Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Framework for Assessing Global Change Risks to Forest Carbon Stocks in the United States

Among terrestrial environments, forests are not only the largest long-term sink of atmospheric carbon (C), but are also susceptible to global change themselves, with potential consequences including alterations of C cycles and potential C emission. To inform global change risk assessment of forest C across large spatial/temporal scales, this study constructed and evaluated a basic risk framework which combined the magnitude of C stocks and their associated probability of stock change in the context of global change across the US. For the purposes of this analysis, forest C was divided into five pools, two live (aboveground and belowground biomass) and three dead (dead wood, soil organic matter, and forest floor) with a risk framework parameterized using the US's national greenhouse gas inventory and associated forest inventory data across current and projected future Köppen-Geiger climate zones (A1F1 scenario). Results suggest that an initial forest C risk matrix may be constructed to focus attention on short- and long-term risks to forest C stocks (as opposed to implementation in decision making) using inventory-based estimates of total stocks and associated estimates of variability (i.e., coefficient of variation) among climate zones. The empirical parameterization of such a risk matrix highlighted numerous knowledge gaps: 1) robust measures of the likelihood of forest C stock change under climate change scenarios, 2) projections of forest C stocks given unforeseen socioeconomic conditions (i.e., land-use change), and 3) appropriate social responses to global change events for which there is no contemporary climate/disturbance analog (e.g., severe droughts in the Lake States). Coupling these current technical/social limits of developing a risk matrix to the biological processes of forest ecosystems (i.e., disturbance events and interaction among diverse forest C pools, potential positive feedbacks, and forest resiliency/recovery) suggests an operational forest C risk matrix remains elusive.
Design parameter optimization of Ultra-Wideband antenna using quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization

The Ultra-Wideband (UWB) antenna, as core device in high-speed wireless communication, is widely applied to cell phones, wireless internet, internet of things, and almost all kinds of hand-held and wearable mobile communication equipments. Faced with a plethora of constraints, such as compact size, low power consumption, high bandwidth, and cost-effective manufacture, etc., the design of UWB antenna is essentially a complicated problem of multiobjective optimization. As a variant of the family of particle swarm optimization (PSO), the quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) adopts the potential well of quantum mechanics to mimic the movement of particles and the length of potential well as the measurement of the particle swarm diversity, and the diversity-controlling strategy is adopted to help particle swarm jump out of the local space where the fitness stagnates so as to improve global optimization. The aforementioned properties make QPSO a potential method in the design parameter optimization of UWB antenna. Nevertheless, up to now, there are very few such reports and QPSO haven't gotten enough attention in antenna design. In this report, design parameters of a CPW-fed elliptic UWB antenna are optimized using QPSO combined with the electromagnetic field solver and different diversity-controlling strategies are devised and employed to improve global optimization. The simulation results demonstrate the ratio bandwidth is broadened by 54% while the overall size remains the same. Besides, the PSO with dynamic inertial coefficient is also applied to the same antenna design. Comparison shows the QPSO with diversity-controlling strategy achieves better design results for this UWB antenna meanwhile converges much faster.
It's all relative: Competition and status drive interpersonal perception

Structural features of interpersonal relationships, particularly competition and status, can cause people, respectively, to (dis)like and (dis)respect each other, although they think they are reacting to the target's personality. Two studies manipulate structural relationships between students in a 2 × 2 between-participants design. Competition and status, respectively, differentiate perceptions of the target's warmth and competence. In Study 1's pre–post design, the pre- and post-interaction warmth, but status affected only pre-interaction competence. Study 2 post-interaction-only design did replicate both of Study 1's pre-interaction results. Competing targets were judged less warm than cooperating targets; high-status targets were judged more competent than low-status targets. These experiments demonstrate the structural predictors of the intergroup stereotype content model at the interpersonal level. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Contribution of Noninstructional Activities to College Classroom Teacher Effectiveness.

The contribution of noninstructional activities to classroom teacher effectiveness was investigated by administering a questionnaire to 52 university faculty members. The criterion for classroom effectiveness was a student evaluation of each teacher. A simple correlation analysis and the multiple regression technique were used to evaluate the results of this study. A significant result of the study was the failure of noninstructional activities to have predictive value when student-perceived teacher effectiveness is used as the criterion. A second significant result was the negative effect that time spent in consulting had upon classroom teacher effectiveness. Implications for further research are discussed, including the suggestion that a reevaluation of the responsibility of the university to the community, and of education to society, may be necessary.
Computer Use and the Relation Between Age and Cognitive Functioning

This article investigates whether computer use for leisure could mediate or moderate the relations between age and cognitive functioning. Findings supported smaller age differences in measures of cognitive functioning for people who reported spending more hours using a computer. Because of the cross-sectional design of the study, two alternative interpretations of the results are discussed. Regardless of how the findings are interpreted, the major finding supports that using a computer for leisure does not have the same meaning at different ages.
Merging Duplicate Bug Reports by Sentence Clustering

Duplicate bug reports are often unfavorable because they tend to take many man hours for being identified as duplicates, marked so and eventually discarded. In this time, no progress occurs on the program in question, and is justifiably an overhead which should be minimized. Considerable research has been carried out to alleviate this problem. Many methods have been proposed for bug report categorization and duplicate bug report detection. However, it is often the case that a duplicate bug report can provide some additional information about a problem which could help in faster resolution of the bug. We propose that duplicate bug reports be merged when possible instead of being discarded, so that maximum information is captured. We propose a clustering-based algorithm to group together similar sentences and create a union of bug reports considered duplicates of each other.
A Statistical Perspective on the ICH Q 2 A and Q 2 B Guidelines for Validation of Analytical Methods

Vagueness in the ICH Q2A and Q2B guidelines necessitates effective protocol design and data analysis. For specificity (detection in the presence of interfering substances), the goal is statistical differences with meaningful implications on assay performance. Linearity (results directly proportional to concentration of analyte in the sample) is typically demonstrated via least squares regression. Accuracy (difference between measured and true values) usually is presented as a percent of nominal. Precision analysis is vital because it supports claims of accuracy and linearity. A well-designed experiment and statistically relevant methods will facilitate method validation in accordance with ICH guidelines. Several articles have been published on the requirements of method validation for analytical methods.1,2 Most of these articles do not, however, concentrate on the protocol design and analysis of data from these studies. The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines on Validation of Analytical Procedures (Q2A and Q2B) delineate the guidance and methodology for validation characteristics of an analytical procedure, but as in many guidelines, the terminology is vague enough to allow for several acceptable approaches and analyses. Appropriate statistical methods should be used; in addition, all relevant data collected during validation and all formulae used for calculating validation characteristics should be submitted and discussed as appropriate. The following excerpt from the ICH Q2B guideline is an example of the vagueness that can trouble many scientists: Approaches other than those set forth in this guideline may be applicable and acceptable. It is the responsibility of the applicant to choose the validation procedure and protocol most suitable for their product. However, it is important to remember that the main objective of validating an analytical procedure is to demonstrate that the procedure is suitable for its intended purpose. Due to their complex nature, analytical procedures for biological and biotechnological products in some cases may be approached differently than in this document.3 The ICH guidelines suggest combining individual validation characteristics to minimize total testing. A statistical approach to validation of analytical methods can minimize the amount of testing while meeting the requirements of the guidelines. This assertion is based on the following comment from the ICH Q2B document: In practice, it is usually possible to design the experimental work such that the appropriate validation characteristics can be considered simultaneously to provide a sound, overall knowledge of the capabilities of the analytical procedure, for instance: specificity, linearity, range, accuracy and precision.3 TYPES OF ANALYTICAL METHODS Dec 1, 2006
A reversal in the long‐term increase in deaths attributable to malignant melanoma

For a few years in the 1980s, United States mortality rates suggested a plateau in the long‐term increase for malignant melanoma. However, temporary plateaus in the increase of the age‐adjusted rate by year of death have occurred in previous decades, only to be followed by a continued upward increase, with a long‐term rise of about 2% per year. To determine whether a cessation in the long‐term increase might be in progress, death rates were analyzed by year of birth, age at death, and year of death: (1) the long‐term patterns of change are best described by birth cohort rather than by time period of death, indicating that analyses by a year of birth are key to a better understanding of the long‐term trends; (2) in both men and women, evidence for a change in slope begins among those born in the early 1930s; (3) the decline in the rates begins among women born since the early 1930s and among men born since the early 1950s: the slope for men is ‐0.2661 (95% confidence limits [CL] = −0.380 to −0.152), and, for women, the slope is ‐0.02354 (95% CL = ‐0.041 to ‐0.005); (4) long‐term Connecticut and US mortality trends were similar in pattern and direction, and long‐term Connecticut incidence rates showed a persistent increase through the 1955 to 1965 birth cohorts. These analyses suggest a persistent cessation in the long‐term increase and a downward trend in death rates from this cancer.
Influence of patient-assessed quality of chronic illness care and patient activation on health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVE To examine the association of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the modulating effect of patient activation on this association. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS A population-based prospective cohort study of people with Type 2 diabetes in Queensland, Australia, using data from self-report questionnaires, collected annually from 2008 (n = 3761) to 2010 (n = 3040). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Predictors were the 20-item PACIC (dichotomized at the score of 3), and the 13-item Patient Activation Measure (PAM), dichotomized into activation Levels 1 and 2 versus Levels 3 and 4. Analyses were restricted to participants whose PACIC and PAM categories did not change over 2 years of follow-up. Outcome variables were EQ-5D index and EQ VAS dichotomized at the uppermost quartile, and EQ-5D index also dichotomized at the median. STATISTICAL ANALYSES An inverse probability weighted Poisson regression with a log-link function and a binary response variable for each outcome was used to obtain risk ratios (RRs), and the interaction between PACIC and PAM was statistically modelled, taking into consideration patient characteristics and the respective baseline outcome variable. RESULTS The positive association between the PACIC and EQ VAS was seen only in participants with low activation (adjusted RR: 3.91; 95% CI: 1.40-10.95; P = 0.009), and not in those with high activation, indicating the non-synergistic interaction effect of the PACIC and PAM. This association was not found with EQ-5D index. CONCLUSIONS Chronic care received consistently over time can positively affect health status, and benefit patients with low activation.
Impact of Process Variations on Negative Capacitance FinFET Devices and Circuits

We report on the impact of process variations on short-channel negative capacitance (NC)-based FinFETs through statistical Monte Carlo simulations using a physics-based model of NC-FinFETs. We find that relative to regular FinFETs, the impact of geometrical variability can be lesser or higher in NC-FinFETs in different regimes of device operation and is strongly dependent on the nominal ferroelectric (FE) thickness (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${t}_{\text{fe}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). The contribution of the FE layer to the overall variability behaves non-monotonically with increase in the nominal <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${t}_{\text {fe}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. While the OFF-current and threshold voltage variabilities scale down, the ON-current variability does not follow a monotonic trend with increase in the nominal <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${t}_{\text{fe}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. We also show that although relative to the regular FinFET-based ring oscillator (RO) circuit, the NC-FinFET-based RO (NC-RO) circuit displays increased immunity to process variation induced delay variability, the trend is non-monotonic with regard to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${t}_{\text{fe}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> scaling.
Xception: A Technique for the Experimental Evaluation of Dependability in Modern Computers

An important step in the development of dependable systems is the validation of their fault tolerance properties. Fault injection has been widely used for this purpose, however with the rapid increase in processor complexity, traditional techniques are also increasingly more difficult to apply. This paper presents a new software-implemented fault injection and monitoring environment, called Xception, which is targeted at modern and complex processors. Xception uses the advanced debugging and performance monitoring features existing in most modern processors to inject quite realistic faults by software, and to monitor the activation of the faults and their impact on the target system behavior in detail. Faults are injected with minimum interference with the target application. The target application is not modified, no software traps are inserted, and it is not necessary to execute the target application in special trace mode (the application is executed at full speed). Xception provides a comprehensive set of fault triggers, including spatial and temporal fault triggers, and triggers related to the manipulation of data in memory. Faults injected by Xception can affect any process running on the target system (including the kernel), and it is possible to inject faults in applications for which the source code is not available. Experimental, results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and potential of Xception in the evaluation of the dependability properties of the complex computer systems available nowadays.
Molecular chaperone function of Mia40 triggers consecutive induced folding steps of the substrate in mitochondrial protein import

Several proteins of the mitochondrial intermembrane space are targeted by internal targeting signals. A class of such proteins with α-helical hairpin structure bridged by two intramolecular disulfides is trapped by a Mia40-dependent oxidative process. Here, we describe the oxidative folding mechanism underpinning this process by an exhaustive structural characterization of the protein in all stages and as a complex with Mia40. Two consecutive induced folding steps are at the basis of the protein-trapping process. In the first one, Mia40 functions as a molecular chaperone assisting α-helical folding of the internal targeting signal of the substrate. Subsequently, in a Mia40-independent manner, folding of the second substrate helix is induced by the folded targeting signal functioning as a folding scaffold. The Mia40-induced folding pathway provides a proof of principle for the general concept that internal targeting signals may operate as a folding nucleus upon compartment-specific activation.
The OECD and the expansion of PISA: new global modes of governance in education

This paper examines the expansion of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and associated growth in the influence of the OECD's education work. PISA has become one of the OECD's most successful ‘products’ and has both strengthened the role of the Directorate for Education within the organization and enhanced the significance of the organization in education globally. We provide an overview of the OECD, including organizational changes in response to globalization and the changing place of the Directorate for Education within the organization, particularly with the development of PISA in the late 1990s. We show how the OECD is expanding PISA by broadening the scope of what is measured; increasing the scale of the assessment to cover more countries, systems and schools; and enhancing its explanatory power to provide policy-makers with better information. The OECD has also developed the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and PISA-based Tests for Schools, which draw on the PISA template to extend the influence of its education work to new sites. The paper draws on data from 33 interviews with past and present personnel from the OECD, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the English and Australian education systems, as well as analysis of relevant OECD documents. We argue that PISA, and the OECD's education work more broadly, has facilitated new epistemological and infrastructural modes of global governance for the OECD in education.
Different effects of metformin and insulin on primary and secondary chemoprevention of colorectal adenoma in diabetes type 2: Traditional and Bayesian meta-analysis

Metformin and insulin differently affect the risk of colon cancer in type 2 diabetic patients, however their effects on colon adenoma is not clear. PubMed, ISI, Scopus and Cochrane databases were searched for studies reporting. The outcomes were total adenoma; advanced adenoma and recurrent adenoma. Traditional and Bayesian meta-analysis were conducted via random-effects models. Odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) / or credible intervals (CrI) were used to describe the ratio of different events. A random-effects model described by DerSimonian and Laird was performed, when significant between-study heterogeneity existed. Alternatively, an inverse variance fixed effects model was used, when there was no significant heterogeneity across studies. The potential publication bias was assessed with funnel plot, Egger and Begg's regression asymmetry tests. Moreover, “trim and fill” procedure was used to assess the possible effect of publication bias. For metformin intake, 11 studies (51991 patients) were included. The results showed that metformin significantly decreased the risk of advance adenoma (OR= 0.51, p< 0.001). The risk of total adenoma was not associated with metformin use (OR= 0.86, p=0.274), and metformin did not affect the risk of adenoma recurrence (OR= 0.89, p=0.137). Five studies (2678 patients) were included in the analysis to determine the effect of insulin therapy. Insulin significantly increased the risk of colorectal adenoma (OR= 1.43, p=0.002). These findings indicate that metformin has no protective effect on total and recurrent adenoma, whilst it significantly reduces the risk of advanced adenoma, but insulin increases the risk of total adenoma.
Real-Time PCR Assays for Detection of Bocavirus in Human Specimens

ABSTRACT The recently discovered human bocavirus (HBoV) is the first member of the family Parvoviridae, genus Bocavirus, to be potentially associated with human disease. Several studies have identified HBoV in respiratory specimens from children with acute respiratory disease, but the full spectrum of clinical disease and the epidemiology of HBoV infection remain unclear. The availability of rapid and reliable molecular diagnostics would therefore aid future studies of this novel virus. To address this, we developed two sensitive and specific real-time TaqMan PCR assays that target the HBoV NS1 and NP-1 genes. Both assays could reproducibly detect 10 copies of a recombinant DNA plasmid containing a partial region of the HBoV genome, with a dynamic range of 8 log units (101 to 108 copies). Eight blinded clinical specimen extracts positive for HBoV by an independent PCR assay were positive by both real-time assays. Among 1,178 NP swabs collected from hospitalized pneumonia patients in Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand, 53 (4.5%) were reproducibly positive for HBoV by one or both targets. Our data confirm the possible association of HBoV infection with pneumonia and demonstrate the utility of these real-time PCR assays for HBoV detection.
At Sea With Synthetic Validity

We expected that the commentary process would provide valuable feedback to improve our ideas and identify potential obstacles, and we were not disappointed. The commentaries were generally in agreement that synthetic validity is a good idea, although we also received a fair amount of suggestions for improvements, conditional or tempered praise, and explicitly critical comments. We address the concerns that were raised and conclude that we should move forward with developing a large-scale synthetic validity database, incorporating the suggestions of some of the commentators.