted the nonenzymatic formation of isoprostanes and reactive aldehydes from biologic lipids. The basis for these observations is that rofecoxib alters lipid structure and readily forms a reactive maleic anhydride in the presence of oxygen. By contrast, other selective (celecoxib, valdecoxib) and nonselective (naproxen, diclofenac) inhibitors did not influence rates of low-density lipoprotein and membrane lipid oxidation. We have now further confirmed these findings by demonstrating that the prooxidant activity of rofecoxib can be blocked by the potent antioxidant astaxanthin in homochiral form (all-trans 3S, 3′S). These findings provide a mechanistic rationale for differences in cardiovascular risk among COX-selective inhibitors because of their intrinsic physicochemical properties.
Adaptive variable structure controller using neural networks

A power system stabilizer (PSS) of a single machine power system model has been designed using a neural network based variable structure controller (VSC). The need for adaptive VSC comes from the fact that the power system model operates over a wide range of operating points, some of which are unstable, and hence no single VSC gains are sufficient for the entire operating range. Neural networks are used for on-line prediction of the suitable VSC gains when the operating point changes. Simulation results are included to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control scheme.
Multidrug Resistance Protein (MRP)-mediated Transport of Leukotriene C and Chemotherapeutic Agents in Membrane Vesicles

The 190-kDa multidrug resistance protein (MRP) has recently been associated with the transport of cysteinyl leukotrienes and several glutathione (GSH) S-conjugates. In the present study, we have examined the transport of leukotriene C (LTC) in membrane vesicles from MRP-transfected HeLa cells (T14), as well as drug-selected H69AR lung cancer cells which express high levels of MRP. V and K values for LTC transport by membrane vesicles from T14 cells were 529 ± 176 pmol mg min and 105 ± 31 nM, respectively. At 50 nM LTC, the K (ATP) was 70 μM. Transport in T14 vesicles was osmotically-sensitive and was supported by various nucleoside triphosphates but not by non- or slowly-hydrolyzable ATP analogs. LTC transport rates in membrane vesicles derived from H69AR cells and their parental and revertant variants were consistent with their relative levels of MRP expression. A 190-kDa protein in T14 membrane vesicles was photolabeled by [3H]LTC and immunoprecipitation with MRP-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) confirmed that this protein was MRP. LTC transport was inhibited by an MRP-specific mAb (QCRL-3) directed against an intracellular conformational epitope of MRP, but not by a mAb (QCRL-1) which recognizes a linear epitope. Photolabeling with [3H]LTC was also inhibitable by mAb QCRL-3 but not mAb QCRL-1. GSH did not inhibit LTC transport. However, the ability of alkylated GSH derivatives to inhibit transport increased markedly with the length of the alkyl group. S-Decylglutathione was a potent competitive inhibitor of [3H]LTC transport (K 116 nM), suggesting that the two compounds bind to the same, or closely related, site(s) on MRP. Chemotherapeutic agents including colchicine, doxorubicin, and daunorubicin were poor inhibitors of [3H]LTC transport. Taxol, VP-16, vincristine, and vinblastine were also poor inhibitors of LTC transport but inhibition by these compounds was enhanced by GSH. Uptake of [3H]vincristine into T14 membrane vesicles in the absence of GSH was low and not dependent on ATP. However, in the presence of GSH, ATP-dependent vincristine transport was observed. Levels of transport increased with concentrations of GSH up to 5 mM. The identification of an MRP-specific mAb that inhibits LTC transport and prevents photolabeling of MRP by LTC, provides conclusive evidence of the ability of MRP to transport cysteinyl leukotrienes. Our studies also demonstrate that MRP is capable of mediating ATP-dependent transport of vincristine and that transport is GSH-dependent.
Distributed remainder method for pulse generator in servo motor control

Driving servo motor by pulse train to control the motor position or speed typically requires the pulse generation from MCU. The pulse train for a certain period can be generated by the required characteristics of the pulse such as the number of required pulses and the pulse period. The pulse train generation seems to be a trivial task. However, this paper illustrates that, in some case, the pulse train generation can lead to motor speed error caused by discrete nature of the pulse period which is corresponding to a gap in the pulse train. This paper also proposes a method to mitigate the motor speed error so called Distributed remainder method to distribute the aforementioned gap across the whole pulse train. We also demonstrate how the pulse generation is implemented on MCU and FPGA and generate experimental results to confirm the effectiveness of our method.
Differential outcomes of type A dissection with malperfusion according to affected organ system.

BACKGROUND The management of malperfusion in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection is controversial. We sought to determine the rate of resolution of malperfusion following primary repair of the dissection and to identify anatomic sites of malperfusion that may require additional management. METHODS We reviewed the hospital records of patients who presented to our institution with acute type A aortic dissection. Patient demographics, operative details and post-operative course were retrospectively extracted from our institutional electronic database. Depending upon the anatomic site, malperfusion was identified by a combination of radiographic and clinical definitions. Data were analyzed using standard univariable and multivariable methods. RESULTS Between 1997-2013, 101 patients underwent repair of an acute type A dissection. Thirty-day mortality was 14.9% (15/101); there were five intraoperative deaths. There was no difference in 30-day mortality between patients with or without malperfusion (15.4% vs. 14.7%, P=0.93). Twenty-five patients (24.7%), who survived surgery, presented with 31 sites of malperfusion. Anatomic sites included extremities [14], renal [10], cerebral [5] and intestinal [2]. Of these 31 sites, malperfusion resolved in 18 (58.1%) with primary aortic repair. Renal malperfusion resolved radiographically in 80.0%, with no difference in the incidence of insufficiency (44.0% vs. 35.2%; P=0.44) or dialysis (20.0% vs. 15.5%; P=0.61) between malperfusion and non-malperfusion patients. Extremity malperfusion resolved postoperatively in six out of 14 patients. Of the remaining eight, concomitant revascularization was performed in four, one had an amputation and three required postoperative interventions. Advanced patient age (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.12, P=0.02) was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality, while preoperative malperfusion was not (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.18-3.31, P=0.73). CONCLUSIONS Malperfusion complicating acute type A dissection can be managed in many patients by aortic replacement alone with low overall mortality. Most cases of renal and cerebral malperfusion resolved following aortic surgery. Revascularization was frequently necessary in patients with extremity malperfusion. Patients presenting with intestinal ischemia had very poor outcomes. A patient-specific approach is recommended in such complex patients.