Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radiative Convective Equilibrium and Organized Convection: An Observational Perspective

Radiative convective equilibrium (RCE) describes a balance between the cooling of the atmosphere by radiation and the heating through latent heat release and surface heat fluxes. While RCE is known to provide an energetic constraint on the atmosphere at the global scale, little is known about the proximity of the atmosphere to RCE at smaller spatial and temporal scales, despite the common use of RCE in idealized modeling studies. Here we provide the first observational evaluation of the scales at which the atmosphere is near RCE. We further use observations of cloud characteristics to investigate the role played by organized convection in the RCE state. While the tropical atmosphere as a whole is near RCE on daily time scales and longer, this is not the case for any given location. Rather, areas in excess of 5,000 × 5,000 km2 must be considered to ensure the atmosphere remains near RCE at least 80% of the time, even for monthly averaged conditions. We confirm that RCE is established through the interplay of regions of active deep convection with high precipitation and weak radiative cooling and regions of subsiding motions leading to shallow cloud states that allow strong radiative cooling with no precipitation. The asymmetry in the maximum amount of radiative cooling and latent heating leads to the well‐known ratio of small areas of precipitation and large regions of subsidence observed in the tropics. Finally, we show that organized deep convection does not occur when regions smaller than 1,000 × 1,000 km2 are near RCE.
Single treatment approaches to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of two different physical therapy approaches for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. DESIGN Randomized study. SETTING Outpatient clinic. PATIENTS Consecutive sample of 60 patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. INTERVENTION Patients received either a single treatment based on the hypothesis that the vertigo and nystagmus of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo are due to debris adhering to the cupula of the posterior semicircular canal (cupulolithiasis) or a single treatment based on the hypothesis that the debris is free floating in the long arm of the posterior canal (canalithiasis). Patients were reevaluated 1 to 2 weeks after the treatment and again 4 to 6 months later. OUTCOME Treatment outcome was classified as either asymptomatic, more than 70% improved as rated by the patient, or no change. RESULTS The treatment designed for cupulolithaisis resulted in remission of vertigo and nystagmus in 70% of the patients and in improvement of the symptoms in another 20%. The treatment designed for canalithiasis resulted in remission of vertigo and nystagmus in 57% of the patients and in improvement in another 33%. There was no statistically significant difference between treatments. CONCLUSIONS These single-treatment approaches are equally effective treatments for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Further studies are needed to look at the long-term effectiveness of these treatments.
An Efficient Uplink Multi-Connectivity Scheme for 5G Millimeter-Wave Control Plane Applications

The millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies offer the potential of orders of magnitude that increases in capacity for next-generation cellular systems. However, links in mm-wave networks are susceptible to blockage and may suffer from rapid variations in quality. Connectivity to multiple cells at mm-wave and/or traditional frequencies is considered essential for robust communication. One of the challenges in supporting multi-connectivity in mm-waves is the requirement for the network to track the direction of each link in addition to its power and timing. To address this challenge, we implement a novel uplink measurement system that, with the joint help of a local coordinator operating in the legacy band, guarantees continuous monitoring of the channel propagation conditions and allows for the design of efficient control plane applications, including handover, beam tracking, and initial access. We show that an uplink-based multi-connectivity approach enables less consuming, better performing, faster and more stable cell selection, and scheduling decisions with respect to a traditional downlink-based standalone scheme. Moreover, we argue that the presented framework guarantees: 1) efficient tracking of the user in the presence of the channel dynamics expected at mm-waves and 2) fast reaction to situations in which the primary propagation path is blocked or not available.
Spatial and temporal dimensions of fire activity in the fire‐prone eastern Canadian taiga

The forest age mosaic is a fundamental attribute of the North American boreal forest. Given that fires are generally lethal to trees, the time since last fire largely determines the composition and structure of forest stands and landscapes. Although the spatiotemporal dynamics of such mosaics has long been assumed to be random under the overwhelming influence of severe fire weather, no long‐term reconstruction of mosaic dynamics has been performed from direct field evidence. In this study, we use fire length as a proxy for fire extent across the fire‐prone eastern Canadian taiga and systematically reconstruct the spatiotemporal variability of fire extent and fire intervals, as well as the resulting forest age along a 340‐km transect for the 1840–2013 time period. Our results indicate an extremely active fire regime over the last two centuries, with an overall burn rate of 2.1% of the land area yr−1, mainly triggered by seasonal anomalies of high temperature and severe drought. However, the rejuvenation of the age mosaic was strongly patterned in space and time due to the intrinsically lower burn rates in wetland‐dominated areas and, more importantly, to the much‐reduced likelihood of burning of stands up to 50 years postfire. An extremely high burn rate of ~5% yr−1 would have characterized our study region during the last century in the absence of such fuel age effect. Although recent burn rates and fire sizes are within their range of variability of the last 175 years, a particularly severe weather event allowed a 2013 fire to spread across a large fire refuge, thus shifting the abundance of mature and old forest to a historic low. These results provide reference conditions to evaluate the significance and predict the spatiotemporal dynamics and impacts of the currently strengthening fire activity in the North American boreal forest.
Sequential grouping of pure-tone percepts evoked by the segregation of components from a complex tone.

A sudden change applied to a single component can cause its segregation from an ongoing complex tone as a pure-tone-like percept. Three experiments examined whether such pure-tone-like percepts are organized into streams by extending the research of Bregman and Rudnicky (1975). Those authors found that listeners struggled to identify the presentation order of 2 pure-tone targets of different frequency when they were flanked by 2 lower frequency "distractors. " Adding a series of matched-frequency "captor" tones, however, improved performance by pulling the distractors into a separate stream from the targets. In the current study, sequences of discrete pure tones were substituted by sequences of brief changes applied to an otherwise constant 1.2-s complex tone. Pure-tone-like percepts were evoked by applying 6-dB increments to individual components of a complex comprising harmonics 1-7 of 300 Hz (Experiment 1) or 0.5-ms changes in interaural time difference to individual components of a log-spaced complex (range 160-905 Hz; Experiment 2). Results were consistent with the earlier study, providing clear evidence that pure-tone-like percepts are organized into streams. Experiment 3 adapted Experiment 1 by presenting a global amplitude increment either synchronous with, or just after, the last captor prior to the 1st distractor. In the former case, for which there was no pure-tone-like percept corresponding to that captor, the captor sequence did not aid performance to the same extent as previously. It is concluded that this change to the captor-tone stream partially resets the stream-formation process, and so the distractors and targets became likely to integrate once more.
Eurogin Roadmap 2015: How has HPV knowledge changed our practice: Vaccines

This review is one of two complementary reviews that have been prepared in the framework of the Eurogin Roadmap 2015 to evaluate how knowledge about HPV is changing practices in HPV infection and disease control through vaccination and screening. In this review of HPV vaccine knowledge, we present the most significant findings of the past year which have contributed to our knowledge of the two HPV prophylactic vaccines currently in widespread use and about the recently licensed nonavalent HPV vaccine. Whereas anal cancer is dealt with in the companion mini‐review on screening, we also review here the rapidly evolving evidence regarding HPV‐associated head and neck cancer and priority research areas.
Ex-Post Structured Product Returns: Index Methodology and Analysis

The academic and practitioner literature now includes numerous studies of the substantial issue-date mispricing of structured products, but there is no large-scale study of the ex post returns earned by structured product investors. This article augments the current literature by analyzing the ex post returns of more than 20,000 individual structured products issued by 13 brokerage firms since 2007. We construct our structured-product index and sub-indexes for reverse convertibles, single-observation reverse convertibles, tracking securities, and autocallable securities by valuing each structured product in our database each day. The ex post returns of U.S. structured products are highly correlated with the returns of large-capitalization equity markets in the aggregate, and individual structured products generally underperform simple alternative allocations to stocks and bonds. The observed underperformance of structured products is consistent with the significant issue-date underpricing documented in the literature.
QT dispersion in childhood obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome

Abstract The difference between maximal and minimal QT interval and corrected QT interval defined as QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion may represent arrhythmogenic risks. This study sought to evaluate QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion in childhood obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Forty-four children (34 male) with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, aged 6.2 plus or minus 3.5 years along with 38 healthy children (25 male), 6.6 plus or minus 2.1 years underwent electrocardiography to measure QT and RR intervals. Means QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion were significantly higher in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome than controls, 52 plus or minus 27 compared to 40 plus or minus 14 milliseconds (p equal to 0.014), and 71 plus or minus 29 compared to 57 plus or minus 19 milliseconds (p equal to 0.010), respectively. Interestingly, QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome with obesity, 57 plus or minus 30 and 73 plus or minus 31 milliseconds, were significantly higher than in control, 40 plus or minus 14 and 57 plus or minus 19 milliseconds (p equal to 0.009 and 0.043, respectively). However, QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome without obesity, 43 plus or minus 20 and 68 plus or minus 26 milliseconds, were not significantly different. In conclusion, QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion were significantly increased only in childhood obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome with obesity. Obesity may be the factor affecting the increased QT dispersion and corrected QT dispersion.
The effect of subclinical intestinal nematode infection on the diet seletion of growing sheep

To test the hypothesis that subclinical gastrointestinal parasitism, associated with an impairment in N digestion and metabolism and a reduction in the voluntary feed intake (VFI), could affect the diet selection of sheep given a choice between two feeds that differed in their crude protein (CP) content, twenty-four Texel ×Scottish Blackface ewe lambs growing from 28 to 48 kg live weight (LWT) were given a daily dose of 2500 larvae of the intestinal nematode Trichostrongylus colubriformis; twenty-four similar lambs were used as uninfected controls. Six infected and six control lambs were given a free choice between two pelleted feeds (10·4 MJ metabolizable energy/kg), wilh different CP contents (90 (L) and 214 (H) g CP/kg fresh feed respectively). In addition, eighteen parasitized and eighteen control sheep were given access ad lib. to either feed L, or feed H, or their mixture M (164 g CP/kg; twelve per feed), in order to quantify the effects of the feeds when offered alone, and to test for any interactions between feed CP content and parasitism on the performance of the lambs. Intestinal parasitism reduced significantly (P < 0·001) both the rates of LWT gain (by 30%) and VFI (by 10%). The adult and developing parasitic forms took 4 weeks to establish and develop to a significant adult worm population (as judged by the faecal egg counts and blood variables) and until then there was no effect of parasitism on the performance of the lambs. The diet selection of the lambs given a choice between two feeds was similar between the two groups in the first 4 weeks of the experiment, but differed significantly (P < 0·05) in the second part of the experiment (4th week to the end). Thus, while parasitized lambs had a reduced rate of feed intake, by changing their diet selection they achieved a daily rate of CP intake similar to the control ones. However, since the parasitized lambs had a reduced rate of LWT gain, they also consumed a higher total amount of CP to reach the same LWT. It is concluded that sheep infected daily with a small number of larvae of T. colubriformis and given a choice between two feeds that differ in their protein contents are able to modify their diet selection in order to meet the increased protein requirements resulting from such an infection.
Familial dysautonomia: detection of the IKBKAP IVS20(+6T --> C) and R696P mutations and frequencies among Ashkenazi Jews.

Familial dysautonomia (FD) is an autosomal recessive congenital neuropathy that occurs almost exclusively in the Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) population. Mutations in the IkappaB kinase complex-associated protein (IKBKAP) gene cause FD. Two IKBKAP mutations, IVS20(+6T --> C) and R696P, have been identified in FD patients of AJ descent. The splice site mutation IVS20(+6T --> C) is responsible for > 99.5% of known AJ patients with FD, and haplotype analyses were consistent with a common founder. In contrast, the R696P mutation has been identified in only a few AJ patients. To facilitate carrier detection, a single PCR and allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) hybridization assay was developed to facilitate the detection of both the IVS20(+6T --> C) and R696P mutations. Screening of 2,518 anonymous AJ individuals from the New York metropolitan area revealed a carrier frequency for IVS20(+6T --> C) of 1 in 32 (3.2%; 95% CI, 2.5-3.9%), similar to the previously estimated carrier frequency (3.3%) based on disease incidence. No carrier was identified for the R696P lesion, indicating that the mutation was rare in this population (< 1 in 2,500). This sensitive and specific assay should facilitate carrier screening for FD mutations in the AJ community, as well as postnatal diagnostic testing.
A Theoretical Model of the Acquisition of Peer Relationships of Learning Disabled Children

Children with learning disabilities were divided into three subgroups using a method of analyzing the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) subtest scores. The study examined the differences in the acquisition of positive peer relationships between children with conceptual, spatial, and sequential disabilities. It was found that children with conceptual and spatial disabilities were less likely to be accepted by other learning disabled children than children with sequential disabilities. The results are discussed in terms of a theoretical model developed by the author. Learning disabled children's problems in acquiring positive peer relationships are thought to result partially from their social perceptual and social cognitive deficits, which are a function of the perceptual processing deficits that underly the learning disability.
Selected Works of Michael Wallerstein: CENTRALIZED BARGAINING AND WAGE RESTRAINT

The literature on corporatism has presented much evidence associating highly centralized systems of collective bargaining with wage restraint and relatively successful macroeconomic performance. In addition, centralized bargaining is associated with relatively small wage differentials. This paper presents a model of the impact of centralized wage setting on both real wages and relative wages. The central assumption is that the centralization of wage setting at the national level unites unions who are complements in production. Since a wage increase for one group of workers negatively affects the welfare of other workers who are complements in production, centralized wage setters choose wages below the equilibrium of decentralized wage setting. It is also shown that if the union confederation maximizes a utilitarian welfare function with equal weights, centralized wage setting decreases wage dispersion. While low-paid workers clearly gain from centralized bargaining, high-paid workers may prefer that bargaining be decentralized.
Conditional Exchange-Rate Volatility and the Volume of Foreign Trade: Evidence from Seven Industrialized Countries*

There has long been a concern over the volatility of exchange-rates and their impact on the volume of foreign trade. ' However, very little attention has been paid to the choice of an appropriate volatility variable as well as the proper specification of the trade equation. The sample standard deviation of the exchange rate has been used as a proxy for exchangerate uncertainty in empirical studies that examine the effects of exchange-rate uncertainty on the volume of foreign trade. See, for example, Akhtar and Hilton [1] and Gotur [27]. These studies have provided conflicting evidence on this issue. It has been argued that use of the sample standard deviation is inappropriate because the empirical distribution of exchange rates is not normal [22; 10]. In this regard, subsequent empirical research [12; 36; 40; 41; 11] has employed a moving standard deviation of the rate of change of the exchange rate as a proxy for exchange-rate uncertainty. Chowdhury [11] obtained a clear pattern of results that support the hypothesis that the higher volatility of exchange rates led to a reduction in international trade transactions after the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in March 1973. Other studies have reported ambiguous results.2 The moving standard deviation used in these studies has been criticized in the literature for (a) ignoring relevant information on the random process generating exchange rates [18]; (b) underestimating the effect of volatility on decisions [52]; (c) distorting the measurement of the volatility variable by smoothing the series [9]; and (d) injecting "an element of arbitrariness into the calculation" through decisions about the order (m) of the moving average [43]. 3
Hb level, iron intake and mortality in Chinese adults: a 10-year follow-up study

Abstract Anaemia is prevalent in developing countries and is commonly Fe deficiency related. We aimed to assess the association between Fe status, Fe intake and mortality among Chinese adults. We prospectively studied 8291 adults aged 20–98 years with a mean follow-up of 9·9 years. All participants were measured for Hb at baseline in 2002. Food intake, measured by 3-d weighed food record (n 2832), and fasting serum ferritin were measured. We documented 491 deaths (including 192 CVD and 165 cancer deaths) during 81 527 person-years of follow-up. There was a U-shaped association between Hb levels and all-cause mortality. Compared with the second quartile of Hb (121 g/l), the first (105) and fourth quartile (144) had hazard ratios (HR) of 2·29 (95 % CI 1·51, 3·48) and 2·31 (95 % CI 1·46, 3·64) for all-cause mortality in women. In men, compared with third quartile of Hb (143 g/l), first (122) and fourth quartiles (154) had 61 and 65 % increased risk of all-cause mortality. Anaemia was associated with an increased risk of all-cause and CVD mortality in men but not in women after adjusting for potential confounders. Low and high Fe intake as percentage of Chinese recommended nutrient intake (RNI) were positively associated with all-cause mortality in women but not in men. In women, across quartiles of relative Fe intake, HR for all-cause mortality were 2·55 (95 % CI 0·99, 6·57), 1·00, 3·12 (95 % CI 1·35, 7·18) and 2·78 (95 % CI 1·02, 7·58). Both low and high Hb levels are related to increased risk of all-cause mortality. Both low and high intake of Fe as percentage of RNI was positively associated with mortality in women.
Evidence of Commonality between Canine and Human Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strains That ExpresspapG Allele III

ABSTRACT Although dogs have been proposed as carriers of extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) with infectious potential for humans, presumed host species-specific differences between canine and human ExPEC strains have cast doubt on this hypothesis. The recent discovery that allele III of papG(the P fimbrial adhesin gene) predominates among human cystitis isolates and confers an adherence phenotype resembling that of canine ExPEC prompted the present reevaluation of the canine-human ExPEC connection. Sixteen paired pap-positive urine and rectal E. coli isolates from dogs with urinary tract infection were studied. papG (adhesin) and papA(pilin) allele type, agglutination phenotypes, virulence factor genotypes, and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis fingerprints were analyzed and compared with those of human ExPEC controls. The 16 canine strains contained predominantly papG allele III. Agglutination phenotypes segregated strictly according topapG allele status and were homogeneous among strains with the same papG allele profile irrespective of their human versus canine origin. Canine and human PapG variant III peptide sequences were highly homologous, without host species-specific differences. The most prevalent canine papA allele was F48, a novel variant recently identified among human urosepsis isolates. In addition to pap, human ExPEC-associated virulence genes detected among the canine strains included sfa/focDE,sfaS, fyuA, hlyA, cnf1,cdtB, kpsMT-II and -III, rfc,traT, ompT, and a marker for a pathogenicity-associated island from archetypal human ExPEC strain CFT073. Molecular fingerprinting confirmed the fecal origin of all but one canine urine isolate and showed one pair of O6 canine urine and fecal isolates to be extremely similar to an O6 human urosepsis isolate with which they shared all other genotypic and phenotypic characteristics analyzed. These data demonstrate that canine ExPEC strains are similar to, and in some instances essentially indistinguishable from, human ExPEC strains, which implicates dogs and their feces as potential reservoirs of E. coli with infectious potential for humans.