Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with cancer incidence and mortality.

BACKGROUND The cancer chemopreventive benefits of aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are incompletely defined and may vary by smoking history. We evaluated associations between aspirin and nonaspirin NSAID use with cancer incidence and mortality stratified by smoking history in the Iowa Women's Health Study, a prospective cohort of postmenopausal women. METHODS Aspirin and nonaspirin NSAID use was self-reported by questionnaire in 1992. Cancer incidence and mortality were ascertained by annual linkage to the Iowa Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Cancer Registry and death certificates. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate multivariable relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS During an average of 10 years of follow-up, 3487 incident cancer cases and 3581 deaths were observed in the cohort of 22,507 women. Compared with nonuse, aspirin use was inversely associated with total cancer incidence (multivariable-adjusted RR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.77 to 0.90), with age-adjusted incidence rates of 147 and 170 per 10,000 person-years for ever and never users, respectively, and was inversely associated with cancer mortality (multivariable-adjusted RR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.76 to 0.99), with age-adjusted rates of 47 and 52 per 10,000 person-years. The inverse relationship was stronger among former and never smokers than current smokers, although not statistically significantly (P = .28). Aspirin use was also inversely associated with coronary heart disease mortality (multivariable-adjusted RR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.64 to 0.89), with age-adjusted rates of 23 and 30 per 10,000 person-years for ever and never users, respectively, and with all-cause mortality (multivariable-adjusted RR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.76 to 0.89), with age-adjusted rates of 126 and 155 per 10,000 person-years. Nonaspirin NSAID use was not associated with cancer incidence or mortality, coronary heart disease mortality, or all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS Aspirin use, but not nonaspirin NSAID use, was associated with lower risks of cancer incidence and mortality, which was more pronounced among former and never smokers than current smokers.
On the Dependence of Hindcast Skill on Ocean Thermodynamics in a Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model

Abstract Three different mechanisms for the generation of ENSO SST anomalies within a simplified tropical Pacific Ocean model are examined: thermocline depth changes, Ekman-induced upwelling anomalies, and zonal advection changes. The effect of varying the relative influence of these terms on the realism of tropical Pacific coupled models is analyzed. The principal tool used to assess such realism is hindcast skill, with forced ocean and oscillatory behavior also being examined. Of the mechanisms considered, thermocline perturbations are shown to be crucially important for high coupled-model hindcast skill. Furthermore, it is concluded that the realism of the model (as measured by hindcast skill) deteriorates markedly when the influence on SST of Ekman upwelling becomes greater than a small fraction of the thermocline influence. This provides strong evidence for the hypothesis that Ekman upwelling anomalies (which are essentially a local response to wind stress anomalies) have only a small influence on th.
Gesture-based programming: a preliminary demonstration

Explores gesture-based programming as a paradigm for programming robotic agents. Gesture-based programming is a form of programming by human demonstration that focuses the development of robotic systems on task experts rather than programming experts. The technique relies on the existence of previously acquired robotic skills (which we call "sensorimotor primitives") which we hope to develop to into the robotic equivalent of skills acquired by humans through everyday experiences. The interpretation of the human's demonstration and subsequent matching to robotic primitives is a qualitative problem that we approach with a community of skilled agents. A simple manipulative task and a variant of that task are programmed to demonstrate the system.
Age-Specific Incidence, Outcome, Cost, and Projected Future Burden of Atrial Fibrillation–Related Embolic Vascular Events: A Population-Based Study

Background— Prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is >10% at age ≥80 years, but the impact of population aging on rates of AF-related ischemic events is uncertain. Methods and Results— We studied age-specific incidence, outcome, and cost of all AF-related incident strokes and systemic emboli from 2002 to 2012 in the Oxford Vascular Study (OXVASC). We determined time trends in incidence of AF-related stroke in comparison with a sister study in 1981 to 1986, extrapolated numbers to the UK population and projected future numbers. Of 3096 acute cerebral or peripheral vascular events in the 92 728 study population, 383 incident ischemic strokes and 71 systemic emboli were related to AF, of which 272 (59.9%) occurred at ≥80 years. Of 597 fatal or disabling incident ischemic strokes, 262 (43.9%) were AF-related. Numbers of AF-related ischemic strokes at age ≥80 years increased nearly 3-fold from 1981–1986 to 2002–2012 (extrapolated to the United Kingdom: 6621 to 18 176 per year), due partly to increased age-specific incidence (relative rate 1.52, 95% confidence interval 1.31-1.77, P=0.001), with potentially preventable AF-related events at age ≥80 years costing the United Kingdom £374 million per year. At current incidence rates, numbers of AF-related embolic events at age ≥80 years will treble again by 2050 (72 974/year), with 83.5% of all events occurring in this age group. Conclusions— Numbers of AF-related incident ischemic strokes at age ≥80 years have trebled over the last 25 years, despite the introduction of anticoagulants, and are projected to treble again by 2050, along with the numbers of systemic emboli. Improved prevention in older people with AF should be a major public health priority.
A persistent subsurface chlorophyll maximum in the Interpolar Frontal Zone south of Australia: Seasonal progression and implications for phytoplankton-light-nutrient interactions

A subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM), composed principally of large diatoms, has been consistently observed in summer and autumn between 53° and 58°S along 140°E on Australian World Ocean Circulation Experiment and Joint Global Ocean Flux Study cruises from 1994 to 1998. This region lies in a zone of weak northward flow, between two branches of the Polar Front (hence the Interpolar Frontal Zone (IPFZ)). In the IPFZ, mixed layer nitrate concentrations are high (>24 μM) year-round, while mixed layer silicic acid is intermediate (about 15 μM) in winter but is depleted to 2 μM or less in late summer. Dissolved Fe concentrations, only available for summer, are low (<0.2 nM). Mixed layer chlorophyll concentrations are generally <0.3 μg L−1 and surface waters thus fit the high-nitrate low-chlorophyll (HNLC) definition. In spring and early summer, the SCM is relatively shallow (about 60 m), intense (up to 1.5 μg chl a, L−1), and contributes 30–50% of column production. By March the SCM is deep (100 m or greater), less intense (about 0.5 μg chl a L−1), and contributes at most 20% of column production. The existence of a SCM in a HNLC region is surprising, and we consider a number of possible explanations. The SCM may be partly explained by changes in C:chl a ratios, but phytoplankton species composition in the SCM also differs from that in the mixed layer. Sinking of diatoms, mediated by Fe and/or silicic acid availability, appears to play an important role in the formation and maintenance of the SCM.
Son los microorganismos edáficos buenos indicadores de impacto productivo en los ecosistemas

(Palabras clave: bioindicadores, sistemas productivos, degradaciUn del suelo, sustentabilidad) ABSTRACT. Are soil microorganisms good indicators of land-use impact in ecosystems? : Soil microbial parameters as land-use indicators were evaluated in the semi-arid central region of Argentina. Contrasting land-use situations were compared in Chaco woodlands and Espinal agro-ecosystems: high impact (positive and negative), medium impact, low impact, and restoration. The sensibility of chemical (organic matter, pH, and nitrate) and biological (soil respiration and abundance of microbial functional groups) parameters was evaluated by estimating the percent variation between disturbed and undisturbed soils in each land-use situation. Moreover, microbial community structure (relation among functional groups) and carbon mineralization rate (respiration/organic matter) were calculated. Biological parameters were more sensitive than the chemical ones. Nitrifiers (variation range: n55% to +23%), cellulolitics (-50% to +49%), and soil respiration (n60% to +21%) were the most sensitive parameters. The changes on microbial community and carbon mineralization rate were good indicators, particularly in medium impact and restoration situations. Some biological parameters may have an important role as indicators for sustainable land-use ecosystems due to their high sensibility and easiness to measure.
Modelling evaporation using an artificial neural network algorithm

This paper investigates the prediction of Class A pan evaporation using the artificial neural network (ANN) technique. The ANN back propagation algorithm has been evaluated for its applicability for predicting evaporation from minimum climatic data. Four combinations of input data were considered and the resulting values of evaporation were analysed and compared with those of existing models. The results from this study suggest that the neural computing technique could be employed successfully in modelling the evaporation process from the available climatic data set. However, an analysis of the residuals from the ANN models developed revealed that the models showed significant error in predictions during the validation, implying loss of generalization properties of ANN models unless trained carefully. The study indicated that evaporation values could be reasonably estimated using temperature data only through the ANN technique. This would be of much use in instances where data availability is limited. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dynamic match phone-lattice searches for very fast and accurate unrestricted vocabulary keyword spotting

The ability to search for typically out-of-vocabulary terms such as names, acronyms and foreign words is a requirement of many audio indexing applications. To date, such applications have employed unrestricted vocabulary keyword spotting approaches that unfortunately suffer from poor miss rates or slow query speeds. This paper proposes a very fast and accurate keyword spotting approach named dynamic match phone-lattice keyword spotting. Reported experiments on conversational telephone speech and microphone speech demonstrate that the proposed method dramatically outperforms conventional methods and is capable of searching at speeds in excess of 300 times real-time while maintaining low miss rate performance.
Algorithmic and Strategic Aspects to Integrating Demand-Side Aggregation and Energy Management Methods

Demand-side participation schemes are employed to alter customers' use of electrical power. The design of a complete scheme comprises two separate sub-problems, a customer's local power and energy management problem, and the task of aggregating many customers into a usable coordinated demand-side energy resource. These are usually treated separately. This paper identifies the challenges of integrating the two sub-problems and maps the space of alternative formulations and configurations. Accordingly, the subject of this paper is home energy management systems and residential demand-side aggregation (RDSA) methods, with a focus on the assumptions underpinning both and the practical requirements that an integrated aggregation system should satisfy. This paper analyzes the consequences of choosing specific scheduling frameworks, preference models and aggregation mechanisms for RDSA, and identifies the tensions that exist between various proposed model formulations and optimization methods. By elucidating the implicit tradeoffs that come with choosing an RDSA scheme's configuration, this paper provides a guide to the most appropriate applications of the range of energy management and aggregation techniques proposed in the literature as part of an integrated scheme.
An epeiric ramp: low‐energy, cool‐water carbonate facies in a Tertiary inland sea, Murray Basin, South Australia

The Murray Supergroup records temperate‐water carbonate deposition within a shallow, mesotrophic, Oligo‐Miocene inland sea protected from high‐energy waves and swells of the open ocean by a granitic archipelago at its southern margin. Rocks are very well preserved and exposed in nearly continuous outcrop along the River Murray in South Australia. Most facies are rich in carbonate silt, contain a background assemblage of gastropods (especially turritellids) and infaunal bivalves, and are packaged on a decimetre‐scale defined by firmground and hardground omission surfaces. Bioturbation is pervasive and overprinted, resulting in rare preservation of physical sedimentary structures. Facies are grouped into four associations (large foraminiferan–bryozoan, echinoid–bryozoan, mollusc and clay facies) interpreted to represent shallow‐water (<50 m) deposition under progressively higher trophic resource levels (from low mesotrophy to eutrophy), and restricted marine conditions from relatively offshore to nearshore regions. A large‐scale shift from high‐ to low‐mesotrophic conditions within lower Miocene strata reflects a change in climate from wet to seasonally dry conditions and highlights the influence terrestrially derived nutrients had upon this shallow, land‐locked sea. Overall, low trophic resource levels during periods of seasonally dry climate resulted in a deepening of the euphotic zone, a widespread proliferation of foraminiferan photozoan fauna and a relatively high carbonate productivity. Inshore, heterozoan facies became progressively muddier and restricted towards the shoreline. In contrast, periods of wet climate led to rising trophic resource levels, resulting in a shallowing of the euphotic zone, a decrease in epifaunal and seagrass cover and widespread development of a mostly heterozoan biota dominated by infaunal echinoids. Rates of carbonate production and accumulation were relatively low. The Murray Basin is best described as an epeiric ramp. Wide facies belts developed in a shallow sea on a low‐angled slope reaching many hundreds of kilometres in length. Grainy shoal and back‐barrier facies were absent. Internally generated waves impinged the sea floor in offshore regions and, because of friction along a wide and shallow sea floor, created a low‐energy expanse of waters across the proximal ramp. Storms were the dominating depositional process capable of disrupting the entire sea floor.
Italian validation of MOAS and NOSIE: a useful package for psychiatric assessment and monitoring of aggressive behaviours

A validation of two rating scales is presented. We first translated the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) and the Nurses' Observation Scale for In‐patient Evaluation (NOSIE), which cover different aspects of psychopathology, into Italian. We then tested their validity and reliability in terms of inter‐rater and internal consistency. For validity, both cases and controls were included: for the MOAS we compared patients who were aggressive (cases) to those who were presumably non‐aggressive (controls). For the NOSIE, cases were acute inpatients and controls were subjects with expected stable behaviour. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was also administered to cases in order to test convergent validity. Either the NOSIE and/or MOAS scales were administered to 358 psychiatric inpatients. A subset of these patients (131 for the MOAS and 226 for the NOSIE) was also used to test the inter‐rater reliability. Both scales showed good psychometric properties. The correlation coefficients between raters were much higher than 0.75 (for the NOSIE) or 0.90 (for the MOAS), while the discriminant power between cases and controls was confirmed for both scales and good concordance with BPRS was observed. The NOSIE showed good internal consistency for all domains except neatness. In general the MOAS showed better results than the NOSIE for all psychometric properties, although both scales are suitable for monitoring the behaviour and aggression of acute ward inpatients. Copyright © 2005 Whurr Publishers Ltd.
High-frequency seismic radiation from a buried circular fault

Summary. We propose a simplified method for the calculation of near field accelerograms. It is based upon the hypothesis that, in the course of dynamic faulting, the dominating part of the seismic radiation is emitted by the rupture front. As the rupture moves smoothly it radiates continuously, generating the low-frequency part of the field. High-frequency waves are produced by jumps in the rupture velocity and abrupt changes in the stress intensity factor. The wave-front discontinuities created in this fashion are evaluated by asymptotic methods and may be propagated away from the source by ray theoretical methods. We apply our technique to the evaluation of asymptotic near field accelerograms for a circular fault buried in a half-space. The agreement with numerical accelerograms calculated by full-wave theory is very satisfactory. Two problems are given particular emphasis: (1) the phase shifts introduced by focusing and (2) a simpler method, based on dislocation theory, is proposed for the calculation of the radiation coefficients from a discontinuously moving rupture front.
Investigation of landscape patterns of the Mouteh Wildlife Refuge using geographic information systems

Landscape ecology as a modern interdisciplinary science offers new concepts, theories, and methods for land evaluation and management. One main part of landscape ecology is describing patterns in the landscape and interpreting the ecological effects of these patterns on flora, fauna, flow of energy and materials. Landscape studies require methods to identify and quantify spatial patterns of landscape. Quantification of spatial patterns is essential to understand landscape functions and processes. Landscape indices as diversity and naturalness can provide quantitative information about landscape pattern. Remote sensing and GIS techniques have high ability for landscape researchers to specify map and analyze landscape patterns. In this study the changes in a selected set of indices were investigated, in order to strengthen the management efforts of Mouteh wildlife refuge in Iran. Using different satellite analysis, Land use/ land cover map were produced from satellite data and then the number and size of land cover patches, the degree of naturalness, and the diversity indices were calculated by GIS approaches and compared for a 35 years. The results showed an increasing concern with regards to unplanned human activities. Some improvements of the natural landscape also occurred in the core protected zone of the study area. To sum up, attention to conservation of natural landscape in this area is important in order to repair the natural conditions of habitats.
A probabilistic treatment of fluvial entrainment of cohesionless particles

In the traditional treatment of sediment entrainment in fluvial hydrology, equating a turbulent fluid force arising from shear stress with a particle weight (adjusted for buoyancy) gives the condition on critical shear for particle entrainment. This stipulation leads to the entrainment condition that the volume d3 of the largest particles entrained is proportional to the sixth power of the friction velocity. An alternate approach is to consider streams as reservoirs of kinetic energy, analogous to heat baths, from which energy can be removed to lift a particle over a potential energy barrier. Following this analogy, the probability of transferring an energy, E, from the fluid to a particle, is proportional to the Boltzmann factor, exp(-E/H), where H is the appropriate analog to kT, a unit of thermal energy associated with the heat bath. By making the analogy H = (1/2)ρw(ν*2)d3, where ν* is the friction velocity and ρw is the fluid density, the entrainment condition is recovered in a probabilistic sense, i.e. the probability of entrainment of particles larger than d drops rapidly to zero. The new condition may be interpreted in terms of the likelihood that eddies (similar in size to the particle concerned) transfer their energy to a particle. The advantage of this approach is that it can treat particles of arbitrary size on a bed of arbitrary geometry. Extension of the treatment to such collections of particles allows derivation of a self-consistent integral equation for the distribution of particle sizes on a bed.
Distortion and Risk in Optimal Incentive Contracts

Performance measurement is an essential part of the design of any incentive system. The strength and value of incentives in organizations are strongly affected by the performance measures available. Yet, the characteristics of valuable performance measures have not been well explored in the agency literature. In this paper, I use a multi-task model to develop a two-parameter characterization of performance measures and show how these two parameters—distortion and risk—affect the value and use of performance measures in incentive contracts. I show that many complex issues in the design of real world incentive contracts can be fruitfully viewed as trade-offs between these two features of performance measures. I also use this framework to analyze the provision of incentives in several specific environments, including R&D labs and non-profit organizations. I would like to thank Nancy Beaulieu, Bob Gibbons, Brian Hall, Ed Lazear, Sherwin Rosen, Jasjit Singh, Lars Stole, an anonymous referee, and participants at the NAS Conference on “Designing Incentives for the Production of Human Capital” for comments on this paper. This research was funded by the Harvard Business School Division of Research. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning October 2002 through October 2005 from George P. Baker, Harvard Business School, Baker Library 283, Soldiers Field Road, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.
MHD boundary layer flow due to an exponentially stretching sheet with radiation effect

The effect of radiation on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary layer flow of a viscous fluid over an exponentially stretching sheet was studied. The governing system of partial differential equations was transformed into ordinary differential equations before being solved numerically by an implicit finite-difference method. The effects of the governing parameters on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics were obtained and discussed. It was found that the local heat transfer rate at the surface decreases with increasing values of the magnetic and radiation parameters
Palaeomagnetic results from Mounts Gambier and Schank, South Australia

Abstract Palaeomagnetic results are presented for two young volcanoes in southeastern Australia. Directions for the basalt and lava spatter, erupted near the beginning and end of activity at Mt Gambier respectively, are identical and suggest there was no long break in activity. The direction for basalt at Mt Schank differs from that of Mt Gambier by several degrees, and indicates that the two volcanoes differ in age, probably by three centuries or more. Directions for both volcanoes are much shallower than the present‐day geomagnetic direction at the locality. Palaeomagnetic field strength estimates, from baked ash at Mt Gambier and baked sand at Mt Schank, are higher than the present‐day field strength. Comparisons with other late Pleistocene and Holocene results suggest that ages for Mts Gambier and Schank are either greater than 7000 years or between 5000 and 1000 years. These conclusions are consistent with published radiocarbon ages from charcoal in fossil soil horizons sealed beneath ash deposits.