Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing reservoir operations risk under climate change

Risk‐based planning offers a robust way to identify strategies that permit adaptive water resources management under climate change. This paper presents a flexible methodology for conducting climate change risk assessments involving reservoir operations. Decision makers can apply this methodology to their systems by selecting future periods and risk metrics relevant to their planning questions and by collectively evaluating system impacts relative to an ensemble of climate projection scenarios (weighted or not). This paper shows multiple applications of this methodology in a case study involving California's Central Valley Project and State Water Project systems. Multiple applications were conducted to show how choices made in conducting the risk assessment, choices known as analytical design decisions, can affect assessed risk. Specifically, risk was reanalyzed for every choice combination of two design decisions: (1) whether to assume climate change will influence flood‐control constraints on water supply operations (and how), and (2) whether to weight climate change scenarios (and how). Results show that assessed risk would motivate different planning pathways depending on decision‐maker attitudes toward risk (e.g., risk neutral versus risk averse). Results also show that assessed risk at a given risk attitude is sensitive to the analytical design choices listed above, with the choice of whether to adjust flood‐control rules under climate change having considerably more influence than the choice on whether to weight climate scenarios.
Alcohol policy and the public good

This is excellent background reading in medical microbiology. The book is in nine parts and covers bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites and their infections. Medically important micro-organisms are discussed in terms of their classification, morphology, and pathogenesis. In addition, for each micro-organism the diagnosis, treatment, epidemiology and control are briefly discussed. The authors also discuss common infections of the cardiovascular system, urinary tract, and central nervous system and food poisoning. The last two parts of this book concentrate on the control of infections, clinical and laboratory diagnosis, treatment, and finally the prevention of infections. This is a simple and easy to follow book on infection and its control, I recommend it for undergraduate students in medicine, nursing and science.
“Sentinel” Circulating Tumor Cells Allow Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a risk factor for lung cancer. Migration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) into the blood stream is an early event that occurs during carcinogenesis. We aimed to examine the presence of CTCs in complement to CT-scan in COPD patients without clinically detectable lung cancer as a first step to identify a new marker for early lung cancer diagnosis. The presence of CTCs was examined by an ISET filtration-enrichment technique, for 245 subjects without cancer, including 168 (68.6%) COPD patients, and 77 subjects without COPD (31.4%), including 42 control smokers and 35 non-smoking healthy individuals. CTCs were identified by cytomorphological analysis and characterized by studying their expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers. COPD patients were monitored annually by low-dose spiral CT. CTCs were detected in 3% of COPD patients (5 out of 168 patients). The annual surveillance of the CTC-positive COPD patients by CT-scan screening detected lung nodules 1 to 4 years after CTC detection, leading to prompt surgical resection and histopathological diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer. Follow-up of the 5 patients by CT-scan and ISET 12 month after surgery showed no tumor recurrence. CTCs detected in COPD patients had a heterogeneous expression of epithelial and mesenchymal markers, which was similar to the corresponding lung tumor phenotype. No CTCs were detected in control smoking and non-smoking healthy individuals. CTCs can be detected in patients with COPD without clinically detectable lung cancer. Monitoring “sentinel” CTC-positive COPD patients may allow early diagnosis of lung cancer.
Malicious user suppression for cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks using Dixon's outlier detection method

Cooperation among multiple secondary users improves the cognitive radio sensing system performance, but the presence of malicious secondary users may severely degrade the same. In this paper, we study the detection and elimination of such malicious users in a cooperative sensing system using Dixon's outlier test and compare its performance with Grubb's test and boxplot test. We have shown using receiver operating characteristics curves that Dixon's test outperforms Grubb's test and boxplot test for the case of a single malicious user. We also illustrate the limitations of Dixon's test for several malicious users using an example of two malicious users in a cooperative spectrum sensing setting for cognitive radio.
Independent Associations of Fasting Insulin, Glucose, and Glycated Haemoglobin with Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease in Older Women

Background Evidence suggests that variations in fasting glucose and insulin amongst those without frank type 2 diabetes mellitus are important determinants of cardiovascular disease. However, the relative importance of variations in fasting insulin, glucose, and glycated haemoglobin as risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women without diabetes is unclear. Our aim was to determine the independent associations of fasting insulin, glucose, and glycated haemoglobin with coronary heart disease and stroke in older women. Methods and Findings We undertook a prospective cohort study of 3,246 British women aged 60–79 y, all of whom were free of baseline coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, and all of whom had fasting glucose levels below 7 mmol/l. Fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment for insulin sensitivity (HOMA-S) were linearly associated with a combined outcome of coronary heart disease or stroke (n = 219 events), but there was no association of fasting glucose or glycated haemoglobin with these outcomes. Results were similar for coronary heart disease and stroke as separate outcomes. The age, life-course socioeconomic position, smoking, and physical activity adjusted hazard ratio for a combined outcome of incident coronary heart disease or stroke per one standard deviation of fasting insulin was 1.14 (95% CI 1.02–1.33). Additional adjustment for other components of metabolic syndrome, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose, and glycated haemoglobin had little effect on this result. Conclusions Our findings suggest that in women in the 60–79 y age range, insulin resistance, rather than insulin secretion or chronic hyperglycaemia, is a more important risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. Below currently used thresholds of fasting glucose for defining diabetes, neither fasting glucose nor glycated haemoglobin are associated with cardiovascular disease.
Admissible representations for probability measures

In a recent paper, probabilistic processes are used to generate Borel probability measures on topological spaces X that are equipped with a representation in the sense of type‐2 theory of effectivity. This gives rise to a natural representation of the set of Borel probability measures on X. We compare this representation to a canonically constructed representation which encodes a Borel probability measure as a lower semicontinuous function from the open sets to the unit interval. We show that this canonical representation is admissible with respect to the weak topology on Borel probability measures. Moreover, we prove that for countably‐based topological spaces the representation via probabilistic processes is equivalent to the canonical representation and thus admissible with respect to the weak topology. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A Pan-tilt Camera Control System of UAV Visual Tracking Based on Biomimetic Eye

Firstly, the characteristics of UAV visual tracking system were analysed, secondly the three-dimensional oculomotor control system model of biomimetic eye was developed based on the oculomotor neural paths. Then a new UAV visual tracking system was established. The on-board pan-tilt camera control system based on biomimetic eye can compensate the deflection caused by the UAV rotation and the movement of ground relative to the UAV. The pan-tilt camera can simulate human eye movements including smooth pursuit, VOR and OKR, and the control pattern of camera motor is velocity control, thus it can track the ground moving target continuously, smoothly, clearly and stably like human eye. Finally the experimental results were presented.
Neuroprotective Effect of Delayed Moderate Hypothermia After Focal Cerebral Ischemia: An MRI Study

Background and Purpose— In contrast to early hypothermia, the effects of delayed hypothermia in focal cerebral ischemia have not been widely addressed. We examined the influence of delayed hypothermia on secondary ischemic injury, MRI lesion size, and neurological outcome after transient focal cerebral ischemia in a rat model. Methods— Rats (n=30) were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO, 120 minutes) by use of the intraluminal filament model. Animals of the treatment group (n=12) were exposed to whole-body hypothermia of 33°C for 5 hours starting 3 hours after MCAO, whereas the control group (n=18) was kept at 37°C throughout the whole experiment. The normothermia- and hypothermia-treated animals were investigated daily by using the Menzies neurological score. Serial MRI was performed 1, 3, and 6 hours after MCAO and on days 1, 2, 3, and 5. After the final MRI scan, the rats were euthanized, and brain slices were stained by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride. Results— Delayed hypothermia resulted in a significant increase of survival rate and a significant improvement of the Menzies score. Moreover, a significant decrease in the extent of hyperintense volumes in T2-weighted scans and a reduction of cerebral edema as calculated from T2-weighted scans throughout the examination period were obvious. The extent of cerebral infarct volume and cerebral brain edema examined by MRI was consistent with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Conclusions— Our results suggest that even delayed postischemic hypothermia can reduce the extent of infarct volume and brain edema after transient focal cerebral ischemia.
MODELING SEASONALITY IN AVIAN INFLUENZA H 5 N 1

The number of cases of avian influenza in birds and humans exhibits seasonality which peaks during the winter months. What causes the seasonality in H5N1 cases is still being investigated. This article addresses the question of modeling the periodicity in cumulative number of human cases of H5N1. Three potential drivers of influenza seasonality are investigated: (1) seasonality in bird-to-bird transmission; (2) seasonality caused by wild bird migration or seasonal fluctuation of avian influenza in wild birds; (3) seasonality caused by environmental transmission. A framework of seven models is composed. The seven models involve these three mechanisms and combinations of the mechanisms. Each of the models in the framework is fitted to the cumulative number of humans cases of H5N1. The corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc) is used to compare the models and it is found that the model with periodic bird-to-bird transmission rate best explains the data. The best fitted model with the best fitted parameters gives a reproduction number of highly pathogenic avian influenza R0 = 1.06. The best fitted model is a simple SI epidemic model with periodic transmission rate and disease-induced mortality, however, this model is capable of very complex dynamical behavior such as period doubling and chaos.
A Review on the Dynamic Control of Parallel Kinematic Machines: Theory and Experiments

In this article, we review the dynamic control of parallel kinematic machines. It is shown that the classical control strategies from serial robotics generally used for parallel kinematic machine have to be rethought. Indeed, it is first shown that the joint space control is not relevant for these mechanisms for several reasons such as mechanical behavior or computational efficiency. Consequently, Cartesian space control should be preferred over joint space control. Nevertheless, some modifications to the well-known Cartesian space control strategies of serial robotics are proposed to make them perfectly suited to parallel kinematic machines, particularly a solution using an exteroceptive measure of the end-effector pose. The expected improvement in terms of accuracy, stability and robustness are discussed. A comparison between the main presented strategies is finally performed both in simulation and experiments.
Practical Considerations in Computer-Based Testing

computer for each student cannot be reviewed prior to administration. Instead, the computerized item selection routine must be trusted to assemble an acceptable form in real time. The difference between the two approaches is particularly stark in an achievement test setting where proper control of test content is of paramount importance. been developed, many of which are described in Davey and (2002) and Davey and Pitoniak (2006).
The role of the CD58 locus in multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system associated with demyelination and axonal loss. A whole genome association scan suggested that allelic variants in the CD58 gene region, encoding the costimulatory molecule LFA-3, are associated with risk of developing MS. We now report additional genetic evidence, as well as resequencing and fine mapping of the CD58 locus in patients with MS and control subjects. These efforts identify a CD58 variant that provides further evidence of association with MS (P = 1.1 × 10−6, OR 0.82) and the single protective effect within the CD58 locus is captured by the rs2300747G allele. This protective rs2300747G allele is associated with a dose-dependent increase in CD58 mRNA expression in lymphoblastic cell lines (P = 1.1 × 10−10) and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MS subjects (P = 0.0037). This protective effect of enhanced CD58 expression on circulating mononuclear cells in patients with MS is supported by finding that CD58 mRNA expression is higher in MS subjects during clinical remission. Functional investigations suggest a potential mechanism whereby increases in CD58 expression, mediated by the protective allele, up-regulate the expression of transcription factor FoxP3 through engagement of the CD58 receptor, CD2, leading to the enhanced function of CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells that are defective in subjects with MS.
A software-only scheme for managing heap data on limited local memory(LLM) multicore processors

This article presents a scheme for managing heap data in the local memory present in each core of a limited local memory (LLM) multicore architecture. Although managing heap data semi-automatically with software cache is feasible, it may require modifications of other thread codes. Crossthread modifications are very difficult to code and debug, and will become more complex and challenging as we increase the number of cores. In this article, we propose an intuitive programming interface, which is an automatic and scalable scheme for heap data management. Besides, for embedded applications, where the maximum heap size can be profiled, we propose several optimizations on our heap management to significantly decrease the library overheads. Our experiments on several benchmarks from MiBench executing on the Sony Playstation 3 show that our scheme is natural to use, and if we know the maximum size of heap data, our optimizations can improve application performance by an average of 14%.
Characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans HIM-6/BLM Helicase: Unwinding Recombination Intermediates

Mutations in three human RecQ genes are implicated in heritable human syndromes. Mutations in BLM, a RecQ gene, cause Bloom syndrome (BS), which is characterized by short stature, cancer predisposition, and sensitivity to sunlight. BLM is a RecQ DNA helicase that, with interacting proteins, is able to dissolve various DNA structures including double Holliday junctions. A BLM ortholog, him-6, has been identified in Caenorhabditis elegans, but little is known about its enzymatic activities or its in vivo roles. By purifying recombinant HIM-6 and performing biochemical assays, we determined that the HIM-6 has DNA-dependent ATPase activity HIM-6 and helicase activity that proceeds in the 3'-5' direction and needs at least five 3' overhanging nucleotides. HIM-6 is also able to unwind DNA structures including D-loops and Holliday junctions. Worms with him-6 mutations were defective in recovering the cell cycle arrest after HU treatment. These activities strongly support in vivo roles for HIM-6 in processing recombination intermediates.
Political Stability: Country Image for Tourism Industry in Bangladesh

Abstract- The Bangladesh tourism sector faces various obstacles; from ongoing political chaos, dependency on foreign capital, the industry’s unplanned growth that neglects rural poverty, are all factors preventing it from taking off. This paper focuses on the relationships between tourism and human-caused phenomena in Bangladesh by examining the impacts of political instability on tourist demand, the effects of political violence on destination image, crisis management, and recovery marketing efforts. The main objective is to provide a better image for tourism industry in Bangladesh. Keywords : country image, crisis management, international tourism, political instability, recovery marketing. I. INTRODUCTION In the 21 st century, tourism emerges as a significant income generating sector as well as weapon for growth and survival for various countries [18, 22, 39,40,41,42]. Tourism is the largest global industry with continuously growing global market which will triple in size by 2020[50]. Nevertheless, the journey in many countries has been interrupted by huge number of natural and man-made casualties. Besides, numerous natural and human-caused disasters, the threat that accompanies political turmoil tends to frighten potential tourists more severely. Studies investigating the influences of political unrest and war on the industry focus on specific situations in countries such as the Philippines, Fiji, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tibet, China, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria, Chile, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Thailand and Bangladesh. These valuable cases will enable readers to analyze and measure the effectiveness of management efforts in tourism sector in worldwide. In the context of Bangladesh, the foreign television screens’ riots and floods sceneries create a terrible world reputation for her and it seems to be constantly drowning [60]. Thus, it is needed to investigate the root causes for Bangladesh’s lagging behind in tourism field and to find the way of taking off. 58
Attribute Selection for High Dimensional Data Clustering

We present a new method to select an attribute subset (with few or no loss of information) for high dimensional data clustering. Most of existing clustering algorithms loose some of their efficiency in high dimensional data sets. One possible solution is to use only a subset of the whole set of dimensions. But the number of possible dimension subsets is too large to be fully parsed. We use a heuristic search for optimal attribute subset selection. For this purpose we use the best cluster validity index to first select the most appropriate cluster number and then to evaluate the clustering performed on the attribute subset. The performances of our new approach of attribute selection are evaluated on several high dimensional data sets. Furthermore, as the number of dimensions used is low, it is possible to display the data sets in order to visually evaluate and interpret the obtained results.
Myosin-10 and actin filaments are essential for mitotic spindle function

Mitotic spindles are microtubule-based structures responsible for chromosome partitioning during cell division. Although the roles of microtubules and microtubule-based motors in mitotic spindles are well established, whether or not actin filaments (F-actin) and F-actin-based motors (myosins) are required components of mitotic spindles has long been controversial. Based on the demonstration that myosin-10 (Myo10) is important for assembly of meiotic spindles, we assessed the role of this unconventional myosin, as well as F-actin, in mitotic spindles. We find that Myo10 localizes to mitotic spindle poles and is essential for proper spindle anchoring, normal spindle length, spindle pole integrity, and progression through metaphase. Furthermore, we show that F-actin localizes to mitotic spindles in dynamic cables that surround the spindle and extend between the spindle and the cortex. Remarkably, although proper anchoring depends on both F-actin and Myo10, the requirement for Myo10 in spindle pole integrity is F-actin independent, whereas F-actin and Myo10 actually play antagonistic roles in maintenance of spindle length.
Introduction: the centrality of arenas, agents and actions

Contemporary policy work is deeply informed by the circulation of policy initiatives and models from other jurisdictions. Sometimes close and at other times distant, the influence of various ‘elsewheres’ (Allen and Cochrane, 2007) has become a routine feature of the policy process. Researchers from a range of academic disciplines have matched the increased traffic of policy knowledge with a growing body of knowledge that seeks to document and understand it. While political scientists have the longest history of engagement with travelling policy, anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, urban planners and other social scientists have joined the fray in recent years, creating a lively multidisciplinary research effort (Benson and Jordan, 2011; McCann and Ward, 2012). Yet, for the most part, this research effort has been disjointed. Despite having a common interest at their core (the movement of policy), there are largely separate conversations occurring, structured around concepts such as policy diffusion, policy learning, policy transfer and policy mobility. These conversations have ‘lived together apart’ for some time now, but appear to be converging toward a focus on diverse arenas, agents and actions implicated in the circulation of policy. We have also seen shifts from structure–agency binaries to notions of contextually-embedded agency, from neat, spatially and temporally delimited processes to messy, ongoing processes, and from an exclusive interest in the ‘why’ of travelling policy to a broader set of research questions regarding the ‘how’. In this book we use ‘policy circulation’ as an expedient umbrella term that signifies this emergent zone of common ground. We intend the notion of policy circulation to be largely agnostic (in ontological, epistemological and methodological terms), but it is inescapably oriented toward the work involved in moving policy and the ongoing nature of such efforts. It provides a loose conceptual and empirical space in which