Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of surface winds over the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean sectors of the Southern Ocean in CMIP5 models: historical bias, forcing response, and state dependence

An assessment of the fifth Coupled Models Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) models' simulation of the near‐surface westerly wind jet position and strength over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean is presented. Compared with reanalysis climatologies there is an equatorward bias of 3.3° (inter‐model standard deviation of ± 1.9°) in the ensemble mean position of the zonal mean jet. The ensemble mean strength is biased slightly too weak, with the largest biases over the Pacific sector (−1.4 ± 1.2 m/s, −19%). An analysis of atmosphere‐only (AMIP) experiments indicates that 28% of the zonal mean position bias comes from coupling of the ocean/ice models to the atmosphere. The response to future emissions scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) is characterized by two phases: (i) the period of most rapid ozone recovery (2000–2049) during which there is insignificant change in summer; and (ii) the period 2050–2098 during which RCP4.5 simulations show no significant change but RCP8.5 simulations show poleward shifts (0.33, 0.18 and 0.27°/decade over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific sectors, respectively), and increases in strength (0.07, 0.08 and 0.15 m/s/decade, respectively). The models with larger equatorward position biases generally show larger poleward shifts (i.e. state dependence). This inter‐model relationship is strongest over the Pacific sector (r = −0.91) and weakest over the Atlantic sector (r = −0.39). An assessment of jet structure shows that over the Atlantic sector jet shift is not clearly linked to indices of jet structure whereas over the Pacific sector the distance between the sub‐polar and sub‐tropical westerly jets appears to be important.
An investigation of propranolol as an agent for the experimental manipulation of interoception.

Interoception has recently come under research focus as a potential influence on emotional and epistemic feelings. However, existing means to manipulate it experimentally have conceptual or logistical drawbacks. We investigated whether 20 mg of propranolol is a viable agent for experimentally manipulating interoception. Thirteen participants completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, performing two heartbeat perception tasks, control tasks and measures of anxiety and alertness. All measures were obtained at the beginning and end of both sessions. Propranolol significantly decreased heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Heartbeat detection performance numerically decreased under propranolol, although this effect failed to reach statistical significance. Heartbeat tracking exhibited a practice effect in both sessions. There were no significant effects on the control tasks. State anxiety was unchanged within either session, and alertness decreased in both. These findings validate the propranolol paradigm, and the numerical change in heartbeat detection warrants followup with a larger sample.
Using Gastrocnemius sEMG and Plasma α-Synuclein for the Prediction of Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease Patients

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a complicated gait disturbance in Parkinson's disease (PD) and a relevant subclinical predictor algorithm is lacking. The main purpose of this study is to explore the potential value of surface electromyograph (sEMG) and plasma α-synuclein levels as predictors of the FOG seen in PD. 21 PD patients and 15 normal controls were recruited. Motor function was evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and Freezing of gait questionnaire (FOG-Q). Simultaneously, gait analysis was also performed using VICON capture system in PD patients and sEMG data was recorded as well. Total plasma α-synuclein was quantitatively assessed by Luminex assay in all participants. Recruited PD patients were classified into two groups: PD patients with FOG (PD+FOG) and without FOG (PD-FOG), based on clinical manifestation, the results of the FOG-Q and VICON capture system. PD+FOG patients displayed higher FOG-Q scores, decreased walking speed, smaller step length, smaller stride length and prolonged double support time compared to the PD-FOG in the gait trial. sEMG data indicated that gastrocnemius activity in PD+FOG patients was significantly reduced compared to PD-FOG patients. In addition, plasma α-synuclein levels were significantly decreased in the PD+FOG group compared to control group; however, no significant difference was found between the PD+FOG and PD-FOG groups. Our study revealed that gastrocnemius sEMG could be used to evaluate freezing gait in PD patients, while plasma α-synuclein might discriminate freezing of gait in PD patients from normal control, though no difference was found between the PD+FOG and PD-FOG groups.
Diurnal Variations of Cloud Cover and Their Relationship to Climatological Conditions

Abstract The ISCCP-C2 cloud climatology is used to describe the three-dimensional structure of cloud diurnal variations and to investigate their relationship to local climatological conditions. The latter follows from the regression of diurnal components onto climatological state variables. Four important diurnal cloud categories are identified. The diurnal variation of maritime high-cloud fraction C′hi maximizes at 1700 local solar time (LST) and is strongest over maritime convective locations where the mean high-cloud fraction is Chi > 0.1. The diurnal variation of maritime low-cloud fraction maximizes at 0400 LST and is strong over maritime nonconvective locations where Chi < 0.1. Diurnal variations of high-cloud fraction (persistent during the night, minimum at 1100 LST) and low-cloud fraction (1300 LST maximum) are strong over all continental locations in the latitude band 40°S–40°N. In each cloud category, most of the diurnal amplitude and phase at individual locations is explained by the regression.
Decadal Variation of Summer Precipitation over China and Associated Atmospheric Circulation after the Late 1990s

AbstractIn this study, the authors found that the summer precipitation over China experienced different decadal variation features from north to south after the late 1990s. In northeastern and North China and the lower–middle reaches of the Yangtze River, precipitation decreased after 1999, while precipitation experienced a significant reduction over South and southwestern China and a significant increase over the southern parts of Hetao region and Huaihe River valley after 2003. The authors next analyzed the associated decadal variation of the atmospheric circulation and attempted to identify the mechanisms causing the two decadal variations of precipitation. The wind anomalies for the former exhibit a barotropic meridional dipole pattern, with anticyclonic anomalies over Mongolia to northern China and cyclonic anomalies over the southeastern Chinese coast to the northwestern Pacific. For the latter, there is a southeast–northwest-oriented dipole pattern in the middle and lower troposphere, with cyclonic.
A texture-based classification method for classifying built areas according to their density

Quantitative information about building density can serve as a useful tool for urban applications, such as the study of urban land changes, illegal building development, urban expansion, etc. This paper presents a method that classifies built areas according to their density into three categories using SPOT panchromatic remote sensing images. It is based on the concept of statistical measurement of texture. Specifically, three algorithms, which employ occurrence frequency or co-ocurrence matrices concepts on binary data, were developed, tested over the broader Athens area in Attica and evaluated. The developed algorithms were equally effective when windows larger than 31 x 31 pixels were used. For such windows, the overall accuracy of the method ranges from 83.40 to 89.61%. These results are better than the 79.70% that was obtained using the maximum likelihood classifier. The kappahat coefficient was also improved by about 0.16 units, while the accuracy of the classification for each class of built areas was improved by about 50-60%.
Observations of Inertial Wave Events near the Continental Slope off Goban Spur

Near-inertial waves were observed during the Ocean Margin Exchange (OMEX-I) experiments with current meters over the continental slope near Goban Spur. The strongest inertial motion was observed in the bottom layer, about 50 m above the 1000-m isobath. There the waves were slightly (1.7%) superinertial and the bottom slope appeared to be critical for the near-inertial peak frequency, allowing the velocity vector to follow the sloping bottom. The vertical velocity component of this motion was responsible for the near-inertial spectral peak in the temperature spectrum, which was also observed in the bottom layer. Evidence was found supporting the speculative hypothesis that high-energy near-inertial wave events were produced during geostrophic adjustment in the variable deep eastern-boundary current over the slope near Goban Spur.
CLINICAL STUDY: Attentional bias in alcohol‐dependent patients: the role of chronicity and executive functioning

It has been suggested that the attention towards alcohol‐related stimuli increases with the duration of drinking and alcohol dependence. The present study aimed to assess whether an attentional bias was present in detoxified alcohol‐dependent patients, and if the magnitude of the attentional bias depended on the subject's drinking history and variables of executive functioning. Attentional bias was assessed in 30 alcohol‐dependent patients using a visual dot‐probe task with a picture presentation time of 50 ms. In addition, patients completed a variety of different cognitive tasks such as attention, continuous performance, working memory, set shifting and inhibitory control tests. Based on correlation analysis we split the patient sample on the median with regard to the duration of alcohol dependence and our results indicated a significant attentional bias towards alcohol‐associated pictures in patients dependent for less than 9 years, but not in patients with a longer duration of dependence. The two patient samples differed significantly with regard to attention and working memory functioning with patients who were dependent for more than 9 years showing a greater impairment. When impairment of attention and working memory were controlled for, the group differences in attentional bias were no longer significant. Our results indicate that differences with regard to drinking‐related variables as well as cognitive functioning seem to modulate attentional bias and need to be taken into account in models of drinking maintenance.
Structural evolution of the Shimanto Belt accretionary complex in the area of the Gokase River, Kyushu, SW Japan

The Shimanto Belt of SW Japan is an accretionary complex which developed between Late Cretaceous and Late Miocene. The deeper levels of this complex are exposed along the Gokase River of eastern Kyushu. Deformation in this region took place as a result of southeasterly directed accretionary thrusting, resulting in the development of folds, fabrics and mélanges. All these structures may be attributed to progressive, top to the SE shearing and the mélanges show many similarities to other rock types in fault or shear zones. It is also possible to apply shear zone models to explain extensional structures developed perpendicular to thrust transport direction. It is suggested that deformation took place during underplating beneath the developing prism.
Effective Listings of Function Stop words for Twitter

Many words in documents recur very frequently but are essentially meaningless as they are used to join words together in a sentence. It is commonly understood that stop words do not contribute to the context or content of textual documents. Due to their high frequency of occurrence, their presence in text mining presents an obstacle to the understanding of the content in the documents. To eliminate the bias effects, most text mining software or approaches make use of stop words list to identify and remove those words. However, the development of such top words list is difficult and inconsistent between textual sources. This problem is further aggravated by sources such as Twitter which are highly repetitive or similar in nature. In this paper, we will be examining the original work using term frequency, inverse document frequency and term adjacency for developing a stop words list for the Twitter data source. We propose a new technique using combinatorial values as an alternative measure to effectively list out stop words.
The effect of using different embolic agents on survival in transarterial chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma: gelfoam versus polyvinyl alcohol.

PURPOSE We aimed to compare the effect of using different embolic agents such as gelfoam and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on survival, tumor response, and complications in transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 38 inoperable HCC patients who underwent TACE between August 1998 and April 2007. A total of 50 TACE sessions were performed using PVA (n=18) or gelfoam particles (n=20), following the application of 60 mg doxorubicin with 10-20 mL lipiodol emulsion. The PVA and gelfoam groups were compared based on clinical, laboratory and demographic variables. Survival rates were calculated starting from the first TACE session using the Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS There was no significant difference between the survival rates of PVA and gelfoam groups (P = 0.235). Overall survival rates at 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months were 55%, 36%, 15%, 7%, and 5%, respectively. Tumor response, age, lipiodol accumulation type, number of HCC foci, complications and serum alpha-fetoprotein level were significant factors for survival in all patients. CONCLUSION Use of gelfoam or PVA as the embolic agent did not have a significant impact on survival. Complete tumor response, intensive lipiodol accumulation in tumor, older age (<60 years), fewer (≤3) HCC foci, low serum alpha-fetoprotein level (≤400 ng/mL) were found to improve cumulative survival significantly.
Modelling the response of ice shelf basal melting to different ocean cavity environmental regimes

ABSTRACT We present simulation results from a version of the Regional Ocean Modeling System modified for ice shelf/ocean interaction, including the parameterisation of basal melting by molecular diffusion alone. Simulations investigate the differences in melting for an idealised ice shelf experiencing a range of cold to hot ocean cavity conditions. Both the pattern of melt and the location of maximum melt shift due to changes in the buoyancy-driven circulation, in a different way to previous studies. Tidal forcing increases both the circulation strength and melting, with the strongest impact on the cold cavity case. Our results highlight the importance of including a complete melt parameterisation and tidal forcing. In response to the 2.4°C ocean warming initially applied to a cold cavity ice shelf, we find that melting will increase by about an order of magnitude (24 × with tides and 41 × without tides).
The Conquest of High Mortality and Hunger in Europe and America: Timing and Mechanisms

The modern secular decline in mortality in Western Europe did not begin until the 1780s and the first wave of improvement was over by 1840. The elimination of famines and of crisis mortality played only a secondary role during the first wave of the decline and virtually none thereafter. Reductions in chronic malnutrition Were much more important and may have accounted for most of the improvement in life expectation before 1875. Chronic malnutrition were much more important and may have accounted for most of the improvement in life expectation before 1875. Chronic malnutrition could not have been eliminated merely by more humane national policies, but required major advances in productive technology. Although there Were some improvements in the health, nutritional status, and longevity of the lower classes in England and France between 1830 and the end of the nineteenth century, these advances were modest and unstable, and included some reversals. An even larger reversal occurred among the lower classes in the United States. Although the technological progress, industrialization, and urbanization of the nineteenth century laid the basis for a remarkable advance in health and nutritional status during the first half of the twentieth century their effects on the conditions of life of the lower classes were mixed at least until the 1870s or 1880s. The great gains of the lower classes were concentrated in the sixty-five years between 1890 and 1955. Improvement in nutrition and health may account for as much as 30 percent of the growth in conventionally measured per capita income between 1790 and 1980 in Western Europe, but for a much smaller proportion in the United States.
The Differential Diagnostic Values of Cytokine Levels in Pleural Effusions

The aim is to examine whether the changes in pleural fluid interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 levels were significant in differential diagnosis of childhood pleural effusions. IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 levels in pleural fluids of all 36 patients were measured. The levels of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 in pleural fluids were statistically significantly higher in the transudate group compared with those of the exudate group. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 were also found to be statistically significantly higher in the empyema group compared with both the parapneumonic and the tuberculous pleural effusion groups. The levels of IL-2 and IL-6 were detected to be statistically significantly higher in the tuberculous pleural effusion group in comparison with those of the parapneumonic effusion group. The results showed that pleural fluids IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-8 could be used in pleural fluids exudate and transudate distinction.
Social Determinants of Health Information Seeking among Chinese Adults in Hong Kong

Background Health communication inequalities were observed in Western population but less is known about them among the Chinese. We investigated health information seeking behaviours and its social determinants among Chinese adults in Hong Kong. Methods Probability-based sample surveys over telephone were conducted in 2009, 2010/11 and 2012 to monitor family health and information use. Frequency of health information seeking from television, radio, newspapers/magazines and Internet were recorded and dichotomised as ≥1 time/month and <1 time/month (reference). Logistic regression was used to yield adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of health information seeking for different demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status (education, employment and income), chronic disease and behaviours (smoking, drinking and physical activity). Results Among 4553 subjects in all surveys, most (85.1%) had sought health information monthly from newspapers/magazines (66.2%), television (61.4%), radio (35.6%) or Internet (33.2%). Overall, being male, lower education attainment, lower household income, ever-smoking and physical inactivity were associated with less frequent health information seeking (all P <0.05). Compared with younger people, older people were less likely to search health information from Internet but more like to obtain it from radio (both P for trend <0.001). Having chronic diseases was associated with frequent health information seeking from television (aOR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.07–1.47) and Internet (aOR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.24–1.73). Conclusions This study has provided the first evidence on health information inequalities from a non-Western population with advanced mass media and Internet penetration. Socioeconomic inequalities and behavioural clustering of health information seeking suggested more resources are needed for improving health communication in disadvantage groups.
A 10-year study of the incidence of and factors predicting dementia in Parkinson’s disease

Objective: To compare the incidence of dementia in PD with that of a control group without PD, and to assess the relationship between dementia and other features of PD. Methods: The authors recruited 83 patients with PD and 50 controls, all without dementia at initial assessment, and assessed them at regular intervals over a maximum period of 122 months. Dementia was diagnosed according to objective criteria, and included a judgment by researchers masked to subject group and to variables putatively associated with dementia. Results: Seventeen patients fulfilled dementia criteria; no controls did so. The cumulative proportion of PD patients becoming demented by 112 months was 0.38 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.55), or 42.6 cases per 1000 years of observation. Univariate analyses showed that incident dementia in patients with PD was associated with older age at entry into the study, greater severity of neurologic symptoms, longer duration of PD, greater disability, and male sex. The association of age at onset of PD with incident dementia was of only borderline significance. Multivariate analysis found that age at entry into the study and severity of motor symptoms were significant predictors of dementia but duration of PD and age at onset of PD were not. Conclusions: Dementia in PD is likely to reflect interaction of the neuropathology of the basal ganglia and age-related pathology. The findings do not support the division of PD into early and late-onset cases.
Nonideal transport of reactive solutes in heterogeneous porous media: 6. Microscopic and macroscopic approaches for incorporating heterogeneous rate‐limited mass transfer

Two major approaches have been used to incorporate heterogeneous rate‐limited mass transfer into mathematical models for solute transport. One focuses on processes operative at the microscopic scale and associated grain‐scale heterogeneity, while the other stresses the macroscopic variability of the medium and the field‐scale behavior of solute transport. In this paper, we examine the conceptual framework and model formulation of these two approaches in an attempt to evaluate potential commonality. Numerical solvers are developed for both sets of governing equations, and the performance of these two models is tested for two systems, each incorporating one of two types of mass transfer mechanisms. The results show that despite differences in conceptualization and formulation, the models produce comparable behavior for smaller‐scale systems. However, greater deviations are observed at larger scales. This suggests that caution should be exercised when using mathematical modeling for elucidating the specific processes that may be influencing reactive‐solute transport for a given system. We also evaluate the impact of microscopic‐scale mass transfer heterogeneity on field‐scale transport in systems for which hydraulic conductivity is spatially variable. The results show that inclusion of locally heterogeneous mass transfer does not appear to significantly influence the mean transport behavior for systems with field‐scale heterogeneity. However, it does appear to influence low‐concentration tailing. For simulations of reactive transport over extended distances, models with locally heterogeneous mass transfer may “preserve” the nonequilibrium effects associated with rate‐limited mass transfer better than models incorporating locally uniform mass transfer when both pore‐scale and field‐scale heterogeneity coexist.