Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined CloudSat-CALIPSO-MODIS retrievals of the properties of ice clouds

[1] In this paper, data from spaceborne radar, lidar and infrared radiometers on the “A‐Train” of satellites are combined in a variational algorithm to retrieve ice cloud properties. The method allows a seamless retrieval between regions where both radar and lidar are sensitive to the regions where one detects the cloud. We first implement a cloud phase identification method, including identification of supercooled water layers using the lidar signal and temperature to discriminate ice from liquid. We also include rigorous calculation of errors assigned in the variational scheme. We estimate the impact of the microphysical assumptions on the algorithm when radiances are not assimilated by evaluating the impact of the change in the area‐diameter and the density‐diameter relationships in the retrieval of cloud properties. We show that changes to these assumptions affect the radar‐only and lidar‐only retrieval more than the radar‐lidar retrieval, although the lidar‐only extinction retrieval is only weakly affected. We also show that making use of the molecular lidar signal beyond the cloud as a constraint on optical depth, when ice clouds are sufficiently thin to allow the lidar signal to penetrate them entirely, improves the retrieved extinction. When infrared radiances are available, they provide an extra constraint and allow the extinction‐to‐backscatter ratio to vary linearly with height instead of being constant, which improves the vertical distribution of retrieved cloud properties.
The sunrise of the Third Republic? The evolution of the Italian party-system after the 2008 general election and the prospects for constitutional reform

The results of the 2008 Italian general election were welcomed by many as the ‘sunrise of the Third Republic’, heralding a new political system which would emerge from a comprehensive constitutional reform agreed between the main parties of government and opposition. The party system now looks significantly different from that (or those) of the ‘Second Republic’. In particular, the disappearance of the radical left from Parliament and a clear reduction in the number of parties are the main factors underpinning optimistic predictions about a possible compromise on constitutional reform. Drawing on Sartori's classic work as well as on more recent conceptualisations of party systems, this article analyses the evolution of the Italian party system over the medium and long term. It is cautious, if not pessimistic, about the prospects for reform. High levels of polarisation, stemming from different conceptions of democracy maintained by the two main parties, can be expected to hinder bipartisan reform. In particular, the figure of Berlusconi appears to represent both the cornerstone of the ‘reconstructed’ party system and the main obstacle to a widely agreed re-drafting of the Constitution.
Of Crime and Criminality: The Use of Theory in Everyday Life

Prelude - Sally S Simpson Introductory Chapter - Don C Gibbons Criminology, Criminologists, and Criminological Theory PART ONE: ACCOUNTING FOR GENDER, RACE AND CLASS DIFFERENCES IN CRIMINALITY AND CRIME CONTROL Differential Association Theory and Female Crime - Peggy C Giordana and Sharon Mohler Rockwell Feminist Theories of Women's Crime - Jody Miller Robbery as a Case Study Racial Hoaxes - Katheryn K Russell Applied Critical Race Theory The War on Crime as Hegemonic Strategy - Katherine Beckett and Theodore Sasson A Neo-Marxian Theory of New Punitiveness in U.S. Criminal Justice Policy PART TWO: TRADITIONAL CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY UPDATED The Systematic Theory of Neighborhood Crime Rates - Robert J Bursik Jr Strain Theory and School Crime - Robert Agnew The Dramatization of Evil - Ruth Triplett Reacting to Juvenile Delinquency During the 1990's PART THREE: NEW DIRECTIONS IN THEORY - NEW IDEAS, APPLICATION, AND ISSUES The Social Control of Corporate Criminals - Sally S Simpson, M Lyn Exum, and N Craig Smith Shame and Informal Sanction Threats Whither the Beast? - Jeffrey Bouffard, M Lyn Exum, and Raymond Paternoster The Role of Emotions as a Rational Choice Theory of Crime Understanding Illicit Drug Use - Paul Maxerolle Lessons from Developmental Theory The Routine Activity Approach as a General Crime Theory - Marcus Felson
Mapping of CNS sigma1 receptors in the conscious monkey: Preliminary PET study with [11C]SA4503

The sigma receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) are implicated in psychoses and movement disorders (Junien and Leonard, 1989; Su, 1993). In vitro studies on the postmortem human brain have shown a reduced density of the sigma receptors in the CA1 area of the hippocampus in Alzheimer’s disease (Jansen et al., 1993) and in the cerebral cortex (Weissman et al., 1991) and caudate of schizophrenic patients (Helmeste et al., 1996). Further, the sigma receptors are also expressed in a variety of human tumors (Vilner et al., 1995) such as neuroblastoma, melanoma, and breast cancer. Therefore, several radioligands have been proposed for mapping CNS and peripheral sigma receptors in vivo by positron emission tomography (PET) and by single photon emission tomography. However, in vivo imaging of the sigma receptors in the primate brain has not been reported until now. Recently, Matsuno et al. (1996) proposed that 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenethyl)-4-(3-phenylpropyl
A NOVEL REDUNDANT DATA UPDATE ALGORITHM FOR FAULT-TOLERANT SERVER-LESS VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SYSTEMS

Recently, a new server-less architecture is proposed for building low-cost yet scalable video streaming systems. In this architecture, video data are distributed among user hosts and these hosts cooperate to stream video data to one another. To improve reliability, data and capacity redundancy are introduced to sustain node failures. However, the data placement as well as the redundant data in the system will need to be updated whenever new nodes join the system. This study is a first step in investigating the problem of updating redundant data when growing such a server-less system by assimilating new nodes. Results show that the redundancy update overhead is very significant and even exceeds that in data reorganization. To tackle this problem, this study presents a novel Sequential Redundant Data Update (SRDU) algorithm that takes advantage of the structure of Reed-Solomon Erasure Correction codes to reduce the redundancy update overhead by as much as 75%. Numerical results show that by further delaying the update of redundant data until adding multiple nodes, say 10, we can further reduce the redundancy update overhead by as much as 97%.
NEET, unemployed, inactive or unknown – why does it matter?

Background: The UK, like most countries across Europe and other advanced economies, has experienced an alarming rise in the levels of young people (aged between 16 and 24 years) who are detached from both the labour market and the education and training system. In the UK, there are nearly a million 16–24-year-olds who are recorded as being not in education, employment or training (NEET). For governments throughout Europe, the need to address high levels of youth unemployment and social disengagement has become an urgent priority. As a result, policy-makers are faced with the challenge of developing effective interventions to prevent these levels being sustained over the longer term, with potential scarring effects on successive generations, and concomitant economic and social impacts. Purpose: This paper will inform the development of policy and practice targeted at NEET prevention and reintegration of those young people who have become NEET, with suggestions for areas to be addressed and methods and mechanisms which might be incorporated into programme implementation. The paper highlights gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the size, characteristics and geographical distribution of young people in the NEET group in England, and questions the continued relevance of the term ‘NEET’ to capture youth disengagement. Sources of evidence: After drawing on Europe-wide data to present a picture of the scale of youth unemployment throughout the continent, official UK data are used to drill down to specific issues which are the focus of the piece, in particular, the regional disparities in the size of the group whose destination is ‘unknown’. This is discussed in the context of a range of literature relating to the emergence of the term ‘NEET’ and the characteristics of the NEET group. A review of current policy intervention in England to tackle the NEET ‘problem’ is also presented. Main argument: This paper will suggest that the implementation of effective policy interventions to address the ‘NEET’ issue is highly problematic, due to three overriding concerns. These are: (a) a lack of clarity in the definition of this group in England; (b) inadequacies in determining with any precision how many under-18s there are in this group, or where they are located, leading to large numbers whose post-education destination is ‘unknown’; and (c) misguided stereotyping of NEET young people’s behaviour, attitudes and aspirations. These problems have partly been exacerbated by budget cuts and changes to guidance and support services, as well as inadequacies in mapping and tracking systems. Conclusions: The paper concludes with recommendations that policy development must, in the first instance, be underpinned by robust and reliable data about the size and composition of the group, derived from impartial, independent mapping and tracking services. Furthermore, policies designed to reduce the NEET population should include measures which tackle NEET prevention, re-engagement strategies for the hardest to reach groups and active labour market policies for the young unemployed.
Analysis of Driver Evasive Maneuvering Prior to Intersection Crashes Using Event Data Recorders

Objective: Intersection crashes account for over 4,500 fatalities in the United States each year. Intersection Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (I-ADAS) are emerging vehicle-based active safety systems that have the potential to help drivers safely navigate across intersections and prevent intersection crashes and injuries. The performance of an I-ADAS is expected to be highly dependent upon driver evasive maneuvering prior to an intersection crash. Little has been published, however, on the detailed evasive kinematics followed by drivers prior to real-world intersection crashes. The objective of this study was to characterize the frequency, timing, and kinematics of driver evasive maneuvers prior to intersection crashes. Methods: Event data recorders (EDRs) downloaded from vehicles involved in intersection crashes were investigated as part of NASS-CDS years 2001 to 2013. A total of 135 EDRs with precrash vehicle speed and braking application were downloaded to investigate evasive braking. A smaller subset of 59 EDRs that collected vehicle yaw rate was additionally analyzed to investigate evasive steering. Each vehicle was assigned to one of 3 precrash movement classifiers (traveling through the intersection, completely stopped, or rolling stop) based on the vehicle's calculated acceleration and observed velocity profile. To ensure that any significant steering input observed was an attempted evasive maneuver, the analysis excluded vehicles at intersections that were turning, driving on a curved road, or performing a lane change. Braking application at the last EDR-recorded time point was assumed to indicate evasive braking. A vehicle yaw rate greater than 4° per second was assumed to indicate an evasive steering maneuver. Results: Drivers executed crash avoidance maneuvers in four-fifths of intersection crashes. A more detailed analysis of evasive braking frequency by precrash maneuver revealed that drivers performing complete or rolling stops (61.3%) braked less often than drivers traveling through the intersection without yielding (79.0%). After accounting for uncertainty in the timing of braking and steering data, the median evasive braking time was found to be between 0.5 to 1.5 s prior to impact, and the median initial evasive steering time was found to occur between 0.5 and 0.9 s prior to impact. The median average evasive braking deceleration for all cases was found to be 0.58 g. The median of the maximum evasive vehicle yaw rates was found to be 8.2° per second. Evasive steering direction was found to be most frequently in the direction of travel of the approaching vehicle. Conclusions: The majority of drivers involved in intersection crashes were alert enough to perform an evasive action. Most drivers used a combination of steering and braking to avoid a crash. The average driver attempted to steer and brake at approximately the same time prior to the crash.
A pure jump Markov process with a random singularity spectrum

We construct a non-decreasing pure jump Markov process, whose jump measure heavily depends on the values taken by the process. We determine the singularity spectrum of this process, which turns out to be random and to depend locally on the values taken by the process. The result relies on fine properties of the distribution of Poisson point processes and on ubiquity theorems.
Overexpression of truncated ERG from TMPRSS2-ERG fusion and prostate cancer development

In men, prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and the second leading cause of death among all cancer types in Europe and North America, with the numbers of those affected continuing to increase. Recent studies have identified a recurrent fusion of TMPRSS2 with members of the ETS family of transcription factors in about 80% of prostate cancer tissues. Among them, the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion accounts for approximately 50% of these cases. TMPRSS2 is highly regulated by androgen receptor and the chromosomal rearrangement abnormally induces ERG production by androgen. To investigate the effects of ERG overexpression on its target genes expression and prostate cancer development, plasmids were first constructed by inserting the truncated ERG into an expression vector in the forward or reverse directions. A predicted three-dimensional model of the protein structure of the truncated ERG, along with immunofluorescence assays, suggest that the minor deletion on the N-terminus does not appear to affect the structure or function of ERG. Results from ERG target gene expression profile indicate that TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-induced aberrant ERG overexpression
The Long-Term Consequences of Relationship Formation for Subjective Well-Being

This study examines how relationship transitions affect subjective well-being (SWB) and how this effect changes over time. We used prospective data containing information about 18 years of young adults’ lives (PSIN,N = 5,514). SWB was measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale.Within-person multilevel regression analyses showed that dating, unmarried cohabitation, and marriage had additional well-being enhancing effects. After entry into a union, well-being slowly decreased. A large SWB decrease was found after union dissolution, but through adaptation or repartnering well-being increased again. Well-being of never-married and never cohabiting young adults decreased slowly over time. These effects were independent of parenthood and employment. Our results confirm expectations from the resources theory but contradict some assumptions of the set-point theory. Key words: adjustment; cohabitation; dating; fixed effects; models; union formation; well-being
Lesion concordance, image quality and artefacts in PET/CT

Summary Aim: This study had three major objectives: 1. ) to record the number of concordant (both in PET and CT) pathological lesions in different body regions/organs, 2. ) to evaluate the image quality and 3. ) to determine both, the quantity and the quality of artefacts in whole body FDG PET/CT scans. Patients, methods: Routine whole body scans of 353 patients referred to FDG-PET/ CT exams at 4 university hospitals were employed. All potentially malignant lesions in 13 different body regions/organs were classified as either concordant or suspicious in FDG-PET or CT only. In the latter case the diagnostic relevance of this disparity was judged. The image quality in PET and CT was rated as a whole and separately in 5 different body regions. Furthermore we investigated the frequency and site of artefacts caused by metal implants and oral or intravenous contrast media as well as the subjective co-registration quality (in 4 body regions) and the diagnostic impact of such artefacts or misalignment. In addition, the readers rated the diagnostic gain of adding the information from the other tomographic method. Results: In total 1941 lesions (5.5 per patient) were identified, 1094 (56%) out of which were concordant. 602 (71%) out of the 847 remaining lesions were detected only with CT, 245 (29%) were only PET-positive. As expected, CT particularly depicted the majority of lesions in the lungs and abdominal organs. However, the diagnostic relevance was greater with PET-only positive lesions. Most of the PET/CT scans were performed with full diagnostic CT including administration of oral and intravenous contrast media (> 80%). The image quality in PET and CT was rated excellent. Artefacts occurred in more than 60% of the scans and were mainly due to (dental) metal implants and contrast agent. Nevertheless there was almost no impact on diagnostic confidence if reading of the non attenuation corrected PET was included. The co-registration quality in general was also rated as excellent. Misalignment mostly occurred due to patient motion and breathing and led to diagnostic challenges in about 4% of all exams. The diagnostic gain of adding PET to a CT investigation was rated higher than vice versa. Conclusions: As the image quality in both PET and CT was more than satisfying, CT-artefacts almost never led to diagnostic uncertainties and serious misalignment rarely occurred, PET/CT can be considered as suitable for routine use and may replace single PET- and CT-scans. However, additional reading of the non attenuation corrected PET is mandatory to assure best possible diagnostic confidence in PET. Since approximately half of all lesions found in PET/CT were not concordant, at least in a setting with a diagnostic CT the exams need to be reported by both a nuclear medicine physician and a radiologist in consensus.
Orienting to errors with and without immediate feedback

A slow-down in reaction time (RT) after committing an error is a well-known effect. Recently, Notebaert and colleagues (Notebaert et al., 2009; Núñez Castellar, Kuhn, Fias, & Notebaert, 2010) suggested that posterror slowing is a reaction to the infrequent nature of errors. After infrequent errors, posterror slowing was observed but after infrequent correct trials, postcorrect slowing was observed. These data were obtained in a paradigm with trial-by-trial feedback. In this study we tested whether posterror slowing was similar with and without immediate feedback. We manipulated the overall accuracy parametrically per condition (50%, 70%, and 90% accuracy) and predicted an increase in posterror slowing as the accuracy increased. This linear effect was observed with and without immediate feedback. The data are interpreted in terms of an orienting response towards unexpected events.
Macroprolactin detection by precipitation with protein A-sepharose: a rapid screening method compared with polyethylene glycol precipitation.

Prolactin (PRL) circulates in serum in three major molecular sizes identifiable by gel-filtration chromatography: monomeric PRL (23 kDa), big PRL (45–60 kDa), and big big PRL or macroprolactin (150–170 kDa). Macroprolactin is mainly a complex of PRL with human immunoglobulins G (hIgG) (1)(2)(3)(4), but aggregates of PRL may also be present (4). Identification of macroprolactin, which has reduced bioactivity but can be the cause of high PRL values in patient samples, can help resolve diagnostic confusion and avoid expensive investigations and inappropriate treatment. It is generally admitted that all samples showing apparent hyperprolactinemia should be examined for macroprolactin. The immunoassays used to determine prolactinemia react variously with macroprolactin (5). With high-reacting assays such as the Elecsys® PRL assay from Roche Diagnostics, polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation has been validated as a rapid technique to detect macroprolactin (6). However, the PRL PEG precipitation test suffers from high nonspecific precipitation [∼14–16% (7)(8)], and results of this test may not be definitive in any case, making it necessary to define a gray zone (6)(9). Comparison of the results of a high-reacting method with those of low-reacting methods, such as the ADVIA:Centaur or ACS:180 PRL assays (Bayer Diagnostics), has also been proposed as a screening method (10). However, results obtained for macroprolactinemic sera have been shown to be sample dependent, particularly with the Bayer assays (7)(11), and the presence of macroprolactin can not be excluded by comparing the results obtained with a high- and a low-reacting method. Recently, a screening method based on the recognition of the hIgG component of macroprolactin by goat anti-human IgG-agarose (binding capacity, 1.5 mg hIgG/mL of resin) has been validated with the Elecsys assay (12). This method incorporates a 2-h incubation time and a 20-fold dilution of the …
Ethical dilemmas in individual and collective rights‐based approaches to tertiary education scholarships: the cases of Canada and Cuba

One of the ongoing debates in Canadian higher education is the dilemma of the brain drain and the seemingly conflicting goals between the strategies and intentions of various government departments. While Citizenship and Immigration Canada aims to recruit the brightest students from across the globe to study in Canada and to enable their long‐term stay as permanent residents and ultimately as citizens, the Canadian International Development Agency is mandated to strengthen human capacity in developing countries. This paper provides a critical analysis of the brain drain problem by juxtaposing Canadian policies with Cuban policies as manifested in the two countries’ divergent approaches to international students and tertiary education scholarships for students from poorer countries. Following an overview of the existing scholarship programmes in both countries, ethical and philosophical considerations are examined that appear to underlie the two countries’ individual‐rights‐based and collective‐rights‐based justifications for making decisions about the terms on which students from other countries are permitted to study in Canada and Cuba.