Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonclassic Evolution of a Cold-Frontal System across the Western United States during the Intermountain Precipitation Experiment (IPEX)

A cold-frontal passage through northern Utah was studied using observations collected during intensive observing period 4 of the Intermountain Precipitation Experiment (IPEX) on 14–15 February 2000. To illustrate some of its nonclassic characteristics, its origins are considered. The front developed following the landfall of two surface features on the Pacific coast (hereafter, the cold-frontal system). The first feature was a surface pressure trough and wind shift associated with a band of precipitation and rope cloud with little, if any, surface baroclinicity. The second, which made landfall 4 h later, was a wind shift associated with weaker precipitation that possessed a weak temperature drop at landfall (1°C in 9 h), but developed a stronger temperature drop as it moved inland over central California (4°–6°C in 9 h). As the first feature moved into the Great Basin, surface temperatures ahead of the trough increased due to downslope flow and daytime heating, whereas temperatures behind the trough decreased as precipitation cooled the near-surface air. Coupled with confluence in the lee of the Sierra Nevada, this trough developed into the principal baroclinic zone of the cold-frontal system (8°C in less than an hour), whereas the temperature drop with the second feature weakened further. The motion of the surface pressure trough was faster than the posttrough surface winds and was tied to the motion of the short-wave trough aloft. This case, along with previously published cases in the Intermountain West, challenges the traditional conceptual model of cold-frontal terminology, structure, and evolution.
Identifying Urban Structure Based on Transit-Oriented Development

The fast development of urbanization has led to imbalances in cities, causing congestion, pollution, and urban sprawl. In response to the growing concern over the distribution of demand and supply, a more coordinated urban structure is addressed in comprehensive planning processes. In this study, we attempt to identify urban structure using a Network–Activity–Human model under the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) concept, since TOD is usually regarded as an urban spatial planning tool. In order to explore the strengths and weaknesses of the urban structure, we define the TOD index and unbalance degree and then classify the urban areas accordingly. We take the city of Beijing as a case study and identify nine urban types. The results show a hierarchical urban structure: the city center covers most of the hotspots which display higher imbalances, the surroundings of the city center are less developed, and the city edges show higher potentials in both exploitation and transportation development. Moreover, we discuss the extent to which the spatial scale influences the unbalance degree and apply a sensitivity analysis based on the goals of different stakeholders. This methodology could be utilized at any study scale and in any situation, and the results could offer suggestions for more accurate urban planning, strengthening the relationship between TOD and spatial organization.
Long-Term Effects of Forest Harvesting on Habitat Use By Insectivorous Bats

1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 3 CHAPTER ONEGENERAL INTRODUCTION . 15 1.1 BACKGROUND . 15 1.2 LITTERATURE CITED . 18 CHAPTER TWO – ON THE WAY TO RECOVERY? LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF FOREST HARVESTING ON INSECT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION . 22 2.
Sex differences in monetary reward and punishment processing are associated with fast dynamics of dopamine synthesis

ABSTRACT Women and men show different behavioral sensitivity to reward and punishment, however, in humans the underlying neurotransmitter action has not yet been identified. Based on functional PET, we introduce a novel approach to enable the investigation of rapid changes in dopamine neurotransmission during cognitive task performance. In men, monetary gain induced 78% increase in dopamine synthesis vs. 49% for loss, whereas women showed the reverse pattern. Behavioral modeling revealed a direct association of task-specific dopamine synthesis with reward sensitivity in men and punishment sensitivity in women. Since dopaminergic sex differences were not reflected in BOLD signal changes, we emphasize a careful interpretation of fMRI-based studies on reward. This may have important implications in psychiatric conditions with sex-specific prevalence rates, alterations in reward processing and dopamine signaling. The high temporal resolution and magnitude of task-specific changes make fPET a promising tool to investigate such neurotransmitter dynamics in health and disease.
Head computed tomography protocol audit and correction in two tertiary health institutions in Anambra State of Nigeria

Background and Objective: The optimization of patient protection in computed tomography (CT) requires the application of examination-specific protocols to ensure that the dose to each patient is as low as reasonably achievable. Appropriateness of a protocol reflects in the output of the volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and dose-length product (DLP). This work aims to review and correct the likely weaknesses in default head CT protocols as a quality control measure. Materials and Methods: Departmental and Ethical Committee approvals were obtained. This retrospective study was undertaken between March and April 2016. The 75th percentile of the CTDIvoland DLP was calculated for 50 consecutive patients of both genders who were ≥18 years of age. On the CT console, radiographer (s)' manipulation of each of the ten common components of default protocols was scrutinized and compared with predetermined standard values from literature. Observed deviations necessitated appropriate interventional measures. A second calculation of the 75th percentile of CTDIvoland DLP was done for another group of 50 patients. Both pre- and post-interventional values were compared with the 60 mGy (CTDIvol) and 1050 mGy-cm (DLP) recommended by the European Commission. Results: The pre - interventional CTDIvol and DLP outputs were 65 mGy/1634 mGy-cm (Center A) and 86 mGy/1786 mGy-cm (Center B) whereas the post - interventional values were 58 mGy/986 mGy-cm (Center A) and 60 mGy/1030 mGy-cm (Center B), respectively. Weaknesses noted in protocols were excessive scan range (≥15 cm), <1 helical pitch, >1 s gantry rotation time, absence of gap, erratic manual mA manipulation, and neglect of prospective dose chart. Some posteroanterior scanograms were also wrongly acquired at an azimuth of 0° (anteroposterior). Conclusion: CT dose output in our locality could be compared to the values of the European Commission if meticulous and regular dose audit and correction is implemented.
Energy Efficient Power Domain Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Based Cellular Device-to-Device Communication for 5G Networks

This paper examines the resource block and power allocation in the power domain non-orthogonal multiple access (PD-NOMA) based cellular device-to-device (D2D) systems. To improve the energy efficiency of the D2D systems and to manage the mutual interference level as well as the quality of service (QoS) requirement of cellular users, different power level is applied to the D2D users sharing the same resource blocks (RBs) to the legacy users. It is essential to design an efficient resource block and power allocation method for PD-NOMA based cellular D2D systems which guarantee the successive interference cancellation (SIC) order in the power allocation solution. In this paper, we propose an iterative algorithm of resource block and power allocation for cellular D2D system which incorporates the SIC aware geometric water filling (GWF) method in the power allocation solution. It is shown that the proposed SIC aware geometric water filling achieves higher energy efficiency compared to iterative water-filling (IWF) power allocation and the GWF based orthogonal multiple access (OMA) method.
Edge Intelligence and the Industrial Internet of Things

The Industrial Internet of Things is a key enabler of a new set of capabilities for the manufacturing industry. As more objects become inter-connected, there is a greater need to a) securely share data and b) intelligently manage and exploit the potential of data that is accessible close to its source. Edge intelligence is a consequence of the desire to “push” computation and storage to the limits of network infrastructure, in a way that supports intelligent visualisation and interaction with data within the context that it is generated. This chapter examines pertinent topics for potential consumers of IIoT, and by way of a case study in the manufacturing domain, explores the limits and potential of edge intelligence.
Comparison of weight-adjusted dose versus fixed dose ondansetron in preventing shivering following spinal anaesthesia for caesarean deliveries

Background Spinal anaesthesia is an effective regional anaesthesia technique, which is preferred in almost 86% of caesarean sections in the United States and United Kingdom. Eighty percent of caesarean sections done at the Aga Khan University hospital are under spinal anaesthesia. Shivering is a common complication of spinal anaesthesia, it occurs in 40%-64% of patients after neuraxial anaesthesia. Shivering may cause maternal and fetal hypoxemia, maternal discomfort and a problem to the anaesthesiologists when it comes to monitoring the patient during caesarean sections. Ondansetron a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist is effective in treatment and prevention of post-spinal anesthesia shivering. In published studies, use of a fixed dose in patients with different weights, masked the dose effect ondansetron in preventing shivering, such that not adjusting the dose according to the weight of patients' resulted in a higher occurrence of shivering. No study has compared different doses of ondansetron in preventing shivering in parturient women who have had spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section. Objectives To determine if a weight-adjusted dose is better than a fixed dose of ondansetron in preventing shivering following spinal anesthesia for caesarean delivery. Method This was a randomized, double-blinded controlled trial of 124 women scheduled for elective caesarean surgery. The women were randomized into two equal groups. The intervention group received intravenous ondansetron weight adjusted dosing at 0.1mg/kg and the control group received a fixed dose of 4mg before spinal anesthesia. The occurrence and severity of shivering and other outcomes, such as headache, pruritus were assessed and recorded during the surgery and post-operative period. Results A total of 124 patients were included in the study. Social demographic data and baseline vital signs did not differ significantly between the groups. Shivering was observed in 14 patients (22.6%) in the control group that received 4mg ondansetron and 7 patients (11.3%) in the intervention group that had 0.1mg/kg of ondansetron, but there was no statistical difference between the groups (p- value 0.090). The severity of shivering was greater in the control group compared to intervention group where patients who developed grade two shivering were 8.1% to 0% respectively. (P value 0.047). There was no difference in the occurrence of pruritus between the two groups. No patient required treatment for very severe shivering. Conclusion This study, found that ondansetron weight adjusted dose at 0.1mg/kg, reduced the severity of shivering when compared to a fixed dose ondansetron at 4mg.
Money Demand and Seignorage Maximization before the End of the Zimbabwean Dollar

Abstract The delayed end to Zimbabwe's hyperinflation in 2009 gave rise to an official dollarization. Before then, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) operated on the correct side of the inflation tax Laffer curve. Estimated seignorage maximizing rates derive from Bayesian, time-varying parameter, structural vector autoregressions. Monthly changes in the ratio of prices for the Old Mutual insurance company's shares, which trade in London and Harare, serve as the measure of inflation from 1999 to 2008. Orthogonalized impulse response functions indicate that monthly seignorage maximizing rates ranged from 242% to 315% and exceeded all monthly inflation rates.
Risk factors of pelvic inflammatory disease: A prospective study

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an ascending infection in which pathogenic micro-organisms spread from the lower genital tract to the upper genital tract of females. It is a disease that affects young, sexually active, reproductive-age women. Exact estimates of the incidence and prevalence of PID are unclear largely because PID is not a reportable disease. Knowledge of pelvic Inflammatory disease and its epidemiology is essential to understand reproductive morbidity in women. This study analyzes the effect of demographic factors and risk factors in pelvic inflammatory disease on women in their reproductive age. This is a prospective study in which 200 patients presenting with definitive diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease or presenting with clinical features suggestive of PID and later on diagnosed as acute pelvic infection were included in the study. Their demographic and epidemiological data were recorded. The highest number of women was observed in age group of 25-29 yrs. Maximum number of women were illiterate, belonged to the middle income group and were Muslims. All of them presented with heterosexual orientation and maximum number of females was using barrier methods for contraception. Most of the females in the study were found to be multiparous and all of them confirmed involvement with single partner only, however their husbands replied involvement with more than one partner.
Antibiotics in children with bronchial asthma

Background: This study was conducted to determine if oral antibiotics started at presentation reduce the duration of acute exacerbations of bronchial asthma by comparing the durations of mild to moderate exacerbations of asthma managed with or without antibiotics in children below 12 years. Methods: In this systematic trial, we allocated the eligible children to antibiotic group (who also received standard of care and control (the standard of care) group (n=40 in each group) and compared the duration of acute asthma exacerbation between the two groups. Results: The mean difference of duration of mild and moderate exacerbations between the antibiotic and control group was 4.76 hours (95% Confidence Interval (CI) of -36.76 to 28.84) which was found not to be statistically significant (p value- 0.482). Conclusions: There was no significant reduction in the duration of mild to moderate exacerbations of asthma in children below 12 years by the administration of empirical antibiotics.
Pheromones can cull an invasive amphibian without releasing survivors from intraspecific competition

Attempts to cull an invasive species often create a paradoxical situation, whereby the consequent reduction in invader densities frees the survivors from intraspeci ﬁ c competition — and hence, increases the viability of those survivors. Our laboratory experiments with invasive cane toads ( Rhinella marina ) show that this back ﬁ re effect can occur with pheromone-baited trapping. Eliminating most of the tadpoles from a tank accelerates metamorphosis of the survivors and increases the size (and thus quality) of those metamorphs. Thus, trapping is likely to reduce recruitment only if the program catches all, or almost all, of the tadpoles in a waterbody. In contrast, toad control using the suppression pheromone, either alone or alongside trapping, causes similar rates of mortality as via trapping alone, but the survivors exhibit smaller mass at metamorphosis and a longer, not shorter, larval period. Thus, the combination of pheromone-based suppression and trapping can reduce effective recruitment of cane toads more success-fully than can either method when used alone.
PENGARUH TATA KELOLA PERUSAHAAN, DISPERSI KEPEMILIKAN, BIAYA KEPEMILIKAN PADA KINERJA KEUANGAN PERUSAHAAN PERBANKAN YANG TERDAFTAR DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA

This study aimed to analyze the effect of corporate governance, dispersion ownership, cost ownership on financial performance. Corporate governance measured by CGPI (Corporate Governance Perception Index) based on the rating that has been prepared by IICG (Indonesian Institute of Corporate Governance), dispersion ownership measured by adding up the shares owned by the public and the number of shares outstanding. Cost ownership is measured by dividends per share and earnings per share. As well as the financial performance measured by the value of Return On Equity and Tobin’s Q . Sampling technique used is purposive sampling. Data analysis techniques for banking companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) in the period 2012-2017. It was found that corporate governance has a negative and significant effect on the bank financial performance ( Return On Equity, Tobin’s q). Dispersion ownership has a negatif and significant effect on the bank financial performance. Cost ownership has a negatif and significant effect on the bank financial performance.
Infection prevention: guidelines for healthcare facilities with limited resources.

A key purpose of the manual is to enable hospital administrators clinic managers and healthcare professionals working in limited resource settings to develop their own uniform infection prevention policies and service delivery guidelines. It is recognized however that the strategies priorities and proven methods of infection risk reduction described in this manual will need to be adapted to reflect the existing conditions in each country. Only through this process can much needed changes be implemented and patient care in hospitals and clinics improved.
Study of Forming Process in Memristive Devices using Rectangular

This work focuses on the study of behavior of memristors during the process of forming, i.e., setting the resistance of the element and testing the stability of the resistance. Two types of BS-AF memristive elements are selected for laboratory experiments. The goal of the research is to investigate the conditions under which the resistance of the element is changed when voltages of different levels, duration and polarization are applied. In particular, we are interested in finding the threshold voltage value which is needed to modify of state of the element. Such a value defines the voltage level below which one can safely measure instantaneous value of memristor’s resistance (data read operation) without changing this value. The results obtained show that the threshold value depends on the polarization of the applied voltage. Memristors under study are much more sensitive to applying a negative voltage. This means, that a significantly smaller value of the voltage is needed to switch from low to high resistance level than to switch from high to low resistance level. It has also been observed that the final value of the memristor’s resistance depends on the number and level of applied voltage impulses. This study confirms that BS-AF memristors can operate in more than two states in a stable way, which can be beneficial when using memristors in memory structures or for neuromorphic applications. Streszczenie. W pracy opisano wyniki badań nad procesem formowania memrystorów, tzn. programowaniem poziomu rezystancji chwilowej elementu oraz stabilnością uzyskanej wartości. W części pomiarowej wykorzystano dwa rodzaje elementów memrystorowych z grupy BS-AF. Celem badań było określenie warunków niezbędnych do zmiany rezystancji memrystora podczas wzbudzania napięciami o różnych poziomach, czasie trwania i polaryzacji. W szczególności poszukiwano wartości progowej napięcia zasilającego potrzebnej do modyfikacji stanu memrystora. Wartość taka definiuje poziom napięcia, poniżej którego możliwy jest pomiar wartości chwilowej memrystancji (operacja odczytu danych), bez zmiany opisywanej wartości. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że wartość ta zależy od polaryzacji przyłożonego napięcia. Badane memrystory są znacznie bardziej czułe na napięcie ujemne. Oznacza to, że znacząco niższy poziom napięcia jest potrzebny aby przełączyć memrystor ze stanu niskiej do wysokiej rezystancji niż odwrotnie. Zaobserwowano również, że ostateczna wartość rezystancji chwilowej memrystora zależy od liczby i poziomu impulsów napięciowych. Eksperyment ten potwierdza, iż memrystory typu BS-AF mogą uzyskiwać więcej niż dwa poziomy rezystancji chwilowej w stabilny sposób, co może być kluczowe dla wykorzystania ich w strukturach pamięci lub systemach neuromorficznych. (Formowanie elementów memrystorowych napięciowymi sygnałami prostokątnymi)
Prediction of the Intention to Undergo Cosmetic Surgery Among Female Students Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action

Cosmetic surgeries are performed to change the appearance of people and improve their self-esteem, and according to available reports, Iran is ranked first in terms of the percentage of cosmetic surgeries performed. Therefore, this study aimed to predict the intention to undergo cosmetic surgery among female students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences based on the reasoned action theory. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 340 female students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences selected by the random stratified sampling method in 2017. Data collection tools were demographic variables and the questionnaire that measured theoretical constructs of the reasoned action theory about cosmetic surgery. The questionnaire was completed by the participants through the self-reporting method. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 24; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) using the independent t-test, 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation, and linear regression. Students often obtained information about cosmetic surgery through the Internet (63.2%). Students obtained 45%, 66.4%, 49.2%, 77.5%, and 48.1% of acquired scores for behavioral beliefs, evaluations of behavioral outcomes, motivation for obedience, normative beliefs, and behavioral intention associated with cosmetic surgery, respectively. There was a positive and significant correlation between the constructs of the reasoned action theory. Among the studied constructs, motivation for obedience, evaluations of behavioral outcomes and behavioral beliefs had a significant role in explaining the behavioral intention variance. Considering the role of the constructs of the reasoned action theory and the motivation for obedience in the formation of the process of intention to undergo cosmetic surgery, training by peer group can play an important role in reducing these pressures. Therefore, the formation of student cores under the supervision of academic associations of universities and the training of these cores for the transfer of information and skills to peer groups is recommended.
A Dynamic Model of Systemic Bank Runs

This paper develops a tractable dynamic model to study bank runs in a financial system, featuring the linkage between bank runs and asset market prices. The model speaks to the evolution of a systemic crisis. In our model economy, there are many banks and they share a common asset market. The interim liquidation value of a bank is endogenous and depends on its asset fundamentals, on the status of other banks and hence the aggregate fire sales in the system, and on the endogenous path-dependent market liquidity condition. We analytically characterize the dynamics of the interplay between market liquidity and bank runs. Our model shows runs-illiquidity traps with two steady-state equilibria and a crisis process consisting of an initial gradual decline followed by a sudden sharp crash in the transitional dynamics. Our theory explains empirical facts and gives new policy implications.