Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outcomes of a Single-Segment Intrastromal Corneal Ring in Early Keratoconus Versus Early Pellucid Marginal Degeneration

Purpose: To determine the effect of a single-segment intrastromal corneal ring segment (ICRS;Intacs-SK) on early keratoconus (KCN) or pellucid marginal degeneration (PMD). Methods: It is a prospective interventional study. One-hundred-twenty-four eyes (99 patients) with KCN and 36 eyes (26 patients) with PMD at early stage (the maximum keratometric reading less than 55 diopters) were included to ICRS implantation using femtosecond laser at a tertiary university-based hospital and a private outpatient center. The uncorrected distance and spectacle-corrected visual acuity (UDVA and SCDVA), manifest spherical and cylindrical refractions, and keratometry indices were measured preoperatively and postoperatively, 1 week, 2 and 6 months.Results: One week after surgery, significant improvements were observed in UDVA, SCDVA, cylinder and keratometry readings of both KCN and PMD groups (all P<0.05) with no significant changes afterwards. No significant change occurred in the sphere refraction of PMD group (P=0.10) in contrast to KCN group (P<0.001). Corneal irregularity of KCN group in central 3 and 5 mm zones increased at 1 week (both P<0.001) and then continued to decrease up to 6 months. However, the corneal irregularity of PMD group had significant reduction only at 1 week in 5-mm zone (P=0.02) and 2 months in 3-mm zone (P=0.01) postoperatively. The final efficacy indexes were 1.44±0.71 and 0.87±0.40 in KCN and PMD groups, respectively. Conclusion: Visual acuity and keratometry values reached stability at 1 week, after one-segment Intacs-SK implantation in KCN and PMD groups. The short-term efficacy of the procedure was more in early KCN compared to early PMD.
Discontinuity structure of the mantle transition zone beneath the North China Craton from receiver function migration

[1] A better understanding of the significant Phanerozoic tectonic reactivation and destruction of the North China Craton (NCC) demands a detailed knowledge of the deep structural features of the region. We applied the wave equation-based poststack migration technique to a combined receiver function data set from more than 250 broadband seismic stations to construct the structural image of the mantle transition zone beneath the NCC. Our imaging results reveal a relatively simple and flat 410-km discontinuity but a structurally complicated 660-km discontinuity beneath the region. Double discontinuities and a 30-km depression of the 660-km discontinuity are observed locally in the southern part of the eastern NCC, in contrast to the smoothly varying structure to the north and in the central and western parts of the craton. Distinctly rapid variations in both the 660-km discontinuity structure and mantle transition zone thickness were found across the northsouth gravity lineament (NSGL) near the boundary between the eastern and central NCC, which probably reflects different thermal and probably chemical properties on the two sides of the NSGL. These differences are possibly associated with the Pacific slab, which is imaged tomographically as a flat-lying structure in the mantle transition zone under the region east of the NSGL. The structural variation in the deep upper mantle appears to coincide with the sudden changes in surface topography, gravity field, and crustal and lithospheric structures as well, indicating that the two domains may have tectonically deformed differently throughout the whole upper mantle during the Phanerozoic cratonic destruction. The mantle transition zone on the eastern side of the NSGL is up to 30 40 km thicker than the global average; this thickness and the complex structure of the 660-km discontinuity in this region may reflect the strong influence that the deep subduction and stagnancy of the Pacific slab, and its possible sporadic penetration into the lower mantle, have had on mantle dynamics and lithospheric reactivation in the eastern NCC since the Mesozoic time. On the other hand, the less variable structure and normal-to-thin mantle transition zone imaged beneath the central and western NCC may indicate that the IndiaEurasia collision has had a relatively weak effect on the Cenozoic tectonics of these regions.
Halococcoides cellulosivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., an extremely halophilic cellulose-utilizing haloarchaeon from hypersaline lakes

: An extremely halophilic euryarchaeon, strain HArcel1T, was enriched and isolated in pure culture from the surface brines and sediments of hypersaline athalassic lakes in the Kulunda Steppe (Altai region, Russia) using amorphous cellulose as the growth substrate. The colonies of HArcel1T are pale-orange, and form large zones of cellulose hydrolysis around them. The cells are nonmotile cocci of variable size with a thin monolayer cell wall. The isolate is an obligate aerobic heterotroph capable of growth with only 3 substrates: various forms of insoluble cellulose, xylan and cellobiose. HArcel1T is an extremely halophilic neutrophile, growing within
Microsoft Word-22828359-file00.docx

word count: 221 / 250 max. Introduction word count: 644 / 750 max. Discussion word count: 1500 / 1500 max. Abbreviations P450, cytochrome P450; HLM, human liver microsomes; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; IC50, inhibitor concentration producing 50% inhibition; kobs, inactivation rate constant, KI, inactivation binding constant; kinact, maximum inactivation rate constant; LC-MS, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; NCE, new chemical entity; TDI, time dependent inhibition; WDI, World Drug Index. This article has not been copyedited and formatted. The final version may differ from this version. DMD Fast Forward. Published on March 7, 2011 as DOI: 10.1124/dmd.110. 037911 at A PE T Jornals on M arch 6, 2022 dm d.aspurnals. org D ow nladed from
Dependence of Aerosol Light Absorption and Single-Scattering Albedo On Ambient Relative Humidity for Sulfate Aerosols with Black Carbon Cores

Atmospheric aerosols frequently contain hygroscopic sulfate species and black carbon (soot) inclusions. In this paper we report results of a modeling study to determine the change in aerosol absorption due to increases in ambient relative humidity (RH), for three common sulfate species, assuming that the soot mass fraction is present as a single concentric core within each particle. Because of the lack of detailed knowledge about various input parameters to models describing internally mixed aerosol particle optics, we focus on results that were aimed at determining the maximum effect that particle humidification may have on aerosol light absorption. In the wavelength range from 450 to 700 nm, maximum absorption humidification factors (ratio of wet to “dry = 30% RH” absorption) for single aerosol particles are found to be as large as 1.75 when the RH changes from 30 to 99.5%. Upon lesser humidification from 30 to 80% RH, absorption humidification for single particles is only as much as 1.2, even for the most favorable combination of initial (“dry”) soot mass fraction and particle size. Integrated over monomodal lognormal particle size distributions, maximum absorption humidification factors range between 1.07 and 1.15 for humidification from 30 to 80% and between 1.1 and 1.35 for humidification from 30 to 95% RH for all species considered. The largest humidification factors at a wavelength of 450 nm are obtained for “dry” particle size distributions that peak at a radius of 0.05 μm, while the absorption humidification factors at 700 nm are largest for “dry” size distributions that are dominated by particles in the radius range of 0.06 to 0.08 μm. Single-scattering albedo estimates at ambient conditions are often based on absorption measurements at low RH (∼30%) and the assumption that aerosol absorption does not change upon humidification (i.e., absorption humidification equal to unity). Our modeling study suggests that this assumption alone can introduce absolute errors in estimates of the midvisible single-scattering albedo of up to 0.05 for realistic dry particle size distributions. Our study also indicates that this error increases with increasing wavelength. The potential errors in aerosol single-scattering albedo derived here are comparable in magnitude and in addition to uncertainties in single-scattering albedo estimates that are based on measurements of aerosol light absorption and scattering.
Carbonate Rock Type Matrix RocMat, The Ultimate Rock Properties Catalogue

Rock typing is one of the most important steps in reservoir modeling, and it’s the main task in reservoir characterization. In carbonate, the rock typing work that’s been performed during the last two decades had a little progress in term of providing reliable estimation of reservoir behavior. However, the development of Conjunction Rock Properties Convergence, CROPC, a carbonate rock typing concept that provided an important and easy solution to the carbonate rock typing gaps, has a major breakthrough, even though, CROPC methodology was developed to capture the single pore network through the conjunction of Lithology, permeability, capillary pressure and water saturation. Therefore, the need to identify more complex carbonate pore network had led to the initiation of developing the Carbonate Rock Type Matrix RocMat, which will be detailed in this paper, as part of a Master of Science research project. In this novel concept the carbonate rocks were classified into homogeneous, single pore network, and heterogeneous rocks, dual and triple pore network with the utilization of the effective petrophysical properties of permeability, capillary pressure, saturation, porosity and height above free water level, all were classified in a conjunction matrix that honors these properties and at the same time enables generating sub groups as down scaling and estimation for unseen groups with infinite rock complexity capturing, at the same time it enables the ease to lump the groups and generates upscale-groups that make it easier for utilization by the geologist and reservoir engineers to achieve the objective of better reservoir performance prediction, the work was performed and then tested in two carbonate offshore fields data. This RocMat was structured to be the ultimate catalog for carbonate rock types.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Dislocations in inhomogeneous media via a moduli perturbation approach: General formulation and two‐dimensional solutions

Quasi-static elastic dislocations in a homogeneous elastic half-space are commonly used to model earthquake faulting processes. Recent studies of the 1989 Kalapana, Hawaii, and Loma Prieta, California, earthquakes suggest that spatial variations in elastic properties are necessary to reconcile geodetic and seismic results (Arnadottir et al., 1991; Eberhart-Phillips and Stuart, 1992). In this paper, we use a moduli perturbation approach to investigate the effect of lateral and vertical variations in elastic properties on the elastic fields produced by dislocations. The method is simple, efficient, and in some cases leads to closed form solutions. The zero-order solution is simply the solution for a homogeneous body. The first-order correction for elastic heterogeneity is given by a volume integral involving the spatial variations in moduli, the displacements due to a dislocation in a homogeneous half-space, and the half-space Green's function. The same representation can be also used to obtain higher-order solutions. If there are only piecewise constant variations in shear modulus, the volume integral can be reduced to a surface integral (or line integral in two-dimensions). Comparisons with the analytical solutions for a screw dislocation in a layered medium suggest that the perturbation solutions are valid for nearly an order of magnitude variation in modulus. It is shown that a simple two-dimensional model with both vertical and lateral variations in the elastic properties may explain a large part of the discrepancy between seismic and geodetically inferred fault depths for the 1989 Kalapana, Hawaii, earthquake.
Aflibercept vs. Ranibizumab: cost‐effectiveness of treatment for wet age‐related macular degeneration in Sweden

Monthly dosing with ranibizumab (RBZ) is needed to achieve maximal visual gains in patients with neovascular (‘wet’) age‐related macular degeneration (wAMD). In Sweden, dosing is performed as needed (RBZ PRN), resulting in suboptimal efficacy. Intravitreal aflibercept (IVT‐AFL) every 2 months after three initial monthly doses was clinically equivalent to RBZ monthly dosing (RBZ q4) in wAMD clinical trials. We assessed the cost‐effectiveness of IVT‐AFL versus RBZ q4 and RBZ PRN in Sweden.
Crustal heterogeneity highlighted by spatial b-value map in the Wellington region of New Zealand

SUMMARY We map the b-value in the subduction zone of the Wellington region, New Zealand, using a high quality earthquake catalogue relocated with a 3-D seismic velocity model, consisting of 50 314 events that occurred between 1990 and 2005. In order to investigate heterogeneity in the crust of the overlying plate and in the upper plane of the Wadati–Benioff Zone (WBZ), we analyse a series of cross-sections perpendicular to the strike of the subduction zone. We calculate the b-values selecting events with magnitude of completeness ≥2.4 and depth ≤65 km and projecting the seismicity within 20 km on each side of the cross-sectional planes. We observe areas of high b-value (∼1.7) near the plate interface and regions of low b-value anomalies are detected both in the WBZ in the northwest region below 40 km depth and in the overlying plate in the northern South Island at 10 km depth. The anomalies are statistically significant based on Utsu's p-test and the bootstrap method and are not data processing method or parameter dependent. We compare the b-value distribution with previously determined 3-D distributions of Vp, Vp/Vs and Qp from seismic tomography. This comparison suggests that material inhomogeneity, caused by fluid filled cracks resulting from dehydration of the subducted slab and subducted sediments, is the predominant cause of b-value variation in the shallow part of this subduction zone. Our observations are consistent with a previously proposed conceptual model that fluid distribution in the shallow part of this subduction zone is controlled by the permeability of geological terranes in the overlying plate.
The role of snow cover in the warming of arctic permafrost

Air temperatures at high latitudes are expected to rise significantly as anthropogenic carbon builds up in the atmosphere. There is concern that warming of the ground in permafrost regions will result in additional release of carbon to the atmosphere. Recent emphasis has thus been on predicting the magnitude and spatial distribution of future warming at high latitudes. Modeling results show that changes in below ground temperatures can be influenced as much by temporal variations of snow cover as by changes in the near‐surface air temperature. The recent (1983–1998) changes in permafrost temperatures on the North Slope of Alaska are consistent with decadal scale variability in snow cover. The implication of these results is that a better understanding of how winter precipitation patterns at high latitudes will change over the coming decades is needed to comprehend evolving permafrost temperatures.
Immunohistochemical expression of Cathepsin H protein in Glioblastoma Multiforme: Diverse subcellular localization patterns suggest a complex role in the biology of these tumors

Patients diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) usually survive less than a year, even with the latest treatment protocols, thus there is an urgent requirement for identifying molecular markers that could be utilized for targeted therapy. The lysosomal proteases are believed to contribute to the invasive process of tumors by breakdown of extracellular matrix. Cathepsin H is a lysosomal protease whose expression has not been fully characterized in GBM. We examined the pattern of CH protein expression immunohistochemically in 24 GBM, 18 other brain tumors and 3 non-tumor cases. CH was expressed in all cases of GBM, although there was considerable heterogeneity within each tumor. Several patterns of CH expression were observed including granular and diffuse cytoplasmic staining. The diversity in CH expression patterns in GBM indicates a complex role for CH in the biology of these tumors, and warrants further investigation for developing a novel molecular target for therapy.
Performance Evaluation of Fault Detection Algorithms as Applied to Automotive Localisation

A very important parameter to measure the quality of localisation systems is integrity in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Within this perspective, Integrity first considers the removal of outliers at the receiver level. It is typically monitored applying Fault Detection and Exclusion (FDE) algorithms. Then, integrity ensures a high probability bounded position error by computing protection levels. However, their performance depends very much on the faults characteristics and data redundancy which reflect the environment in which location estimates are made, and thus differ from scenario to scenario. After analyzing the specificities of GNSS based positioning in the automotive context, and the mechanism of the Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) algorithm, a novel Kalman Filter based FDE algorithm is proposed in this paper. This is validated using hybrid simulation techniques based on real data from vehicle proprioceptive sensors and partially simulated GNSS data, where satellite configuration and faults characteristics can be controlled. The chosen scenario is that found in urban environments, representative of areas where localisation systems suffer many difficulties when mounted on land platforms. A comparison between the RAIM and the new algorithm is included.
Shear strength, interparticle locking, and dilatancy of granular materials

The effect of particle angularity on the strength and dilation of granular materials is investigated through a series of laboratory tests on two materials, Ottawa standard sand (Sand O) and crushed limestone (Sand L), that are made up of rounded and angular particles, respectively. Triaxial tests on both materials at different confining pressures and initial void ratios show that particle angularity has a substantial effect on both the peak friction angle ϕp and the mobilized friction angle at the onset of dilation, ϕf. It is found that ϕf is smaller than the critical friction angle ϕcv for Ottawa sand; nevertheless ϕf is larger than ϕcv for Sand L owing to interparticle locking induced by particle angularity. The experimental results clearly show the contributions to shear resistance from both dilation and interlocking, with interlocking still largely existing at the peak stress ratio but not at the critical state. Suggestions are made to modify the stress–dilatancy formulations for sand to take into acc.
X-Ray Diagnostics in Combustion - Study of Particle Formation in Flames Using Combined Small- and Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering

In the thesis work, two X-ray scattering techniques, small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) were combined to study particle formation in-situ and non-intrusively in ethylene laboratory flames. Combining these two techniques enabled information concerning the size and concentration as well as the subnanometer structure of the nanoparticles within the 1–100 nm range there to be obtained. Different stages in the particle formation process, and thus particles of different types were studied by varying the height above the burner surface. An increased understanding of these nanometer-sized particles and how they are formed in flames was sought. In a longer perspective, the work aims at contribute to a greater awareness of the emission of nanoparticles in combustion and ultimately to a reduction in the levels of emission. A large part of the work concerned the development and construction of a new detection system, one combining SAXS and WAXS and designed for flame measurements in particular. The detection system arrived at included a new SAXS detector, implemented together with an already existing WAXS detector, as well as specially designed software. The SAXS and WAXS detectors were characterized by several test measurements conducted at different beamlines at the synchrotron facility MAX-lab in Lund, Sweden. The SAXS/WAXS detection system was used initially at beamline D611 at MAX-lab for studying the particle formation process from the gas phase to the condensed phase in a diffusion ethylene flame just below a metal plate that was inserted into the flames there. The metal plate served as a flame stabilizer and as a cooling support for particles to condense on. A large number of particles smaller than 100 A were found to be produced when the flame temperature was lowered. To study these nanoparticles at a higher level of resolution, use was made of another SAXS and WAXS detection system at beamline ID02 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), for conducting measurements close to the metal plate. This study enabled five main size groups of ≤ 8 A, 15–30 A, 30–100 A, 100–200 A, and fractal aggregates of 1000–2000 A, to be identified. The concentrations for each of the size groups were determined quantitatively, the concentrations of particles below 50 A in size being found to be very high at the end of the experiment. The new SAXS/WAXS detection system was also used at beamline ID12 at the ESRF for measurements of the gas-phase nanoparticles in different ethylene-rich, both sooting and non-sooting, flames at lower heights above the burner. Here vertically polarized X-ray radiation was employed, this extending the region involved in the case of WAXS and providing a more direct comparison of the chemical codes involved in evaluating the chemical composition of small species in different flame regions. The fitting of theoretical curves to the experimental data showed high concentrations of particles 1–2 nm in size.
Characterising the topographic effect at red wavelengths using juvenile conifer canopies

The topographic effect has been characterised precisely from measurements of nadir-viewed radiance at red wavelengths, for a non-Lambertian canopy constructed from juvenile conifers. The conifers were mounted on a topographically-orientable platform, the aspect and slope of which are independently variable, allowing incidence and exitance effects to be examined separately. Measurements show both that the variation in radiance with topography is dominated by incidence rather than exitance effects, and that incidence and exitance effects appear to be largely independent. The variation in radiance with orientation of the juvenile conifer canopy is well-represented by a simple analytical function of the cosines of the incidence and exitance angles, provided that the canopy radiance arising from diffuse sky irradiance is explicitly considered.
Meaningful Connections: Authentic Leadership and Trust

The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive relationship between authentic leadership and trust to supervisor. The data were collected from 104 employees from a variety of jobs and industries in a collectivistic culture, Turkey. In the scope of this study, existing scales are used to collect data. Employees completed the ten-itemed one factor solution trust to supervisor scale and sixteen-itemed four factor solution authentic leadership scale. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the research hypothesis. The structural equation modeling results showed a strong positive relationship between authentic leadership and trust to supervisor. The results are discussed along with practical implication, suggestions for future research and limitations.