Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Method Quality of Cross-Over Studies Involved in Cochrane Systematic Reviews

Background It is possible that cross-over studies included in current systematic reviews are being inadequately assessed, because the current risk of bias tools do not consider possible biases specific to cross-over design. We performed this study to evaluate whether this was being done in cross-over studies included in Cochrane Systematic Reviews (CSRs). Methods We searched the Cochrane Library (up to 2013 issue 5) for CSRs that included at least one cross-over trial. Two authors independently undertook the study selection and data extraction. A random sample of the CSRs was selected and we evaluated whether the cross-over trials in these CSRs were assessed according to criteria suggested by the Cochrane handbook. In addition we reassessed the risk of bias of these cross-over trials by a checklist developed form the Cochrane handbook. Results We identified 688 CSRs that included one or more cross-over studies. We chose a random sample of 60 CSRs and these included 139 cross-over studies. None of these CSRs undertook a risk of bias assessment specific for cross-over studies. In fact items specific for cross-over studies were seldom considered anywhere in quality assessment of these CSRs. When we reassessed the risk of bias, including the 3 items specific to cross-over trials, of these 139 studies, a low risk of bias was judged for appropriate cross-over design in 110(79%), carry-over effects in 48(34%) and for reporting data in all stages of the trial in 114(82%). Assessment of biases in cross-over trials could affect the GRADE assessment of a review’s findings. Conclusion The current Cochrane risk of bias tool is not adequate to assess cross-over studies. Items specific to cross-over trials leading to potential risk of bias are generally neglected in CSRs. A proposed check list for the evaluation of cross-over trials is provided.
Effects of Annealing on the Morphology and Porosity of Porous TiO 2 Films Fabricated by Deposition of Aerosol Nanoparticles

The present study investigates the impact of post annealing of TiO2 nanoparticulate lms on their crystallinity, mechanical strength, and morphology. Non-agglomerated and amorphous TiO2 nanoparticles of 46 nm diameter were synthesized in a plasma eld, and were subsequently deposited on substrates to form nanoparticulate lms. The lms were annealed at various temperatures in the range of 100–1,200°C. Phase transformations from amorphous-to-anatase and from anatase-to-rutile were observed at 400°C and at 1,000°C, respectively. The high rutile transformation temperature was considered to be due to a tensile eld induced by shrinkage of the lm. The as-deposited lm and the lms annealed at below 400°C had poor mechanical strength. Conversely, the lms annealed at over 500°C were strengthened by necking of the nanoparticles. The size of nanoparticles changed with increasing temperature. Annealing at 100–300°C caused the nanoparticles to shrink to approximately 30 nm. The nanoparticle diameters changed only slightly when annealed at 400–600°C because the annealing time was insu cient for changes to manifest. Annealing at 700–900°C caused the nanoparticle diameter to increase to approximately 50 nm because of sintering and coalescence of the nanoparticles. The diameter of the nanoparticles annealed at over 1,000°C became approximately 200 nm because of densi cation during the anatase-to-rutile transformation. The porosities of the lms annealed at below 900°C were over 80%. However, the porosities of the lms annealed at over 1,000°C decreased signi cantly due to densi cation.
Robust principal component analysis for computer vision

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been widely used for the representation of shape, appearance and motion. One drawback of typical PCA methods is that they are least squares estimation techniques and hence fail to account for "outliers" which are common in realistic training sets. In computer vision applications, outliers typically occur within a sample (image) due to pixels that are corrupted by noise, alignment errors, or occlusion. We review previous approaches for making PCA robust to outliers and present a new method that uses an intra-sample outlier process to account for pixel outliers. We develop the theory of Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) and describe a robust M-estimation algorithm for learning linear multi-variate representations of high dimensional data such as images. Quantitative comparisons with traditional PCA and previous robust algorithms illustrate the benefits of RPCA when outliers are present. Details of the algorithm are described and a software implementation is being made publically available.
Fast Global Oscillations in Networks of Integrate-and-Fire Neurons with Low Firing Rates

We study analytically the dynamics of a network of sparsely connected inhibitory integrate-and-fire neurons in a regime where individual neurons emit spikes irregularly and at a low rate. In the limit when the number of neurons N , the network exhibits a sharp transition between a stationary and an oscillatory global activity regime where neurons are weakly synchronized. The activity becomes oscillatory when the inhibitory feedback is strong enough. The period of the global oscillation is found to be mainly controlled by synaptic times but depends also on the characteristics of the external input. In large but finite networks, the analysis shows that global oscillations of finite coherence time generically exist both above and below the critical inhibition threshold. Their characteristics are determined as functions of systems parameters in these two different regimes. The results are found to be in good agreement with numerical simulations.
Land surface air temperature mapping using TOVS and AVHRR

Surface air temperature is an important variable in land surface hydrological studies. This paper evaluates the ability of satellites to map air temperature across large land surface areas. Algorithms recently have been developed that derive surface air temperature using observations from the TOVS (TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder) suite of instruments and also from the AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer), which have flown on the NOAA operational sun synchronous satellites TIROS-N NOAA-14. In this study we evaluate TOVS soundings from NOAA-10 (nominal local time of overpass 7:30 a.m./p.m.) and data from AVHRR aboard NOAA-9 (nominal local time 2:30 a.m./p.m.). Instantaneous estimates from the AVHRR and TOVS were compared with the hourly ground observations collected from 26 meteorological stations in the Red River-Arkansas River basin for a 3-month period from May to July 1987. Detailed comparisons between the satellite and ground estimates of surface air temperatures are reported and the feasibility of estimating the diurnal variation is explored. The comparisons are interpreted in the geographical context, i.e. land cover and topography, and in the seasonal context, i.e. early and midsummer. The results show that the average bias over the 3-month period compared with ground-based observations is approximately 2°C or less for the three times of day with TOVS having lower biases than AVHRR. Knowledge of these error estimates will greatly benefit use of satellite data in hydrological modelling.
Bed‐material size and the riffle‐pool sequence

Relationships between the bed-material size distribution and riffle-pool geometry of a small coarse-bedload upland stream channel are described. Downstream sequences of bed-material size are highly variable, although series analysis reveals some persistence in the data over short distances. Cross-correlation of bed-material series with bed-elevation series indicates riffles tend to coincide with coarser bed material sequences. Comparison of the bed-material size distributions of individual riffles, pools and bars is, however, more revealing. Mean particle size was found to be the most useful criterion for distinguishing between bed forms, and in these terms bars are the most distinctive features. Moreover, riffles and pools can be viewed as simply downstream oscillations in elevation of a single coarser-grained sedimentary unit. Coarse sediment supply from erosion scars created where the channel meets confining bluffs in valley-fill deposits does mean that the average particle size of adjacent and downstream bed forms is increased. However, conclusions remained unchanged after reanalysis following the identification and subtraction of immobile particle diameters. Plan geometry and coarse sediment supply in the upland environment are also shown to influence bed-material size distributions. Tightly curved pools tend to have the finest pool sediments but also the least difference between bar and pool sediments. Size of material in pools is also negatively related to an index of cross-section asymmetry.
Space-time adaptive processing for synthetic aperture radar

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides high-resolution images of the non-moving ground scene, but fails for the indication and positioning of moving objects. Like in airborne MTI systems the solution to this problem is to use an array of antennas or subapertures and several receiving channels ('MSAR'=multi-channel SAR), and to apply multi-channel clutter suppression. One of the most efficient methods is adaptive space-time processing (STAP), which can be simplified to frequency-dependent spatial processing in the Doppler domain. Some of these techniques applied to SAR are reviewed and illustrated with data gathered by the German experimental multi-channel SAR system 'AER-II'.
Precarious Rock Evidence for Seismic Shaking during and Prior to the 1992 ML 5.6 Little Skull Mountain, Nevada, Earthquake

The 29 June 1992 Richter local magnitude ( ML ) 5.6 Little Skull Mountain earthquake, 20 km southeast of Yucca Mountain, caused rockfalls on steep slopes of Little Skull Mountain, while some semi-precarious rocks remained in place. The observation that ground motion was sufficient to cause rockfalls and yet leave semi-precarious rocks untoppled offers both upper- and lower-bound estimates of the history of ground motion at Little Skull Mountain. A ground-motion synthesis code, used in Yucca Mountain probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), was applied to assess the spatial distribution of peak ground acceleration around Little Skull Mountain with respect to the surface attenuation and evidence for ground shaking during the earthquake. Instrumental records for the earthquake, rockfalls, remaining precarious rocks, intensity values estimated from damage to local facilities, and scaling of ground motions based on a recent ML 4.4 Little Skull Mountain aftershock were compared with model predictions. Predicted peak accelerations based on a kappa value of ∼20 ms (used in the Yucca Mountain PSHA) are too high to be consistent with this evidence of ground shaking. This suggests some ground-motion predictions conducted for the Yucca Mountain PSHA may need to be re-examined, and may be too conservative.
Coordinate Friendly Structures, Algorithms and Applications

This paper focuses on coordinate update methods, which are useful for solving problems involving large or high-dimensional datasets. They decompose a problem into simple subproblems, where each updates one, or a small block of, variables while fixing others. These methods can deal with linear and nonlinear mappings, smooth and nonsmooth functions, as well as convex and nonconvex problems. In addition, they are easy to parallelize. The great performance of coordinate update methods depends on solving simple sub-problems. To derive simple subproblems for several new classes of applications, this paper systematically studies coordinate-friendly operators that perform low-cost coordinate updates. Based on the discovered coordinate friendly operators, as well as operator splitting techniques, we obtain new coordinate update algorithms for a variety of problems in machine learning, image processing, as well as sub-areas of optimization. Several problems are treated with coordinate update for the first time in history. The obtained algorithms are scalable to large instances through parallel and even asynchronous computing. We present numerical examples to illustrate how effective these algorithms are.
Players’ perspectives on the positive impact of video games: A qualitative content analysis of online forum discussions

On game forums, players often discuss the positive impact of video games on their lives. We collected 964 messages from top ranked game forums (viaAlexa.com) and analyzed them using a coding scheme based on an existing taxonomy about the impact of the arts. This directed qualitative content analysis resulted in an exploration of how players’ talk about the impact of video games reflects broader cultural rhetorics. By analyzing players’ positive experiences using a theory-based coding scheme that is attentive to the wide array of effects that have been ascribed to the arts, this study offers a broad perspective on the attributed impact of video games.
Title: Basin Scale Water System Operations with Uncertain Future Climate Conditions: Methodology and Case Studies Running Title: Water Systems Operations under Climate Change Authors:

The old and useful paradigm used by water resource engineers that hydrology in a given place is stationary, and hence it is sufficient to look into the past to plan for the future, doesn’t hold any more according to climate change projections. This becomes especially true in snow-dominated regions like California where not only the magnitude but also the timing of streamflow could be affected by changes in precipitation and temperature. To plan and operate water resources systems at the basin scale it is necessary to develop new tools that are suited for this nonstationary world. In this paper we develop an optimization algorithm that can be used for different studies related to climate change and water resources management. Three applications of this algorithm are developed for the Merced River basin. The first of these gives an assessment of the climate change effects on the operations of this basin considering an adaptive management strategy embedded in the optimization algorithm. In a second application we explore different long term adaptation strategies intended to mitigate the effects of climate change. A final application is developed to determine how beneficial it is to build a new reservoir considering explicitly the uncertainty about future climate projections.
Seasonal simulation of drifting snow sublimation in Alpine terrain

We estimate seasonal drifting snow sublimation at a study site in the Swiss Alps with the numerical model Alpine3D using external wind fields from the Advanced Regional Prediction System on a high‐resolution grid (10 m). Novel in the field of snow transport modeling, the transport module of Alpine3D accounts for the feedbacks among drifting snow sublimation, snow concentration, temperature, and humidity of the air in three dimensions. Due to these feedbacks, drifting snow sublimation is a self‐limiting process. Model results show that the domain averaged drifting snow sublimation over a season is small (about 0.1% of precipitation) but spatially highly variable. Simulation results show strongest seasonal reduction of snow amount by 1.8% due to drifting snow sublimation in a leeward slope during SE wind. This can be explained by the generally warmer and dryer conditions during events with SE wind. In the Wannengrat study area, which covers typical alpine terrain, drifting snow sublimation is thus only significant locally or on short time scales. Note that we only consider drifting and blowing snow in the absence of concurrent precipitation. Furthermore, our results show that drifting snow sublimation is much smaller than surface sublimation in this area.
REASSESSMENT OF THE GENUS LEANCHOILIA (ARTHROPODA, ARACHNOMORPHA) FROM THE MIDDLE CAMBRIAN BURGESS SHALE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Abstract: The collection, since 1975, of over 1500 specimens of Leanchoilia Walcott by the Royal Ontario Museum has prompted reassessment of the genus and its species from the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale. Among new characters in Leanchoilia superlata, the type species, are the presence of two pairs of eyes, a dorsal double carina bracketing the axis of the body segments, segmentation of the gill branch of the appendages, and serration along the body edges from the posterior third of the cephalic shield to the last body segment. Leanchoilia persephone Simonetta, previously synonymized with L. superlata, is also well represented in the Burgess Shale, and is re‐established as a valid species, owing to conspicuous differences from the type species. These are the absence of the diagnostic up‐curving snout of the cephalic shield, the absence of carina, the shorter ‘great appendages’, the smooth edges of the body, and its overall shape in dorsal aspect. Leanchoilia superlata and L. persephone may be sexual dimorphs of each other. The ROM collections extend considerably the geographical distribution and stratigraphic range of Leanchoilia in western Canada.
Blue-Fi: enhancing Wi-Fi performance using bluetooth signals

Mobile devices are increasingly equipped with multiple network interfaces with complementary characteristics. In particular, the Wi-Fi interface has high throughput and transfer power efficiency, but its idle power consumption is prohibitive. In this paper we present, Blue-Fi, a sytem that predicts the availability of the Wi-Fi connectivity by using a combination of bluetooth contact-patterns and cell-tower information. This allows the device to intelligently switch the Wi-Fi interface on only when there is Wi-Fi connectivity available, thus avoiding the long periods in idle state and significantly reducing the the number of scans for discovery. Our prediction results on traces collected from real users show an average coverage of 94% and an average accuracy of 84%, a 47% accuracy improvement over pure cell-tower based prediction, and a 57% coverage improvement over the pure bluetooth based prediction. For our workload, Blue-Fi is up to 62% more energy efficient, which results in increasing our mobile device's lifetime by more than a day.
CtBP Is an Essential Corepressor for BCL6 Autoregulation

ABSTRACT The transcription repressor BCL6 plays an essential role in the formation and function of germinal centers (GCs). While normal B cells promptly shut off BCL6 when they exit the GC, many GC-derived B-cell lymphomas sustain BCL6 expression through chromosomal translocations and activating mutations. We have previously shown that a common effect of lymphoma-associated BCL6 gene alterations is to bypass a negative autoregulatory loop that controls its transcription. In this study, we report that BCL6 autoregulation is independent of several known corepressor complexes including silencing mediator for retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors, nuclear receptor coreceptor, BCL6 corepressor, and MTA3/NuRD. Furthermore, we show that BCL6 can interact with the CtBP (C-terminal binding protein) corepressor both in vitro and in vivo and that CtBP is recruited by BCL6 to its 5′ regulatory region. In lymphoma cell lines carrying BCL6 translocations, small interfering RNA-mediated CtBP knock-down selectively relieved the previously silenced wild-type BCL6 allele but not the translocated alleles, which are driven by heterologous promoters. These results demonstrate that CtBP is a novel BCL6 corepressor and suggest that a unique corepressor requirement for BCL6 autoregulation may allow GC B cells to differentially control the expression of BCL6 and other BCL6 target genes in response to environmental stimuli during the GC stage of B cell development.
Pharmacokinetics of Mivacurium Isomers and Their Metabolites in Healthy Volunteers after Intravenous Bolus Administration

Background Previous studies report the pharmacokinetics of mivacurium isomers after an infusion using venous blood sampling. Although the extent of the mivacurium arterial‐venous gradient is not known, the sampling site is likely to influence mivacurium pharmacokinetic parameters because the drug is rapidly metabolized as it traverses the circulation. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the pharmacokinetics of mivacurium isomers in healthy persons after intravenous bolus administration using intensive arterial blood sampling, and (2) to characterize the formation and elimination of mivacurium metabolites in human plasma. Methods Eight persons classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 1 or 2 who were scheduled to undergo elective surgery under balanced anesthesia received 0.15 mg/kg mivacurium chloride as an intravenous bolus. Arterial blood samples were collected every 10 s during the first 2 min and at frequent intervals for 4 h thereafter. Plasma concentrations of mivacurium isomers and their metabolites were determined by two stereoselective high‐performance liquid chromatographic methods coupled with fluorometric detection and noncompartmental pharmacokinetic parameters. Results Mean elimination half‐lives of the trans‐trans, cis‐trans, and cis‐cis isomers were 2.4, 2, and 28.5 min, respectively, with corresponding mean plasma clearances of 29.2, 45.7, and 6.7 ml [center dot] min‐1 [center dot] kg‐1. The volumes of distribution at steady state of the trans‐trans, cis‐trans, and cis‐cis isomers were 0.047, 0.054, and 0.189 l/kg, respectively. Plasma concentrations of monoester and alcohol metabolites peaked 25 s (median) after mivacurium injection, with half‐lives in the range of 90 min, except for the cis alcohol metabolite, which was only negligibly and transiently formed. Conclusions Substantial hydrolysis of mivacurium isomers by cholinesterases was confirmed by the rapid appearance of mivacurium metabolites in plasma. The intensive arterial sampling proved to be critical for the trans‐trans and cis‐trans isomers because the area under the curve between 0 and 2 min accounted for 75% and 86% of the total, respectively.
Upgrades to the REA method for producing probabilistic climate change projections

We present an augmented version of the Reliability Ensemble Averaging (REA) method designed to generate probabilistic climate change information from ensembles of climate model simulations. Compared to the original version, the augmented one includes consideration of multiple variables and statistics in the calculation of the performance-based weights. In addition, the model convergence criterion previously employed is removed. The method is applied to the calculation of changes in mean and variability for temperature and precipitation over different sub-regions of East Asia based on the recently completed CMIP3 multi-model ensemble. Comparison of the new and old REA methods, along with the simple averaging procedure, and the use of different combinations of performance metrics shows that at fine sub-regional scales the choice of weighting is relevant. This is mostly because the models show a substantial spread in performance for the simulation of precipitation statistics, a result that supports the use of model weighting as a useful option to account for wide ranges of quality of models. The REA method, and in particular the upgraded one, provides a simple and flexible framework for assessing the uncertainty related to the aggregation of results from ensembles of models in order to produce climate change information at the regional scale.