Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wave activity in the tropical tropopause layer in seven reanalysis and four chemistry climate model data sets

[1] Sub-seasonal variability including equatorial waves significantly influence the dehydration and transport processes in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL). This study investigates the wave activity in the TTL in 7 reanalysis data sets (RAs; NCEP1, NCEP2, ERA40, ERA-Interim, JRA25, MERRA, and CFSR) and 4 chemistry climate models (CCMs; CCSRNIES, CMAM, MRI, and WACCM) using the zonal wave number-frequency spectral analysis method with equatorially symmetric-antisymmetric decomposition. Analyses are made for temperature and horizontal winds at 100 hPa in the RAs and CCMs and for outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), which is a proxy for convective activity that generates tropopause-level disturbances, in satellite data and the CCMs. Particular focus is placed on equatorial Kelvin waves, mixed Rossby-gravity (MRG) waves, and the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The wave activity is defined as the variance, i.e., the power spectral density integrated in a particular zonal wave number-frequency region. It is found that the TTL wave activities show significant difference among the RAs, ranging from ∼0.7 (for NCEP1 and NCEP2) to ∼1.4 (for ERA-Interim, MERRA, and CFSR) with respect to the averages from the RAs. The TTL activities in the CCMs lie generally within the range of those in the RAs, with a few exceptions. However, the spectral features in OLR for all the CCMs are very different from those in the observations, and the OLR wave activities are too low for CCSRNIES, CMAM, and MRI. It is concluded that the broad range of wave activity found in the different RAs decreases our confidence in their validity and in particular their value for validation of CCM performance in the TTL, thereby limiting our quantitative understanding of the dehydration and transport processes in the TTL.
The available potential energy of an isolated feature

The true available potential energy (APE) of an isolated feature (e.g. a warm-core ring) in a basin is the difference in the potential plus internal energy between the observed and reference state. The reference state is that in which the same fluid is redistributed adiabatically to a stably stratified state and the isopycnals are on constant geopotential surfaces. For an isolated feature in an infinitely wide basin, it would seem reasonable to assume that the far-field density structure is a good approximation of the reference state. This approximation to the reference state will be examined in this paper. Four different methods of calculating the available potential of an isolated feature are compared. These are (1) the gravitational available potential energy using the reference state (APEG), (2) the gravitational available potential energy using the far-field density structure as an approximation for the reference state, (3) the Boussinesq available potential energy using the reference state (APEB), and (4) the Boussinesq available potential energy using the farfield density structure instead of the reference state. The gravitational available potential energy using the reference state (APEG) is the true available potential energy for an incompressible fluid. Therefore the different approximations of the available potential energy can be compared to the APEG of an isolated feature in an infinitely wide basin. It is found that the gravitational available potential energy using the far-field density structure has an offset which depends on the density structure of both the feature and far field. Therefore the APEG using the far-field density structure is not a good method for calculating the APEG of an isolated feature in an infinitely wide basin, and the reference state must be calculated. We examine the limitations on the Boussinesq approximation for the APE. It is found that the isopycnal displacement from its reference state must be smaller than a length scale based on the reference state buoyancy frequency Nr2. Also, the maximum separation of isopycnals in the observed state must be less than twice the average separation of the isopycnals. With these conditions satisfied, the APEB approximates the APEG of an isolated feature. The Boussinesq APE using the far-field density structure instead of the reference state gives the asymptotic limit of the APEG of an isolated feature in an infinitely wide basin. A simple stratified model of an isolated feature is used to demonstrate the difference between these different available potential energy estimates. Finally, the APE estimates using some data from a survey of a Mediterranean salt lens are compared.
The Potential Savings from Enhanced Chronic Care Management Policies November 2011

Focusing on improving the quality of care for adults and children with chronic illnesses and coordinating care across a continuum of settings, including long-term care, has the potential to improve health and quality of life as well as address long-term cost trends. In the current payment and delivery system, however, care is too often fragmented, and financial incentives pose barriers rather than facilitate better teamwork, an emphasis on health, and more effective and efficient use of resources. This paper lays out a range of federal and coordinated federal-state policies that have the potential to spur more patient-centered chronic care while addressing cost concerns. We first describe the populations at risk and associated costs, followed by the rationale for new polices, and then describe a set of policies aimed at improving outcomes and reducing costs. We estimate the potential savings nationally and to federal, state, and private payers if such policies are successfully implemented.
Load Distribution in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

This letter provides the distributions on the association region of a small-cell BS (sBS) and that of a macro-cell BS (mBS) in a two-tier heterogeneous cellular network (HCN) as functions of the power and density ratios between tiers. Computer simulation results confirm that the proposed distributions are quite accurate for a wide range of network parameters. By using the association region distributions, the load distribution of a BS in each tier is derived. From the results, it is shown that the load is more dispersive in tier s than in tier m, which can be used for devising improved association, resource allocation and load balancing schemes in an HCN.
Strategies for fast scanning and handovers in WiMAX/802.16

In WiMAX/IEEE 802.16 with mobility support, scanning for an available channel by a mobile station, at start up or when about to perform a handover must be done promptly in order to reduce delays in network access. We propose strategies that a mobile station can use to reduce the time required for scanning operations while attempting to establish network connectivity or perform a handover between neighboring base stations. We model and simulate an area of WiMAX coverage using real-world mobility trace data and show that there are strategies that reduce the time required for scanning operations significantly.
Platinum-Group Elements-Co-Ni-Fe Sulfarsenides and Mineral Paragenesis in Cu-Ni-Platinum-Group Element Deposits, Copper Cliff North Area, Sudbury, Canada

Three deposits (the offset sublayer 100 and 120 orebodies, and contact sublayer Lady Violet deposit) in the Copper Cliff North mine area, Sudbury, were sampled with the aim of defining the mineral assemblages. The ores are composed of pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite with minor titanomagnetite, ilmenite, accessory sulfarsenides, Bi-Te minerals, and sperrylite. Sulfarsenides, which are prominent accessory minerals, contain the platinum-group elements (PGE) Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, and Pt in decreasing order of abundance in solid solution. Some zoned sulfarsenide crystals have PGE concentrated in the centers, decreasing toward the edges. Nickeliferous cobaltite, the common sulfarsenide, contains as much as 16 at. percent ΣPGE. Hollingworthite ((Rh,Ru)AsS), which occurs as cores or distinct crystals enclosed in cobaltite, is a newly recognized occurrence in the 100, 120, and Lady Violet deposits in the Sudbury South Range. Formation of primary PGE-bearing sulfarsenides is related to exsolution from monosulfide solid solution at about 550° to 600°C. During late crystallization, aqueous fluids interacted with the rocks, resulting in precipitation of hydrous silicates (epidote, biotite, chlorite) and remobilization of PGE-bearing sulfarsenides.
A Heuristic Approach for Discovering Reference Models by Mining Process Model Variants

Recently, a new generation of adaptive Process-Aware Information Systems (PAISs) has emerged, which enables structural process changes during runtime while preserving PAIS robustness and consistency. Such flexibility, in turn, leads to a large number of process variants derived from the same model, but differing in structure. Generally, such variants are expensive to configure and maintain. This paper provides a heuristic search algorithm which fosters learning from past process changes by mining process variants. The algorithm discovers a reference model based on which the need for future process configuration and adaptation can be reduced. It additionally provides the flexibility to control the process evolution procedure, i.e., we can control to what degree the discovered reference model differs from the original one. As benefit, we can not only control the effort for updating the reference model, but also gain the flexibility to perform only the most important adaptations of the current reference model. Our mining algorithm is implemented and evaluated by a simulation using more than 7000 process models. Simulation results indicate strong performance and scalability of our algorithm even when facing large-sized process models.
Technology Adoption Under Uncertainty: Take-Up and Subsequent Investment in Zambia

Many technology adoption decisions are made under uncertainty about the costs or benefits of subsequent investments in the technology after the initial take-up. As new information is realized, agents may prefer to abandon a technology that appeared profitable at the time of take-up. Low rates of follow-through (engagement in subsequent investments) are particularly problematic when subsidies are used to increase adoption, in part because they may attract users with a lower value for the technology. We use a field experiment with two stages of randomization to generate exogenous variation in the payoffs associated with taking up and following through with a new technology: a tree species that provides private fertilizer benefits to adopting farmers. Our empirical results show high rates of abandoning the technology, even after paying a positive price to take it up. The experimental variation offers a novel source of identification for a structural model of intertemporal decision making under uncertainty. Estimation results indicate that the farmers experience idiosyncratic shocks to net payoffs after take-up, which increase take-up but lower average per farmer tree survival. We simulate counterfactual outcomes under different levels of uncertainty and observe that subsidizing take-up of the technology affects the composition of adopters only when the level of uncertainty is relatively low. Thus, uncertainty provides an additional explanation for why many subsidized technologies may not be utilized even when take-up is high.
A preliminary study to investigate the biogeophysical impact of desertification on climate based on different latitudinal bands

Desertification is an international environmental challenge which poses a risk to portions of over 100 countries. Research into desertification and climate change has the potential to contribute to natural resources management and adaptation to climatic and other changes in Earth systems. An Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC), the McGill Paleoclimate Model‐2 (MPM‐2) was used to explore the climatic biogeophysical effects of desertification in different latitude bands from 1700 to 2000 AD. It was found that latitudinal‐band desertification attributable to forest and grass removal caused global cooling, land surface albedo increasing and precipitation reduction in the Northern Hemisphere as well as heat transport increasing in global ocean. These results highlighted global climate reaction to local desertification and demonstrated that the location of the desertification projected a potentially differential impact on local and global climate. That was, desertification in 0°–15°N gave a somewhat minor effect on global and local climate; desertification in 45°–60°N caused a significant reduction in global temperature while desertification in 15°–30°N induced a prominent reduction in local temperature. In response to desertification, surface albedo change as a forcing was the dominant biogeophysical driver of climate over the Northern Hemisphere while precipitation change as a response was probably the primary driver of climate over the Southern Hemisphere. Overall, the regional desertification may cause a global climatic effect, especially concerning desert expansion along the 15°–30°N and 45°–60°N latitude bands, which led to a more prominent effect on the Earth's climate and even oceanic circulation. The results of this study provide useful information when comparing the effects of desertification in different latitude bands on climate.
Cells tile a flat plane by controlling geometries during morphogenesis of Pyropia thalli

Background Pyropia haitanensis thalli, which are made of a single layer of polygonal cells, are a perfect model for studying the morphogenesis of multi-celled organisms because their cell proliferation process is an excellent example of the manner in which cells control their geometry to create a two-dimensional plane. Methods Cellular geometries of thalli at different stages of growth revealed by light microscope analysis. Results This study showed the cell division transect the middle of the selected paired-sides to divide the cell into two equal portions, thus resulting in cell sides ≥4 and keeping the average number of cell sides at approximately six even as the thallus continued to grow, such that more than 90% of the cells in thalli longer than 0.08 cm had 5–7 sides. However, cell division could not fully explain the distributions of intracellular angles. Results showed that cell-division-associated fast reorientation of cell sides and cell divisions together caused 60% of the inner angles of cells from longer thalli to range from 100–140°. These results indicate that cells prefer to form regular polygons. Conclusions This study suggests that appropriate cell-packing geometries maintained by cell division and reorientation of cell walls can keep the cells bordering each other closely, without gaps.
Identification of Genetic Causes of Inherited Peripheral Neuropathies by Targeted Gene Panel Sequencing

Inherited peripheral neuropathies (IPN), which are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous peripheral nerve disorders including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), exhibit progressive degeneration of muscles in the extremities and loss of sensory function. Over 70 genes have been reported as genetic causatives and the number is still growing. We prepared a targeted gene panel for IPN diagnosis based on next generation sequencing (NGS). The gene panel was designed to detect mutations in 73 genes reported to be genetic causes of IPN or related peripheral neuropathies, and to detect duplication of the chromosome 17p12 region, the major genetic cause of CMT1A. We applied the gene panel to 115 samples from 63 non-CMT1A families, and isolated 15 pathogenic or likely-pathogenic mutations in eight genes from 25 patients (17 families). Of them, eight mutations were unreported variants. Of particular interest, this study revealed several very rare mutations in the SPTLC2, DCTN1, and MARS genes. In addition, the effectiveness of the detection of CMT1A was confirmed by comparing five 17p12-nonduplicated controls and 15 CMT1A cases. In conclusion, we developed a gene panel for one step genetic diagnosis of IPN. It seems that its time- and cost-effectiveness are superior to previous tiered-genetic diagnosis algorithms, and it could be applied as a genetic diagnostic system for inherited peripheral neuropathies.
Dynamic effects of a 9 mm missile on cadaveric skull protected by aramid, polyethylene or aluminum plate: an experimental study.

BACKGROUND Most military helmets are designed to prevent penetration by small firearms using composite materials in their construction. However, the transient deformation of the composite helmet during a non penetrating impact may result in severe head injury. METHOD Two experimental designs were undertaken to characterize the extend of injuries imparted by composite panels using in protective helmets. In the first series, 21 dry skulls were protected by polyethylene plates, with gaps between the protective plate and skull ranging from 12 to 15 mm. In another design, using 9 cadavers, heads were protected by aluminum, aramid, or polyethylene plates. Specimens were instrumented with pressure gauges to record the impact response. The ammunition used in these experiments was 9 mm caliber and had a velocity of 400 m/s. A macroscopic analysis of the specimens quantified fractures and injuries, which were then related to the measured pressures. RESULTS Protective plates influenced both the levels of injury and the intracranial pressure. Injuries were accentuated as the plates was changed from aluminum to composite materials and ranged from skin laceration to extensive skull fractures and brain contusion. Fractures were associated with brain parenchymal pressures in excess of 560 kPa and cerebrospinal fluid pressure of 150 kPa. An air gap of a few millimeters between the plate and the head was sufficient to decrease these internal pressures by half, significantly reducing the level of injury. CONCLUSIONS Ballistic helmets made of composite materials could be optimized to avoid extensive transient deformation and thus reduce the impact and blunt trauma to the head. However, this deformation cannot be completely removed, which is why the gap between the helmet and the head must be maintained at more than 12 mm.
Enhanced etoposide sensitivity following adenovirus-mediated human topoisomerase II α gene transfer is independent of topoisomerase II β

The roles that the α and β isoforms of topoisomerase II (topo II) play in anticancer drug action were determined using MDA-VP etoposide-resistant human breast cancer cells and a newly constructed adenoviral vector containing the topo IIα gene (Ad-topo IIα). MDA-VP cells were more resistant to etoposide than to amsacrine and had more resistance to etoposide than did MDA-parental cells. MDA-VP cells also expressed lower topo IIα RNA and protein levels than parental cells but had comparable topo IIβ levels. After infection with Ad-topo IIα, topo IIα, RNA and protein levels increased significantly, as did the cells' sensitivity to etoposide. In contrast, topo IIβ levels remained constant with little alteration in the cells' sensitivity to amsacrine. Band-depletion immunoblotting assays indicated that topo IIα was depleted in etoposide-treated, Ad-topo IIα-transduced MDA-VP cells but not in amsacrine-treated cells. Topo IIβ was depleted in amsacrine-treated, Ad-topo IIα-MDA-VP cells, with little change in the topo IIα levels. These results suggest that topo IIα gene transfer does not alter topo IIβ expression and that enhanced sensitivity to etoposide is therefore secondary to change in topo IIα levels. These studies support the theory that etoposide preferentially targets topo IIα, while amsacrine targets topo IIβ. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign www.bjcancer. com
Optical monitoring of characteristics of the stratospheric aerosol layer and total ozone content at the Siberian Lidar Station (Tomsk: 56° 30′ N; 85° E)

We consider the results of long-term remote optical monitoring obtained at the Siberian Lidar Station of Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk (56° 30′ N, 85° E). The scattering characteristics of stratospheric aerosol layer, obtained according to data of lidar measurements recorded since 1986, are presented. We analyse the trends of changes in the total ozone (TO) content over Tomsk for the period 1996–2013 according to data of spectrophotometric measurements employing Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data for the period 1979–1994. We determined the periods of elevated content of stratospheric aerosol over Tomsk after a series of explosive eruptions of volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire and Iceland in 2006–2011. Since the second half of the 1990s we have recorded an increasing TO trend, equalling 0.65 DU/year for the period 1996–2013.
The Composition of HB Stars: RR Lyrae Variables

We used moderately high-resolution, high S/N spectra to study the chemical composition of 10 field ab-type RR Lyrae stars. A new temperature scale was determined from literature Infrared Flux Method measures of subdwarfs and the Kurucz (1992) model atmospheres, and used to calibrate colors for both dwarfs and RR Lyraes. The applicability of Kurucz (1992) model atmospheres in the analysis of RR Lyraes at minimum light was analyzed: we found that they are able to reproduce colors, excitation and ionization equilibria as well as the wings of Halpha. We derived abundances for 21 species. The metal abundances of the program stars span the range -2.50<[Fe/H]<+0.17$. Lines of most elements are found to form in LTE conditions. Fe lines satisfy very well the excitation and ionization equilibria. RR Lyraes share the typical abundance pattern of other stars of similar [Fe/H]: alpha-elements are overabundant by about 0.4dex and Mn is underabundant by about 0.6dex in stars with [Fe/H]<-1. Significant departures from LTE are found only for a few species. We used our new [Fe/H] abundances, as well as values from Butler and coworkers (corrected to our system), and from high resolution spectroscopy of globular clusters giants, to obtain a new calibration of the DeltaS index: [Fe/H]= -0.194(\pm 0.011)DeltaS -0.08(\pm 0.18) and to update the metallicity calibration of the Ca II K line index: [Fe/H]= 0.65(\pm 0.17)W'(K) -3.49(\pm 0.39). Finally, our new metallicity scale was used to revise the [Fe/H] dependence of the absolute magnitude of RR Lyrae stars, Mv: Mv = 0.20(\pm 0.03)[Fe/H] + 1.06(\pm 0.04).
A Theory of Rational Addiction

We develop a theory of rational addiction in which rationality means a consistent plan to maximize utility over time. Strong addiction to a good requires a big effect of past consumption of the good on current consumption. Such powerful complementarities cause some steady states to be unstable. They are an important part of our analysis because even small deviations from the consumption at an unstable steady state can lead to large cumulative rises over time in addictive consumption or to rapid falls in consumption to abstention. Our theory also implies that "cold turkey" is used to end strong addictions, that addicts often go on binges, that addicts respond more to permanent than to temporary changes in prices of addictive goods, and that anxiety and tensions can precipitate an addiction.
Making Sense in the Long Run: Long-Term Health Monitoring in Real Lives

Long term self monitoring with connected personal health devices offers tremendous opportunities for wellbeing, health, and prevention. However, to date it is not fully understood how users perceive monitoring in the long term and how they implement it in their daily lives. We observed 7 participants that used a comprehensive set of connected personal health devices for 9 months and inquired their opinions and experiences. Users varied broadly in how they used the devices and how they engaged with the collected data. Implementation and use of long-monitoring evolved over time, leading to subtle but distinct differences to short term use. We found five relevant use cases: behavior support, improved self understanding, identification of trends and relations, decision making, and data collection for future use.