Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of cross-spectrum supercells during the north Georgia tornado event of 2 January 2006

Classifying supercells based on the amount and spatial distribution of precipitation has been a common practice in both the research and operational fields of meteorology for many years (Doswell et al. 1990, hereafter referred to as D90; Doswell and Burgess 1993, hereafter referred to as D&B93). The common supercell classifications are low-precipitation (LP), classic (CL), and highprecipitation (HP) (D90), although operationally observed supercells range across the supercell spectrum. The most common type of supercell observed is the HP (Johns et al. 1993), especially east of the Mississippi river (D&B93). A vast majority of the rest of the supercells found in the eastern United States fall under the classic type, especially those associated with strong tornadoes (D&B93). LP supercells are often associated with the western portions of the Great Plains due to the frequent presence of a surface dryline, which is virtually a necessity for the environment of these storms (Bluestein and Parks 1983; Moller et al. 1994). Since drylines rarely propagate east of the Mississippi River, LP supercells are extremely rare occurrences in the southeastern United States. LP supercells are rarely tornadic, and usually only become so if their structure evolves to become more classic in nature (D&B93). On the afternoon of 2 January 2006, several storms formed in Georgia which spanned the spectrum of supercell classifications (Fig. 1). Though the storms of interest formed in a small spatial area (approximately 50 km apart), they displayed vastly different characteristics throughout their life cycles. The unique character of the storms can be attributed to the variety of mesoscale influences in the near-storm environment. The storms formed along a dryline that propagated eastward across Alabama during the day. Meanwhile, much of northeastern
Utilisation of Desmodesmus subspicatus LC172266 for simultaneous remediation of cassava wastewater and accumulation of lipids for biodiesel production

ABSTRACT In view of the current demand for bioenergy and environmental sustainability, utilisation of Desmodesmus subspicatus LC172266 for simultaneous remediation of cassava wastewater and accumulation of lipids for biodiesel production was investigated. The microalga was grown under photoautotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic culture conditions using Bold's Basal Medium (BBM) and cassava wastewater as substrates. Results showed that biomass accumulation under unoptimised autotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic growths conditions were 0.217, 0.63 and 1.042 g/L, respectively. The lipid contents were 15.86, 21.40 and 24.70%, respectively. Fatty acid profiles revealed that although the most abundant compounds under autotrophic conditions were those recommended for biodiesel production, oleic acid eluted under mixotrophic (19.61%) and heterotrophic (10.25%) conditions exhibited more acceptable biodiesel quality. The physical properties of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) also meet the required biodiesel standards. The percentage reduction in total dissolved solids (TDS, 84.04), electrical conductivity (EC, 82.31), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, 85.85) and chemical oxygen demand (COD, 89.04) under heterotrophic cultivation were more favourable than their respective mixotrophic values (80.56, 74.63, 62.22, and 51.39%). Although the lipid accumulation of the microalga under mixotrophic conditions was greater, bioremediation potential of cassava wastewater was more favourable under heterotrophy.
Evidence for transverse momentum and pseudorapidity dependent event plane fluctuations in PbPb and pPb collisions

A systematic study of the factorization of long-range azimuthal two-particle correlations into a product of single-particle anisotropies is presented as a function of pt and eta of both particles, and as a function of the particle multiplicity in PbPb and pPb collisions. The data were taken with the CMS detector for PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV and pPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 5.02 TeV, covering a very wide range of multiplicity. Factorization is observed to be broken as a function of both particle pt and eta. When measured with particles of different pt, the magnitude of the factorization breakdown for the second Fourier harmonic reaches 20% for very central PbPb collisions but decreases rapidly as the multiplicity decreases. The data are consistent with viscous hydrodynamic predictions, which suggest that the effect of factorization breaking is mainly sensitive to the initial-state conditions rather than to the transport properties (e.g., shear viscosity) of the medium. The factorization breakdown is also computed with particles of different eta. The effect is found to be weakest for mid-central PbPb events but becomes larger for more central or peripheral PbPb collisions, and also for very high-multiplicity pPb collisions. The eta-dependent factorization data provide new insights to the longitudinal evolution of the medium formed in heavy ion collisions.
Automated Variational Inference for Gaussian Process Models

We develop an automated variational method for approximate inference in Gaussian process (GP) models whose posteriors are often intractable. Using a mixture of Gaussians as the variational distribution, we show that (i) the variational objective and its gradients can be approximated efficiently via sampling from univariate Gaussian distributions and (ii) the gradients wrt the GP hyperparameters can be obtained analytically regardless of the model likelihood. We further propose two instances of the variational distribution whose covariance matrices can be parametrized linearly in the number of observations. These results allow gradient-based optimization to be done efficiently in a black-box manner. Our approach is thoroughly verified on five models using six benchmark datasets, performing as well as the exact or hard-coded implementations while running orders of magnitude faster than the alternative MCMC sampling approaches. Our method can be a valuable tool for practitioners and researchers to investigate new models with minimal effort in deriving model-specific inference algorithms.
Variable structure and dynamism extensions to SiMA, a DEVS based modeling and simulation framework

In this paper we take a particular stand to the problem of dynamism support in simulation environments by adopting DEVS based modeling and simulation approach and by building upon our previous work on SiMA, a DEVS-based simulation framework developed at TUBITAK UEKAE. Our contribution to the work in this field is two fold: 1 -- we have implemented a specialized form of basic DEVS formalism via SiMA (Simulation Modeling Architecture) 2- We have extended SiMA with dynamism support by building upon our specialized basic DEVS formalism with dynamism extensions that are comparable (but not equivalent) to those given in dynDEVS. Our approach conforms to both dynDEVS and dynNDEVS as the underlying formal specification, with some non-disruptive extensions to the original formal semantics. One particular contribution we offer is the systematic framework support for post-structural-change state synchronization among models with related couplings, in a way that benefits from the strongly-typed execution environment SiMA provides.
Pharmacological characterization of threo‐3‐methylglutamic acid with excitatory amino acid transporters in native and recombinant systems

The glutamate analog (±) threo‐3‐methylglutamate (T3MG) has recently been reported to inhibit the EAAT2 but not EAAT1 subtype of high‐affinity, Na+‐dependent excitatory amino acid transporter (EAAT). We have examined the effects of T3MG on glutamate‐elicited currents mediated by EAATs 1–4 expressed in Xenopus oocytes and on the transport of radiolabeled substrate in mammalian cell lines expressing EAATs 1–3. T3MG was found to be an inhibitor of EAAT2 and EAAT4 but a weak inhibitor of EAAT1 and EAAT3. T3MG competitively inhibited uptake of d‐[3H]‐aspartate into both cortical and cerebellar synaptosomes with a similar potency, consistent with its inhibitory activity on the cloned EAAT2 and EAAT4 subtypes. In addition, T3MG produced substrate‐like currents in oocytes expressing EAAT4 but not EAAT2. However, T3MG was unable to elicit heteroexchange of preloaded d‐[3H]‐aspartate in cerebellar synaptosomes, inconsistent with the behavior of a substrate inhibitor. Finally, T3MG acts as a poor ionotropic glutamate receptor agonist in cultured hippocampal neurons: concentrations greater than 100 µm T3MG were required to elicit significant NMDA receptor‐mediated currents. Thus, T3MG represents a pharmacological tool for the study of not only the predominant EAAT2 subtype but also the EAAT4 subtype highly expressed in cerebellum.
A Dynamically Tunable Memory Hierarchy

The widespread use of repeaters in long wires creates the possibility of dynamically sizing regular on-chip structures. We present a tunable cache and translation lookaside buffer (TLB) hierarchy that leverages repeater insertion to dynamically trade off size for speed and power consumption on a per-application phase basis using a novel configuration management algorithm. In comparison to a conventional design that is fixed at a single design point targeted to the average application, the dynamically tunable cache and TLB hierarchy can be tailored to the needs of each application phase. The configuration algorithm dynamically detects phase changes and selects a configuration based on the application's ability to tolerate different hit and miss latencies in order to improve the memory energy-delay product. We evaluate the performance and energy consumption of our approach and project the effects of technology scaling trends on our design.
Patent Foramen Ovale Closure in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Improves Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Function

&NA;Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a frequent syndrome characterized by intermittent hypoxemia and increased prevalence of arterial hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity. In OSA, the presence of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is associated with increased number of apneas and more severe oxygen desaturation. We hypothesized that PFO closure improves sleep-disordered breathing and, in turn, has favorable effects on vascular function and arterial blood pressure. In 40 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed OSA, we searched for PFO. After initial cardiovascular assessment, the 14 patients with PFO underwent initial device closure and the 26 without PFO served as control group. Conventional treatment for OSA was postponed for 3 months in both groups, and polysomnographic and cardiovascular examinations were repeated at the end of the follow-up period. PFO closure significantly improved the apnea–hypopnea index (&Dgr;AHI −7.9±10.4 versus +4.7±13.1 events/h, P=0.0009, PFO closure versus control), the oxygen desaturation index (&Dgr;ODI −7.6±16.6 versus +7.6±17.0 events/h, P=0.01), and the number of patients with severe OSA decreased significantly after PFO closure (79% versus 21%, P=0.007). The following cardiovascular parameters improved significantly in the PFO closure group, although remained unchanged in controls: brachial artery flow–mediated vasodilation, carotid artery stiffness, nocturnal systolic and diastolic blood pressure (−7 mm Hg, P=0.009 and −3 mm Hg, P=0.04, respectively), blood pressure dipping, and left ventricular diastolic function. In conclusion, PFO closure in OSA patients improves sleep-disordered breathing and nocturnal oxygenation. This translates into an improvement of endothelial function and vascular stiffening, a decrease of nighttime blood pressure, restoration of the dipping pattern, and improvement of left ventricular diastolic function. Clinical Trial Registration—URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT01780207.
Local transformations and robust dependent path delay faults

Local transformations are used in several synthesis approaches. During application of such transformations attention has to be paid to many important properties, e.g. area, speech, power consumption, and testability. In this paper we study relations between local transformations and delay fault testability. In delay testing it is not necessary to test every path in a circuit to ascertain correct timing behavior. For example, a set of robust dependent path delay faults need not be considered for testing if all paths that are not robust dependent are tested. We present sufficient conditions for local transformations which ensure that a test set for all non-robust-dependent paths in the original circuit is also a test set for all non-robust-dependent paths in the transformed circuit. These conditions are applied to some local transformations which are often used in logic synthesis and it is shown that they preserve testability. The impact of local transformations on robust dependent testability is demonstrated by experimental results performed on benchmark circuits.
Integrating Preferred Weights with Decomposition Based Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm

Incorporating decision maker's preference with multi objective optimization problems keeps an active research area. In this paper, we suggest an algorithm to integrate decision maker's preference into multiobjective evolutionary optimization algorithm based on decomposition technique (MOEA/D). Decomposition techniques require a set of evenly distributed weight vectors to generate a diverse set of solutions on the Pareto front. This newly proposed algorithm incorporates preferred weights generated by desirability functions. A set of evenly distributed weights in desirability space are mapped into objective space to represent decision maker's preference. The solutions corresponding to these preferred weights consist preferred population. Further, a second population associated with evenly distributed weights in objective space is utilized to boost the search for promising areas and present to the decision maker a global perspective of view. Experimental results show the algorithm could be able to find a set of trade-offs on the Pareto front.
Fabrication and Characterization of 4-T/203 mm RT Bore 2G HTS Magnet With No-Insulation Method

We fabricated superconducting magnet using second-generation (2G) high-temperature superconducting wire by SuNAM. Magnetic field strength at the center is 4 T, and room temperature bore diameter is 203 mm. The magnet consists of 30 double pancake coils (DPCs) with the inner diameter of 245 mm and outer diameter of 297 mm. All double pancakes were wound by no-insulation method and performance were tested separately before assemble. Tested DPCs were resistively connected by HTS tape(splice joint), and assembled coil was conduction cooled by a two-stage Gifford-McMahon cryo-cooler to the operating temperature of 8 K. The size of magnet is 452 mm in height. Current, voltage, and field strength were measured as a function of time with various ramping up and down conditions and results were compared with the simulated behavior. The coil generates 4 T when operating current ramped to 205 A by 0.03 A/s without quench. Initial cool down time was 72 h and the measure field homogeneity in 10 mm DSV was 0.015% and 0.012% in radial axis and vertical axis, respectively. The results showed that no-insulation winding method is a possible option for making compact magnet coil with sufficient structural integrity, thermal and electrical stability at the same time. The magnet showed quench at field strength of 4.49 T when ramped with 0.2 A/s to 235 A. The magnet showed same performance after recovery from quench.
Development of Passive Samplers for Measuring Indoor Air Concentrations, and Measurement of Physical and Chemical Properties of Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds

Human exposure to semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) including flame retardants (FRs) and plasticizers used in consumer products from indoor sources is a serious concern. These compounds are then advected to the outdoor environment which leads to regional and long-range transport and exposure to the ecosystem. This thesis aims to improve our understanding of exposure to selected SVOCs by developing tools, methods and providing data to facilitate exposure assessment particularly regarding indoor air. Three new passive air samplers (PAS), namely silicone rubber (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS), styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer (XAD)-Pocket and XAD-PDMS were calibrated against an active air sampler and compared to the more popular polyurethane foam (PUF) PAS. Although the indoor sampling rates vary, we recommend from these studies a generic sampling rate of 1.7 m daydm and 0.94 m daydm for PDMS and PUF, respectively. The active air sampler was also used to assess the gas-particle distribution of the target compounds. The particle-phase partitioning fractions of SVOCs is a key determinant of their environmental behaviour and potential for exposure thus toxicity. A key finding here, is that some relatively volatile organophosphate ester FRs are present in the gas-phase where most published studies of active air sampling report them largely in the particle phase, indicating a sampling artifact. To improve chemical screening and modelling of the transport and fate, this thesis provides experimentally determined values of vapour pressures and octanol-air partition coefficients for over 50 SVOCs measured here using the well-established gas chromatography retention time method. ii Deployment of PDMS and PUF in residential homes gave comparable estimates of air concentrations for SVOCs in the gas-phase, although PUF was more able to capture compounds with higher fractions in the particulate phase. PDMS shows promise as a tool for estimating exposure to a wide range of SVOCs indoors, although its particle sampling efficiency warrants further work.
Automatic tiling of iterative stencil loops

Iterative stencil loops are used in scientific programs to implement relaxation methods for numerical simulation and signal processing. Such loops iteratively modify the same array elements over different time steps, which presents opportunities for the compiler to improve the temporal data locality through loop tiling. This article presents a compiler framework for automatic tiling of iterative stencil loops, with the objective of improving the cache performance. The article first presents a technique which allows loop tiling to satisfy data dependences in spite of the difficulty created by imperfectly nested inner loops. It does so by skewing the inner loops over the time steps and by applying a uniform skew factor to all loops at the same nesting level. Based on a memory cost analysis, the article shows that the skew factor must be minimized at every loop level in order to minimize cache misses. A graph-theoretical algorithm, which takes polynomial time, is presented to determine the minimum skew factor. Furthermore, the memory-cost analysis derives the tile size which minimizes capacity misses. Given the tile size, an efficient and general <i>array-padding</i> scheme is applied to remove conflict misses. Experiments were conducted on 16 test programs and preliminary results showed an average speedup of 1.58 and a maximum speedup of 5.06 across those test programs.
Cure of Chronic Viral Infection and Virus-Induced Type 1 Diabetes by Neutralizing Antibodies

The use of neutralizing antibodies is one of the most successful methods to interfere with receptor-ligand interactions in vivo. In particular blockade of soluble inflammatory mediators or their corresponding cellular receptors was proven an effective way to regulate inflammation and/or prevent its negative consequences. However, one problem that comes along with an effective neutralization of inflammatory mediators is the general systemic immunomodulatory effect. It is therefore important to design a treatment regimen in a way to strike at the right place and at the right time in order to achieve maximal effects with minimal duration of immunosuppression or hyperactivation. In this review we reflect on two examples of how short time administration of such neutralizing antibodies can block two distinct inflammatory consequences of viral infection. First, we review recent findings that blockade of IL-10/IL-10R interaction can resolve chronic viral infection and second, we reflect on how neutralization of the chemokine CXCL10 can abrogate virus-induced type 1 diabetes.
Establishing minimal clinically important differences for scores on the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory for inpatient rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Standardized pediatric assessment tools such as the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) numerically quantify changes during rehabilitation through test scores, but they are unable to provide client-specific information regarding important changes in function. The purpose of this study was to identify the smallest change in PEDI scores during inpatient rehabilitation that was considered to be a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) by physical therapists and other clinicians. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A retrospective review was done of the medical charts of 53 children and youth (1-19 years of age) discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Fifteen clinicians (5 physical therapists, 6 occupational therapists, and 4 speech and language pathologists) who were masked to the PEDI scores provided ratings of the magnitude of functional changes during inpatient rehabilitation using a Likert scale and a visual analog scale (VAS). Ratings by clinicians were reduced to 4 categories, including the MCID, and compared with PEDI change scores. RESULTS The MCIDs ranged from 6 to 15 points (X=11.5, 95% confidence interval= +/- 2.8) for all PEDI scales. Likert scale and VAS ratings were correlated (tau =.73-.80). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Across all scales, PEDI change scores on the order of about 11% (0-100 scale) appear to be meaningful to clinicians during a child's or adolescent's inpatient rehabilitation. These data can serve as a starting point for interpreting group and individual changes on the PEDI during physical therapy intervention in inpatient rehabilitation.
A comparison of linear forecasting models and neural networks: an application to Euro inflation and Euro Divisia

Linear models reach their limitations in applications with nonlinearities in the data. In this paper new empirical evidence is provided on the relative Euro inflation forecasting performance of linear and non-linear models. The well established and widely used univariate ARIMA and multivariate VAR models are used as linear forecasting models whereas neural networks (NN) are used as non-linear forecasting models. It is endeavoured to keep the level of subjectivity in the NN building process to a minimum in an attempt to exploit the full potentials of the NN. It is also investigated whether the historically poor performance of the theoretically superior measure of the monetary services flow, Divisia, relative to the traditional Simple Sum measure could be attributed to a certain extent to the evaluation of these indices within a linear framework. Results obtained suggest that non-linear models provide better within-sample and out-of-sample forecasts and linear models are simply a subset of them. The Divisia index also outperforms the Simple Sum index when evaluated in a non-linear framework.