Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are uncertainties in climate and energy systems a justification for stronger near term mitigation policies

Defining long-run stabilization targets for atmospheric CO2 is ultimately a political question since it depends on value judgments. However, because of the enormous uncertainties that surround projections of climate change, their impacts and mitigation costs, any proposed stabilization target is, quite expectedly, controversial. This uncertainty, some have argued, implies that climatic change might be of minor consequence; but, comparably likely, as others have suggested, climate change could as well have potentially catastrophic implications. Thus, since the climate science, impacts and policy analytic communities cannot rule out with high confidence the possibility of a variety of serious or even catastrophic outcomes, we argue that it is wise to keep many options open. Such flexibility also includes retaining low stabilization targets on the bargaining table for climate policy options. We show how uncertainties could demonstrate that near-term abatement can be both cost-efficient and necessary to reduce the risk of “dangerous” climate change. The cost of meeting low-stabilization targets are assessed in the context of conventional economic models and found to imply only a minor impact on the expected overall economic growth rates over the next century— achieving stringent targets like 450 ppm could represent only a few year’s lost GDP growth rate in 2100 as compared to an order of magnitude economic expansion in the baseline case. Such “low cost climate insurance” might be politically quite acceptable once these relatively minor delay times were more widely known.
Automatic Bayes Carpentry Using Unlabeled Data in Semi-Supervised Classification

In semi-supervised classification one important question is how to use the enormous amount of unlabeled data to improve the classifier built on the labeled data. We point out that under certain situations where the labeled data are collected by biased sampling rather than random sampling, supervised learning algorithms are no longer Bayes consistent due to an inherent bias. However, we show that the unlabeled data can be used adaptively to infer the sampling scheme and estimate the bias. Using the inferred result, we propose a universal carpentry technique that ensures the Bayes consistency for most popular supervised classifiers including boosting and kernel machines. A direct bias-correction formula is also presented for estimation-calibrated classifiers. We demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed carpentry methods by simulation.
Role of students’ context in predicting academic performance at a medical school: a retrospective cohort study

Objectives This study examines associations between medical students’ background characteristics (postcode-based measures of disadvantage, high school attended, sociodemographic characteristics), and academic achievement at a Russell Group University. Design Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting Applicants accepted at the University of Liverpool medical school between 2004 and 2006, finalising their studies between 2010 and 2011. Participants 571 students (with an English home postcode) registered on the full-time Medicine and Surgery programme, who successfully completed their medical degree. Main outcome measures Final average at year 4 of the medical programme (represented as a percentage). Results Entry grades were positively associated with final attainment (p<0.001). Students from high-performing schools entered university with higher qualifications than students from low-performing schools (p<0.001), though these differences did not persist at university. Comprehensive school students entered university with higher grades than independent school students (p<0.01), and attained higher averages at university, though differences were not significant after controlling for multiple effects. Associations between school type and achievement differed between sexes. Females attained higher averages than males at university. Significant academic differences were observed between ethnic groups at entry level and university. Neither of the postcode-based measures of disadvantage predicted significant differences in attainment at school or university. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that educational attainment at school is a good, albeit imperfect, predictor of academic attainment at medical school. Most attainment differences observed between students either decreased or disappeared during university. Unlike previous studies, independent school students did not enter university with the highest grades, but achieved the lowest attainment at university. Such variations depict how patterns may differ between subjects and higher-education institutions. Findings advocate for further evidence to help guide the implementation of changes in admissions processes and widen participation at medical schools fairly.
Throughput and Delay Analysis of a RCO MAC Protocol Using ACW Technique in Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper, we present the performance analysis of the reliable cooperative media access control (Reliable Cooperative-MAC) protocol, in order to enhance system throughput in bad wireless channel environments, using Adaptive Contention Window. The performance of this protocol is evaluated with mat lab simulation as well as mathematical analysis. Here Adaptive Contention Window Algorithm is used to minimize collision and to improve performance of communication network. In addition, for performance evaluation two different traffic models are used: The saturated traffic model for computing system throughput and average channel access delay, and the exponential data generation model for calculating average system delay.
Concept representation based video indexing

This poster introduces a novel concept-based video indexing approach. It is developed based on a rich set of base concepts, of which the models are available. Then, for a given concept with several labeled samples, we combine the base concepts to fit it and its model can thus be obtained accordingly. Empirical results demonstrate that this method can achieve great performance even with very limited labeled data. We have compared different representation approaches including both sparse and non-sparse methods. Our conclusion is that the sparse method will lead to much better performance.
Routing Requirements for Urban Low-Power and Lossy Networks

The application-specific routing requirements for Urban Low Power and Lossy Networks (U-LLNs) are presented in this document. In the near future, sensing and actuating nodes will be placed outdoors in urban environments so as to improve the people's living conditions as well as to monitor compliance with increasingly strict environmental laws. These field nodes are expected to measure and report a wide gamut of data, such as required in smart metering, waste disposal, meteorological, pollution and allergy reporting applications. The majority of these nodes is expected to communicate wirelessly which - given the limited radio range and the large number of nodes - requires the use of suitable routing protocols. The design of such protocols will be mainly impacted by the limited resources of the nodes (memory, processing power, battery, etc.) and the particularities of the outdoor urban application scenarios. As such, for a wireless Routing Over Low power and Lossy networks (ROLL) solution to be useful, the protocol(s) ought to be energy-efficient, scalable, and autonomous. This documents aims to specify a set of requirements reflecting these and further U-LLNs tailored characteristics.
Motivational Changes Across Adulthood: The Role of Goal Representations for Adult Development and Aging

The importance of goals for understanding behavior and performance over time and across situations, for a sense of purpose and psychological well-being, has been acknowledged in the areas of motivation and lifespan development for more than a quarter-century (Baltes & Baltes, 1990). More recently, the field of motivated cognition has pointed to the role of the cognitive representation of goals for self-regulation, affect, and goal achievement (Fujita & Carnevale, 2012). Owing to the decline in the perceived availability of goal-relevant resources across adulthood, I argue that the representation of goals and their effects on behavior, performance, and well-being changes across adulthood. More specifically, I propose that goal representations change dynamically as a response to—and help managing—the developmental gains and losses regarding (i) the orientation toward achieving gains, maintaining performance, or avoiding losses, and (ii) the focus on the means or the outcome of goal pursuit.
Star-Block Design in Two-Level Survivable Optical Networks

An efficient fault restoration framework is proposed for accomplishing loopback recovery in optical networks. The pro posed p-cycle-based framework achieves both a minimal spare capacity requirement and a rapid restoration time. In the proposed approach, an algorithm designated as Star-Block is used to simplify the original topology to a 2-connected graph and to partition the graph into multiple blocks, where each block contains a center node and the minimum number of neighboring nodes that collectively form a complete cycle. The simplified graph is then restored to the original topology using conventional graph rules. The Block Selection algorithm is then used to assign the edges be longing to multiple blocks to an appropriate block for fault recovery purposes. Within each block, the working flows are restored in real-time via local p-cycles on the on-cycle and spoke fibers. The performance of the proposed protection framework is evaluated numerically in terms of the spare capacity to working capacity ratio and the length of the restoration path. The framework has a better spare capacity efficiency than existing loopback recovery schemes or the conventional p-cycles approach. In addition, the Star-Block decomposition algorithm shortens the average length of the restoration path and therefore reduces the restoration time. Finally, the protection scheme not only provides a differentiated recovery service for traffic with different QoS requirements in the event of single-link failures within a single block, but also supports multiple-fault restoration for the case in which multiple single-link failures occur simultaneously.
Police Officers and Mental Health: The Efficacy of CIT Training

This study provides an analysis of the interaction between people with SPMI (Serious and Persistent Mental Illness) and police officers who have undergone CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Training, an intervention aimed at equipping law enforcement officers with knowledge and training about mental illness. The researcher utilized an open-ended, qualitative interview research design consisting of 11 interviews, each lasting approximately 30-45 minutes. Research participants were identified via purposive sampling. Utilizing open coding, four themes were identified during this study: 1. ) CIT Training challenges old and ingrained ways of thinking about police work. 2. ) CIT Training teaches the importance of building rapport. 3. ) CIT Training teaches the value of slowing down and thinking before acting. 4. ) CIT Training and officer safety do not have to be mutually exclusive. Following inductive analysis, the researcher concluded that CIT Training was effective in teaching police officers applicable skills and concepts conducive to improved interactions with people with SPMI.
Intertrial reliability of work measurements recorded during concentric isokinetic knee extension and flexion in subjects with and without meniscal tears.

Intertrial reliability of work measurements was studied in 19 men with a partial medial meniscal tear (ME group) and in 10 men with no history of knee injury (control group). Three maximal voluntary concentric contractions of the muscles involved in knee extension (KE) and knee flexion (KF) were performed on a dynamometer at 30 degrees and 180 degrees/s using a preloading protocol. The subjects moved their legs through an arc of 90 degrees, and the work produced in the constant-velocity phase between 70 and 20 degrees of KE was computed for each trial. In ME group subjects able to perform three consecutive contractions (n = 12-14), high intertrial intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were found (ICCs = .86-.92), except for KE work measurements at 180 degrees/s (ICC = .67). In the control group subjects, high ICCs were obtained for KE work measurements (ICCs = .87 and .95), whereas the low ICCs obtained for KF work measurements (ICCs = .64 and .79) increased to . 86 and . 93 when the first trial was removed. In both groups, a significant increase was found over the trials for KF measurements at 180 degrees/s and KE measurements at 30 degrees/s, but work measurements were shown to peak at the second trial. The results of this study suggest that the work produced on the second trial reflects a subject's maximal capacity. [Durand A, Malouin F, Richards CL, Bravo G. Intertrial reliability of work measurements recorded during concentric isokinetic knee extension and flexion in subjects with and without meniscal tears.
Discovery of absorption features of the accretion disc corona and systematic acceleration of the X-ray burst rate in XB 1323-619

We present results from analysis of the observation of the dipping, quasi-periodic bursting low mass X-ray binary XB 1323-619 made with XMM-Newton in 2003 January. In spectral analysis of the non-dip, non-burst EPIC PN spectrum, a number of absorption lines were discovered, notably at 6.70 and 6.98 keV, which we identify with scattering by high ionization state ions Fe xxv and Fe xxvi. Such features have been seen in other dipping sources, but their origin was not understood. Curve of growth analysis provided a consistent solution in which the line ratio was reproduced assuming collisional ionization with kT = 31 keV, close to the electron temperature we previously determined for the accretion disc corona (ADC) in this source. We thus propose that the absorption lines in the dipping low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) are produced in the ADC. Spectral evolution in dipping was well described by the progressive covering model, which we have previously shown to give very good explanations of many dipping sources. We discuss the proposal of Boirin et al. (2004b), based on analysis of the present observation, that spectral evolution in all of the dipping LMXB may be explained by subjecting the continuum to a highly ionized absorber. This would require a decrease in X-ray intensity by a factor of ∼3 in dipping at energies where photoelectric absorption is not effective (40-100 keV), which previous BeppoSAX analysis of several sources firmly rules out. In XB 1323-619, any decrease was less than 10 ± 10 per cent and so the ionized absorber proposal can be ruled out. We find a remarkable linear increase in the rate of X-ray bursts with time over the 14-yr period since 1989 and a systematic non-linear increase in source luminosity (L). The linear variation of burst rate with L shows that the burst rate is proportional to mass accretion rate and if continued implies that the gap between bursts will become zero on 2008 January 11. In reality, we expect the source to undergo a transition from X-ray bursting to X-ray flaring, which would confirm the suggestion we previously made that flaring is unstable nuclear burning effectively consisting of a superposition of X-ray bursts.
A Patch‐based Cellular Automaton for Simulating Land‐use Changes at Fine Spatial Resolution

While cellular automata have become popular tools for modeling land‐use changes, there is a lack of studies reporting their application at very fine spatial resolutions (e.g. 5 m resolution). Traditional cell‐based CA do not generate reliable results at such resolutions because single cells might only represent components of land‐use entities (i.e. houses or parks in urban residential areas), while recently proposed entity‐based CA models usually ignore the internal heterogeneity of the entities. This article describes a patch‐based CA model designed to deal with this problem by integrating cell and object concepts. A patch is defined as a collection of adjacent cells that might have different attributes, but that represent a single land‐use entity. In this model, a transition probability map was calculated at each cell location for each land‐use transition using a weight of evidence method; then, land‐use changes were simulated by employing a patch‐based procedure based on the probability maps. This CA model, along with a traditional cell‐based model were tested in the eastern part of the Elbow River watershed in southern Alberta, Canada, an area that is under considerable pressure for land development due to its proximity to the fast growing city of Calgary. The simulation results for the two models were compared to historical data using visual comparison, Ksimulation indices, and landscape metrics. The results reveal that the patch‐based CA model generates more compact and realistic land‐use patterns than the traditional cell‐based CA. The Ksimulation values indicate that the land‐use maps obtained with the patch‐based CA are in higher agreement with the historical data than those created by the cell‐based model, particularly regarding the location of change. The landscape metrics reveal that the patch‐based model is able to adequately capture the land‐use dynamics as observed in the historical data, while the cell‐based CA is not able to provide a similar interpretation. The patch‐based approach proposed in this study appears to be a simple and valuable solution to take into account the internal heterogeneity of land‐use classes at fine spatial resolutions and simulate their transitions over time.
Roles for the High Affinity IgE Receptor, FcεRI, of Human Basophils in the Pathogenesis and Therapy of Allergic Asthma: Disease Promotion, Protection or Both?

The role of basophils, the rarest of blood granulocytes, in the pathophysiology of allergic asthma is still incompletely understood. Indirect evidence generated over many decades is consistent with a role for basophils in disease promotion. Recent improvements in procedures to purify and analyze very small numbers of human cells have generally supported this view, but have also revealed new complexities. This chapter focuses on our analyses of Fcε R1 function in basophils in the context of understanding and treating human allergic asthma. In long-term studies, we demonstrated that asthmatic subjects have higher circulating numbers of basophils than non-atopic non-asthmatic subjects and that their basophils show higher rates of both basal and anti-IgE or antigen-stimulated histamine release. These results hint at a direct role for basophils in promoting asthma. Supporting this interpretation, the non-releaser phenotype that we linked to the excessive proteolysis of Syk via the ubiquitin/proteasomal pathway is less common in basophils from asthmatic than non-asthmatic donors. The discovery of a basophil-specific pathway regulating Syk levels presents a clear opportunity for therapy. Another route to therapy was revealed by evidence that basophil FcεRI signaling can be downregulated by co-crosslinking the ITAM-containing IgE receptor, FcγRI, to the ITIM-containing IgG receptor, FcγRIIB. Based on this discovery, hybrid co-crosslinking fusion proteins are being engineered as potential therapies targeting basophils. A third distinguishing property of human basophils is their high dependence on IgE binding to stabilize membrane FcεRI. The circulating IgE scavenging mAb, Omalizumab, reduces FcεRI expression in basophils from asthmatics by over 95% and produces a substantial impairment of IL-4, IL-8 and IL-13 production in response to the crosslinking of residual cell surface IgE-FcεRI. A search for small molecule inhibitors that similarly impair high affinity IgE binding to basophils may yield reagents that mimic Omalizumab’s therapeutic benefits without the potential for immune side effects. Although studies on allergen and FcεRI-mediated basophil activation all point to a role in promoting disease, a case can also be made for an alternative or additional role of basophil FcεRI in protection against allergic asthma. Human basophils have high affinities for IgE, they upregulate receptor levels over a >100-fold range as circulating IgE levels increase and they have short half-lives in the circulation. Thus, when allergen is absent, basophil FcεRI could serve as scavengers of serum IgE and therefore protectors against mast cell IgE-mediated inflammatory responses. Further studies are clearly needed to determine if FcεR-expressing basophils play pathogenic or protective roles – or both – in human allergic asthma and other IgE-mediated inflammatory disorders.
Endocrine-Disrupting Potential of Bisphenol A, Bisphenol A Dimethacrylate, 4-n-Nonylphenol, and 4-n-Octylphenol in Vitro: New Data and a Brief Review

Background An array of environmental compounds is known to possess endocrine disruption (ED) potentials. Bisphenol A (BPA) and bisphenol A dimethacrylate (BPA-DM) are monomers used to a high extent in the plastic industry and as dental sealants. Alkylphenols such as 4-n-nonylphenol (nNP) and 4-n-octylphenol (nOP) are widely used as surfactants. Objectives We investigated the effect in vitro of these four compounds on four key cell mechanisms including transactivation of a) the human estrogen receptor (ER), b) the human androgen receptor (AR), c) the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and d) aromatase activity. Results All four compounds inhibited aromatase activity and were agonists and antagonists of ER and AR, respectively. nNP increased AhR activity concentration-dependently and further increased the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin AhR action. nOP caused dual responses with a weak increased and a decreased AhR activity at lower (10−8 M) and higher concentrations (10−5–10−4 M), respectively. AhR activity was inhibited with BPA (10−5–10−4 M) and weakly increased with BPA-DM (10−5 M), respectively. nNP showed the highest relative potency (REP) compared with the respective controls in the ER, AhR, and aromatase assays, whereas similar REP was observed for the four chemicals in the AR assay. Conclusion Our in vitro data clearly indicate that the four industrial compounds have ED potentials and that the effects can be mediated via several cellular pathways, including the two sex steroid hormone receptors (ER and AR), aromatase activity converting testosterone to estrogen, and AhR; AhR is involved in syntheses of steroids and metabolism of steroids and xenobiotic compounds.
Do self-interested schooling selections improve society? A review of the evidence

ABSTRACT I review the literature that quantifies the effects of private school choice programs on three important civic outcomes for students in the United States: tolerance, civic engagement, and social order. Out of the 11 studies on private school choice that examine these civic outcomes, the impacts are null to positive for tolerance, null to positive for civic engagement, and positive for social order. None of the studies indicates that private school choice negatively affects these vital civic outcomes.