Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Near-Ground Storm Relative Helicity in Supercell Tornado Forecasting

This study examines the possibility that supercell tornado forecasts could be improved by utilizing the storm-relative helicity (SRH) in the lowest few hundred meters of the atmosphere (instead of much deeper layers). This hypothesis emerges from a growing body of literature linking the near-ground wind profile to the organization of the low-level mesocyclone and thus the probability of tornadogenesis. This study further addresses the ramifications of near-ground SRH to the skill of the significant tornado parameter (STP), which is probably the most commonly used environmental indicator for tornadic thunderstorms. Using a sample of 20 194 severe, right-moving supercells spanning a 13-yr period, sounding-derived parameters were compared using forecast verification metrics, emphasizing a high probability of detection for tornadic supercells while minimizing false alarms. This climatology reveals that the kinematic components of environmental profiles are more skillful at discriminating significantly tornadic supercells from severe, nontornadic supercells than the thermodynamic components. The effective-layer SRH has by far the greatest forecast skill among the components of the STP, as it is currently defined. However, using progressively shallower layers for the SRH calculation leads to increasing forecast skill. Replacing the effective-layer SRH with the 0–500 m AGL SRH in the formulation of STP increases the number of correctly predicted events by 8% and decreases the number of missed events and false alarms by 18%. These results provide promising evidence that forecast parameters can still be improved through increased understanding of the environmental controls on the processes that govern tornado formation.
A Review of Quantum Games

expanded to include unitary operators (termed “quantum strategies”), or (iii) both of the above occur. These quantum mechanical applications in games produce various novel and interesting results. In this review, the term “novel” refers to a result in quantum game theory that is favorable and could not be realized in classical game theory. Quantum game theory literature focuses on a number of such results to establish the topic’s significance. Pareto efficiency refers to an outcome in a game such that there are no other possible outcomes that give higher payoffs to a non-zero number of players without decreasing any player’s payoff. Conversely, Pareto inefficiency is observed when the Nash equilibrium of the game – an outcome where all players of a game do not have an incentive to change their strategies – does not exhibit Pareto efficiency (Nash, 1951). Games that are Pareto inefficient under the classical paradigm can be made efficient through the use of quantization, which is a novel result beneficial to the players (Eisert, Wilkens, and Lewenstein, 1999). Another key result is higher payoffs for players in the game, which directly indicates that they have benefitted from quantization (Meyer, 1999). Quantization can also lead to new coalitions among players in the game that gives higher payoffs to a greater number of players (Chen, Hogg, and Beausoleil, 2002). These results, obtained uniquely in quantum games, are significant as they expose a deep and rich econophysical connection wherein quantization is conducive to strategic coordination. Although the current lack of quantum technology imposes significant limitations on immediate practical applications of the theory, the accuracy of a few simple quantum games has been supported with experimental evidence through computer science, suggesting the potential relevance of the theory once necessary technological advances are made (Du et al., 2002; Prevedel et al., 2007; Schmid et al., 2010). Research conducted on quantum game theory may be clasA Review of Quantum Games
Nonlinear Static and Dynamic Analysis of Rocking Masonry Corners Using Rigid Macro-Block Modeling

The corner failure is one of the most typical local mechanisms in masonry buildings vulnerable to earthquakes. The seismic assessment of this mechanism is poorly studied in the literature and in this paper it is addressed by means of both nonlinear static and dynamic analyses of rocking rigid blocks. The static approach is based on the displacement-based method and is aimed at predicting the onset of the 3D failure mechanism and its evolution through incremental kinematic analysis. This approach also considers the presence of a thrusting roof and the stabilizing contribution of frictional resistances exerted within interlocked walls. The capacity in terms of both forces and displacements is compared with the seismic demand through the construction of acceleration–displacement response spectra, with some originality. The nonlinear dynamic approach is based on the seminal Housner’s work on rocking rigid blocks and considers the influence of transverse walls, roof overloads and outward thrust, all included in an updated equation of one-sided motion. In particular, the process of defining an equivalent prismatic block, representative of the original corner geometry, is presented to convert the 3D dynamic problem into a 2D rocking motion. The wide suitability and advantage of such modeling approaches to assess the seismic response of rocking masonry structures with reference to specific limit states are demonstrated through a real case study, i.e. the collapse of a corner in a masonry school building during the 2016–2017 Central Italy seismic sequence. The compared results provide a good agreement of predictions in terms of both onset and overturning conditions, for which the static model appears to be more conservative than the dynamic one.
Spatially resolved X-ray study of supernova remnants that host magnetars: Implication of their fossil field origin

Magnetars are regarded as the most magnetized neutron stars in the Universe. Aiming to unveil what kinds of stars and supernovae can create magnetars, we have performed a state-of-the-art spatially resolved spectroscopic X-ray study of the supernova remnants (SNRs) Kes 73, RCW 103, and N49, which host magnetars 1E 1841−045, 1E 161348−5055, and SGR 0526−66, respectively. The three SNRs are O- and Ne-enhanced and are evolving in the interstellar medium with densities of > 1 − 2 cm−3. The metal composition and dense environment indicate that the progenitor stars are not very massive. The progenitor masses of the three magnetars are constrained to be < 20 M⊙(11–15 M⊙for Kes 73, ≲13 M⊙for RCW 103, and ∼13 − 17 M⊙for N49). Our study suggests that magnetars are not necessarily made from very massive stars, but originate from stars that span a large mass range. The explosion energies of the three SNRs range from 1050erg to ∼2 × 1051erg, further refuting that the SNRs are energized by rapidly rotating (millisecond) pulsars. We report that RCW 103 is produced by a weak supernova explosion with significant fallback, as such an explosion explains the low explosion energy (∼1050erg), small observed metal masses (MO ∼ 4 × 10−2 M⊙andMNe ∼ 6 × 10−3 M⊙), and sub-solar abundances of heavier elements such as Si and S. Our study supports the fossil field origin as an important channel to produce magnetars, given the normal mass range (MZAMS < 20 M⊙) of the progenitor stars, the low-to-normal explosion energy of the SNRs, and the fact that the fraction of SNRs hosting magnetars is consistent with the magnetic OB stars with high fields.
Optimal allocation of minimal repairs in parallel and series systems

In reliability engineering, the concept of minimal repair describes that the repair brings the failed unit (eg, system or component) to the situation which is same as it was just before the failure. With the help of the well‐known Gamma‐Poisson relationship, this paper investigates optimal allocation strategies of minimal repairs for parallel and series systems through implementing stochastic comparisons of various allocation policies in terms of the hazard rate, the reversed hazard rate, and the likelihood ratio orderings. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate these findings as well. These results not only strengthen and generalize some known ones in the seminal work of Shaked and Shanthikumar, but also solve the open problems proposed by Chahkandi et al.'s study and Arriaza et al.'s study.
Global and Local Properties of Pencils of Algebraic Curves

Let S be a non-singular projective surface over C, and let f : S --> B be a relatively minimal fibration of curves of genus g over a non-singular projective curve B of genus b. In this article, we discuss some recent developments in the area where its global and local properties interact each other, with comments on several interesting open questions. From the global point of view, our motivation comes from the study of minimal surfaces of general type. In the birational sense, any algebraic surface has a fibration over a curve, because it has an algebraic function. For surfaces of small Kodaira dimension, we can choose among various pencils a "preassigned" pencil such as Mori fibrations or Iitaka fibrations. On the other hand, there seems to be no canonical way in finding a pencil which reflects well the structure of a surface of general type. However, we often see that a pencil structure appears naturally for them as well. In the series of papers [42], Horikawa showed that most surfaces which are geographically close to the N oether line, K~ = 2x( 0 s) 6, have a pencil of curves of genus 2 which is induced on S from a ruling of its canonical image via the canonical map. Similar phenomena can be observed for canonical surfaces close to the Castelnuovo line K~ = 3x(Os) 10 ([22], [10]). In this case, the quadric hull of the canonical image is a threefold of small degree and its ruling usually induces on S a pencil of non-hyperelliptic curves of genus 3 (see [52], [44]). One can find a lot of such observations in literatures (e.g., Xiao's works) indicating the importance of a systematic study of fibered surfaces in the study of surfaces of general type.
Decreased Cross-Domain Mutual Information in Schizophrenia From Dynamic Connectivity States

The study of dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) has been important to understand the healthy and diseased brain. Recent developments model groups of functionally related brain structures (defined as functional domains) as entities that can send and receive information. A domain analysis starts by detecting a finite set of connectivity patterns known as domain states within each functional domain. Dynamic functional domain connectivity (DFDC) is a novel information theoretic framework for studying the temporal sequence of the domain states and the amount of information shared among domains. In this setting, the information flow among functional domains can be compared to the flow of bits among entities in a digital network. Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder which is associated with how the brain processes information. Here, we employed the DFDC framework to analyze a dataset containing resting-state fMRI scans from 163 healthy controls (HCs) and 151 schizophrenia patients (SZs). As in other information theory methods, this study measured domain state probabilities, entropy within each DFDC and the cross-domain mutual information (CDMI) between pairs of DFDC. Results indicate that SZs show significantly higher (transformed) entropy than HCs in subcortical (SC)-SC; default mode network (DMN)-visual (VIS) and frontoparietal (FRN)-VIS DFDCs. SZs also show lower (transformed) CDMI between SC-VIS vs. SC-sensorimotor (SM), attention (ATTN)-VIS vs. ATTN-SM and ATTN-SM vs. ATTN-ATTN DFDC pairs after correcting for multiple comparisons. These results imply that different DFDC pairs function in a more independent manner in SZs compared to HCs. Our findings present evidence of higher uncertainty and randomness in SZ brain function.
Measuring Attentional Demand in a Virtual Environments Driving Simulator

The measurement of drivers' attentional demand is of importance to highway designers as well as to human factors engineers concerned with in-vehicle navigational displays and their user interface. When attentional demand is great, older drivers in particular are subjected to information overload which may adversely affect their driving performance. In 1967, Senders, et. al. measured drivers' attentional demand using a visual occlusion device. They found that attentional demand increased with vehicle velocity, but their study was limited to off-road driving due to safety considerations. The present study focused on the establishment of baseline quantitative measures of attentional demand as a function of vehicle velocity, road curvature, and amount of oncoming traffic. Eight experienced drivers drove a virtual environments driving simulator while controlling the visibility of the forward scene via a foot switch. They were instructed to stay in their lane and obey all traffic regulations, while trying to keep the forward scene visible as little as possible. Attentional demand was calculated as the percent of time drivers viewed the forward scene during a run. While driving at 100 kph the average attentional demand (86%) was significantly higher (p < .01) then when driving at 33 kph (77%). The finding that an increase in vehicle velocity of 67 kph resulted in only a 9% increase in attentional demand was somewhat surprising. As expected, the attentional demand of drivers on curves (85%) was significantly higher (p < .05) then when driving on a straight road (81%). The effect of traffic versus no traffic on curves was also statistically significant. The attentional demand on curves with moderate on-coming traffic was 88% versus 80% when there was no traffic. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using a virtual environments simulator to measure drivers' attentional demand. Future research will study attentional demand using novice and older drivers.
ANALISIS KEPUASAN KONSUMEN MELALUI KUALITAS PELAYANAN UJI KIR PADA DINAS PERHUBUNGAN KABUPATEN BLITAR

Kualitas pelayanan merupakan hal yang utama bagi kepuasan konsumen sehingga kinerja karyawan dalam memberikan kualitas pelayanan uji kir perlu di perhatikan. Dinas Perhubungan Kabupaten Blitar terus mengembangkan dan meningkatkan kualitas pelayanan uji kir untuk kepuasan konsumen, dalam hal ini pelayanan yang diberikan agar semakin berkualitas. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh kualitas pelayanan yang terdiri dari lima indikator yaitu bukti langsung, keandalan, daya tanggap, empati dan jaminan terhadap kepuasan konsumen yang melakukan uji kir di Dinas Perhubungan Kabupaten Blitar. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif, digunakan untuk meneliti pada populasi atau sampel tertentu. Variabel independen pada penelitian ini adalah kualitas pelayanan yang meliputi bukti langsung, keandalan, daya tanggap, empati dan jaminan, sedangkan variabel dependen yaitu kepuasan. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah konsumen. Sampel dalam penelitian ini yang melakukan uji kir sebanyak 123 konsumen. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kualitas pelayanan terbukti berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap kepuasan konsumen. Berdasarkan kelima indikator faktor terkuat dalam menjelaskan kualitas pelayanan berturut-turut adalah bukti langsung, empati, daya tanggap, keandalan dan jaminan. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa kualitas pelayanan yang diberikan berpengaruh terhadap kepuasan konsumen di Dinas Perhubungan Kabupaten Blitar. Dari variabel kualitas pelayanan yang meliputi lima indikator yaitu bukti langsung, keandalan, daya tanggap, empati dan jaminan yang mendapatkan nilai rata-rata terendah adalah jaminan. Hal tersebut menunjukkan bahwa variabel jaminan(waktu) perlu diadakan peningkatan. Sedangkan bila dilihat dari pengujian menggunakan uji validitas, uji reliabilitas maupun uji regresi. Bahwa masing-masing variabel saling berkaitan serta memberikan pengaruh yang signifikan. Dinas Perhubungan Kabupaten Blitar sebaiknya meningkatkan kualitas pelayanan agar kepuasan konsumen semakin meningkat dan juga fasilitas/tempat parkir yang disediakan juga memadai. Kepala bagian uji kir sebaiknya mengevaluasi kinerja karyawan bagian uji kir sehingga semua karyawan mempunyai keterampilan yang memadai sesuai dengan pelayanan yang diberikan sehingga tidak menghambat proses uji kir dan juga kurangnya jumlah tenaga penguji dan staf administrasi bisa dicari solusinya demi kepuasan konsumen. Kata kunci : Kualitas Pelayanan, Kepuasan
Responsibility-Evading Performance: The Experiences of Healthcare Staff about Triage in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study

Background: Correct triage is one of the most important issues in delivering proper healthcare in the emergency department. Despite the availability of various triage guidelines, triage is not still appropriately implemented. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the role of different underlying factors in triaging emergency patients through a qualitative approach. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by conventional content analysis. For this purpose, 30 interviews were conducted with 25 participants. The participants included triage nurses, emergency general physicians, emergency medicine specialists, and expert managers at different position rankings in hospitals and educational and administrative centers in Yazd, selected by purposeful sampling. Data were collected through in-depth and unstructured interviews from April 2017 to January 2018, and then analyzed by inductive content analysis. Results: Four categories of profit triage, exhibitive triage, enigmatic, and tentative performance triage were drawn from the data, collectively comprising the main theme of responsibility-evading performance. Conclusions: The dominant approach to the triage in the emergency departments in a central city of Iran is responsibility evasion; however, the triage is performed tentatively, especially in critical cases. To achieve a better implementation of triage, consideration of the underlying factors and prevention of their involvement in triage decision-making is necessary.
Adherence to Medication and Physical Activity among People Living with HIV/AIDS

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the adherence to medication and Physical Activity (PA) among People Living with HIV (PLHIV). Materials and Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, 122 PLHIV were selected. The research tools included the Baecke questionnaire and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group questionnaire. Data were analyzed by independent t test and multiple logistic regression. Results: The results of 7- and 30-day recalls showed that 76.21 and 82.23% of patients had proper medication adherence. The mean score of PA in patients was less than the recommended average score in the questionnaire. Furthermore, there was no significant difference observed between the medication adherence and PA. Conclusions: Although the adherence to medication was appropriate, nurses and health care providers should increase the level of PA for PLHIV by dealing with the related barriers to live an active life.
Multi-Scale Local Context Embedding for LiDAR Point Cloud Classification

The semantic interpretation using point clouds, especially regarding light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point cloud classification, has attracted a growing interest in the fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, and computer vision. In this letter, we aim at tackling a general and typical feature learning problem in 3-D point cloud classification— how to represent geometric features by structurally considering a point and its surroundings in a more effective and discriminative fashion? Recently, enormous efforts have been made to design the geometric features, yet it is less investigated to fully explore the potentials of the features. For that, there have been many filter-based studies proposed by selecting a subset of the whole feature space for better representing the local geometry structure. However, such a hard-threshold selection strategy inevitably suffers from information loss. In addition, the construction of the geometric features is relatively sensitive to the size of the neighborhood. To this end, we propose to extract multi-scaled feature representations and locally embed them into a low-dimensional and robust subspace where a more compact representation with the intrinsic structure preservation of the data is expected to be obtained, thereby further yielding a better classification performance. In our case, we apply a popular manifold learning approach, that is, locality-preserving projections, for the task of learning low-dimensional embedding. Experimental results conducted on one LiDAR point cloud data set provided by the 2018 IEEE Data Fusion Contest demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with several commonly used state-of-the-art baselines.
A Novel Use of Optical Coherence Tomography for the Assessment of Ocular Torsion

Abnormal ocular torsion is most frequently the result paresis of the fourth cranial nerve. The presence of torsion can be a barrier to fusion; in which case, surgical intervention is required for a patient to have single vision. Clinically, ocular torsion can be measured either subjectively or objectively, the latter traditionally using the relationship between the fovea and the optic disc. However, previous literature has shown inconsistencies between torsion a patient’s perceived subjective torsion, and the amount of anatomical fundus torsion. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship of subjective and objective ocular torsion in patients with cranial nerve four palsies, and more specifically, a potentially novel objective method using the retinal raphe. The subjective tests used in this study were modified Bagolini Lenses, Double Maddox Rods, the Synoptophore, and the Harms Tangent Screen. The three objective tests used were fundus photographs, optical coherence tomography using Bruch’s membrane opening, and the temporal raphe. The first two methods used the traditional relationship between the fovea and optic disc. The current study also assessed the relationship of these measuring methods to the Subjective Horizontal. The results of this study found that the torsional angle measured by subjective tests was not significantly-different than the objective angles of the fovea-optic nerve relationship or the temporal raphe when accounting for the physiological position of the retina. The current study also found that the Subjective Horizontal of participants with cranial nerve four palsies was significantly different than the subjective and objective tests, except for the temporal raphe. Therefore, it was concluded that the previously-reported significant differences between subjective torsion and the fovea-optic nerve angles may not take the physiological retinal position into account. It was also concluded that participants with long-standing cranial nerve four palsies were on a spectrum of adaption and that the Subjective Horizontal adjusts to the orientation of the temporal raphe.