Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
615 A New Equitable Score Suitable for Verifying Precipitation in NWP

A new equitable score is developed for monitoring precipita tion forecasts and for guiding forecast system development. To accommodate the difficult distribution of p recipitation, the score measures error in ‘probability space’ through use of the climatological cumulativ e distribution function. For sufficiently skillful forecasting systems, the new score is less sensitive to samp ling uncertainty than other established scores. It is therefore called here ‘Stable Equitable Error in Probabi lity Space’ (SEEPS). Weather is partitioned into three categories: ‘dry’, ‘light precipitation’ and ‘heavy precipitation’. SEEPS adapts to the climate of the region in question so that it assesses the salient aspects of the local weather, encouraging ‘refinement’ and ‘discrimination’ and discouraging ‘hedging’. To permit co ntinuous monitoring of a system whose resolution is increasing with time, forecasts are verified against poin t bservations. With some careful choices, observation error and lack of representativeness of model grid-b ox averages are found to have minimal impact. SEEPS can identify key forecasting errors including the ove r-pr diction of drizzle, failure to predict heavy large-scale precipitation, and incorrectly locating conv ective cells. Area-averages are calculated taking into account the observation density, so that all sub-regions ar e treated more equally. A gain of ∼2 days, at lead-times 3–9 days, over the last 14 years is found in extrat ropical scores of forecasts made at the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). This ga in is due to system improvements, not the increased amount of data assimilated. SEEPS may also be appl icable for verifying other quantities that suffer from difficult spatio-temporal distributions.
Core Labour Standards in Trade Agreements: From Multilateralism to Bilateralism

Although discussion concerning the inclusion of core labour standards has been excluded from the Doha agenda, the question continues to be debated. In fact, on an international level, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has become increasingly active since the World Trade Organization (WTO) Singapore Ministerial Declaration. On a regional level, social clauses are now being introduced inside preferential-trade agreements. These evolutions feed the debate regarding the link between labour standards and trade. This article takes a closer look at this debate and re-assesses the traditional economic analysis, which is today more sophisticated and balanced than was the case a few years ago. Improving labour standards, in association with trade openness, might speed up development. However, governments do not necessarily choose the best way to promote social and economic development. This fact can be explained by political economic analysis. In this article, we weigh the pro- and anti-social clause arguments of interest groups both within developed and developing countries, to explain national choices concerning labour standards. The issue also concerns the stability of international trade relations. We stress that although they are excluded from multilateral arrangements, core labour standards provisions are omnipresent in bilateral or regional preferential-trade agreements. This paradox is likely to jeopardize the multilateral system. Putting aside ethical or moral considerations, we show that economic arguments can possibly allow the inclusion of a non-protectionist, realistic and reasonable trade-labour linkage. We conclude that the inclusion of such a clause in multilateral trade law is less dangerous than its non-inclusion.
Update on nutritional aspects of gluten-free diet in celiac patients

A strict gluten-free diet is the only currently available therapeutic treatment for patients with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine associated with a permanent intolerance to gluten proteins. In recent years, the dramatically prompted changes in the dietary habit of an increasingly large population (celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity and gluten allergy) has resulted in rising demands for glutenfree products. Before starting gluten-free diet, alteration in intestinal absorption capacity of celiac patients involves deficiencies of nutrients, vitamins and dietary minerals. The habitual poor gluten-free food choices in addition to inherent deficiencies in the gluten-free diet of diagnosed celiac patients may relate with dietary inadequacies. Therefore dietary assessment and counseling at the time of celiac disease diagnosis and ongoing care are crucial as well as fortification of gluten-free foods also need to be considered. This article reviews the nutritional aspects of gluten-free diet in celiac patients and provides an up-date of dietetic recommendations to correct these deficiencies and to ensure optimum gluten-free diet compliance.
Landscape Attributes Of Subdivided Ranches

The western states have become the fastest growing region in the United States during the 1990's. Previously, people living in the West could be divided into two dissimilar groups-urban dwellers in cities and larger towns, and those residing in rural areas on farms and ranches and in small towns (Figure 1). Today, differences between Western urban and rural areas are less distinct as a new segment of the population moves onto small acreages, commonly called "ranchettes. " These small tracts of land sold for rural residences come almost exclusively from the subdivision of farms and ranches. As a result, many rural localities are experiencing rapid population growth from such demographic shifts (Riebsame 1997). These rural areas are attracting a disproportionate share of young families and college graduates (Nord and Cromartie 1 999). Most notably, subdivisions fragment rangelands primarily from construction of roads and buildings. Theobald and his associates (1996) evaluated landscape change following recent subdivisions of ranches in the East River Valley above Gunnison, Colorado. They found that total road length increased by 60 percent between 1964 and 1994, with more than one-third of new road construction occurring during the last five years. The number of buildings more than doubled during the same 30-year period. Subdivided parcels in the mountains are frequently situated in valley bottoms and on nearby mountain slopes (Figure 2). Along the foothills between the plains and montane zone of the Rocky Mountain Front Range, rural areas are similarly being subdivided for residences. However, the physiographic features of privately-owned Front Range landscapes are somewhat different than those found at higher elevations. Proximity to public lands, primarily National Parks and National Forests, is common to both situations. Unlike 19th Century pioneers to the region who commonly established homesites in drainages for protection from wind and storms, foothills subdivisions are repeatedly laid out on high ground overlooking surrounding landscapes. New home construction and well digging technologies, coupled with no necessity of having to care for livestock, allow today's foothills ranchette resident to place a premium upon panoramic viewscapes. Although subdivision parcels exceeding 35 acres are widespread, many are partitioned into smaller sizes. Land val-
An extended HTN knowledge representation based on a graphical notation

This work presents both an extended HTN Knowledge Representation based on a graphical notation inspired in commercial standards and a suite of tools, named IActive Knowledge Studio, based on this representation aimed at fully supporting a knowledge engineering process that, starting with the acquisition and representation of planning knowledge, ends with the integration and deployment of planning applications. The suite is also intended to be a knowledge engineering workbench for HTN planning applications deployment. This workbench includes several interesting features like a fully integrated representation of problem and domain knowledge and a new graphical and intuitive notation for easily representing HTN domains. It also provides tools for data integration with external data sources as well as an enhanced visual environment for HTN domains and plan validation.
Making the grade: Mentors' perspectives of a course-based, smart, healthy campus pilot project for building mental health resiliency through mentorship and physical activity

The purpose of this academic-year-long pilot study was to explore senior Kinesiology students' (i.e., 'mentors'; N = 30) experiences in an undergraduate course focused on building resilience among first years via physical activity (PA) and mentorship. The psychosocial experiences of mentors were also tracked via qualitative interviews and validated questionnaires at pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. Inductive content analysis revealed mentors' perspectives of the program's positive influence on their PA, resilience, and mental health; and some added stressors. One-way, repeated-measures ANOVAs indicated few statistically significant findings over time regarding participants' levels of: resilience [F(2, 54) = 8.82 , p < . 05]; behavioural control [F(2, 54) = 25.44, p < . 05 ]; and positive affect [F(2, 54) = 52.97, p < . 05 ]. This pilot program demonstrates promise for future university-based interventions.
Hospital Flight from Minority Communities: How Our Existing Civil Rights Framework Fosters Racial Inequality in Healthcare

In this article, I address the failures of civil rights laws in preventing the disparate allocation of health care resources by focusing on Title VI challenges to hospital closures. I use these cases to critique our current civil rights framework and to show how certain structural and ideological foundations of this framework have undermined our fight for true equality in health care. First, despite the importance of government funding as the means to fight racial disparities, the government has consistently and consciously made funding decisions that foster racial inequality, creating a health care system that is incompatible with racial equality. Second, the government has also undermined its purported commitment to civil rights by rendering the administrative arm responsible for civil rights enforcement ineffective and by abandoning its facilities planning responsibility to ensure the fair allocation of hospital services. Finally, courts have refused to provide a meaningful check on the government failures in this area, creating doctrinal barriers that make it impossible to use Title VI to prevent hospital flight from minority communities. These failures have exacerbated racial disparities in health care, and engendered feelings of despair and anger among minority communities who feel betrayed by the political, judicial, and health care systems. These failures have also shaped our civil rights discourse in ways that discourage an honest critique of the hospital closure problem and stymie our vision for meaningful reform. In the final part of this Article, I use lessons from the hospital relocation problem to argue for a more comprehensive and creative plan of action to address the unequal allocation of hospital resources.
Spontaneous Bilateral Frontal Extradural Hematomain a Sickle Cell Disease: A Case Report of Rare Neurosurgical Crisis.

Introduction: Sickle-cell disease is common in many parts of India, where the prevalence has ranged from 9.4 to 22.2% in endemic areas (1). Acute neurological complications in patients of sickle cell disease can be either ischemic or hemorrhagic. Primary hemorrhagic stroke is a not uncommon complication of sickle cell disease and spontaneous extradural hemorrhage (EDH) is an even more rare complication. The various causes reported include: Sinus infection, coagulopathies, vascular malformation of dura, middle ear or orbital infection, and tumor (2,3).
Adaptive genetic potential of European silver fir in Romania in the context of climate change

Five provenance tests with twenty-six European silver fir autochthonous populations were used in order to assess the response of populations to climate change. Height growth and diameter at breast height of trees at age 31 years were considered as response variables and eight climate variables as predictors. Climatic variables for the trial sites and for origin location of provenances were calculated from 1961 to 2010. The experiments revealed a large genetic variability within species level and a plastic response to climate change, which certainly has a genetic basis. The transfer to warmer climate has resulted in an increase of the provenances growth, in the trial sites situated on the lower vegetation layer. But growth is significantly influenced by mean annual temperature and annual precipitation of planting site and also by the differences in mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, monthly mean temperature in July and July precipitation between provenance site and test site. These are the climatic factors which should be associated with risk in case of the transfer of forest reproductive materials. The provenance origin should be especially considered if the species will be planted outside of its current climate optimum. The best provenances in terms of total height and diameter at 1.30 m came from origin climate close to site climate, small transfer distances. Based on growth response functions and RCP4.5 scenario, we could project the shifts in species distribution for 2050s and 2100s and identify vulnerable populations.
Bioequivalence of Two Oral Formulations of Modafinil Tablets in HealthyMale Subjects under Fed and Fasting Conditions

Modafinil is a novel wake-promoting agent for oral administration. The aim of this study was to determine bioequivalence of two tablet formulations: Hikma Modafinil 200 mg tablets relative to the originator Provigil® 200 mg tablets after oral administration to healthy subjects under both fed and fasting conditions. Twenty eight subjects, in either fed and fast studies, were enrolled and completed the crossover. The method was designed as open-label, randomized two-way crossover study with a 7-day washout period for each study. Pharmacokinetic parameters of modafinil were estimated using standard non-compartmental methods. The Cmax, Tmax, AUC0-t and AUC0-∞ were calculated. The results of this bioequivalence study showed the equivalence of the two studied products in terms of the rate of absorption as indicated by Cmax and in terms of the extent of absorption as indicated by AUC0-t and AUC0- ∞. The parametric 90% confidence intervals of the mean values for the Test/Reference ratio were in each case well within the bioequivalence acceptable boundaries of 80.00 – 125.00 % for the pharmacokinetic parameters AUC0-t, AUC0-∞ and Cmax. The effect of food is obvious where the Cmax and AUC are lower in the fed study compared with fasting.
Circulating miR-106 a high expression predicts worse prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

This study aimed to investigate the associations of miR-106a/b expression with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) clinical pathological features and prognosis. 152 HCC patients and 76 health controls (HCs) were recruited in this prospective cohort study. Plasma samples were collected from HCC patients before treatments and HCs. Total RNA was extracted from plasma and microRNA (miR)-106a/b expressions were determined by Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Plasma miR-106a/b expressions were increased in HCC patients compared with health controls (both P<0.001). Plasma miR-106a expression was found to be positively correlated with tumor size (P=0.035), lymph node metastasis (P=0.042) and TNM stage (P=0.034); while miR-106b level was observed to be only associated with tumor size (P=0.015). No correlations of miR-106a/b expressions with other clinicopathological features were found in this study. Kaplan-Meier curve illustrated that HCC patients with low miR-106a expression in plasma had a longer OS compared with high expression (P=0.005), while no differences of OS were observed between high and low expressions in miR-106b (P=0.113). In addition, univariate and multivariate Cox’s proportional hazards regression were performed, and we found miR-106a high expression (P=0.021) was an independent factor in predicting shorter OS, as well as lymph node metastasis (P=0.037) and vascular invasion (P=0.047). In conclusion, our study validated that circulating miR-106a expression could be regarded as a novel and promising biomarker of prognosis in HCC patients.
Model-based Testing Simulating Unstable Networks and Devices for IoT Software IoT

IoT devices sometimes operate under unstable network environments because of restrictions such as location or size of the devices. In addition, while many devices work in IoT environments, there is a possibility that multiple devices break down at the same time. In order to test whether programs work correctly even under various unstable environments, model-based testing, a testing method which extracts diverse test cases automatically and performs automated tests, is considered to be effective. However, how to describe many devices running asynchronously, and how to implement device failures or unstable network environments in automated testing, are unclear. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes extended methods of modelbased testing suitable for programs working in IoT environments. First, the test method is extended to improve expressiveness of test models. This extension enables describing unstable systems by designating concerns such as error rates or the magnitude of network delay as statistics. Second, the concept of time is introduced to model-based testing for simulating and testing devices running in real time. Third, packet forwarders are inserted in network communication paths so that they can be controlled by the test tool. This method enables performing tests while causing network disconnection or delay artificially without modifying the programs. Moreover, the test tool is extended by abstracting these three extensions so that it can be easily used when test models are written. In order to show usefulness of these methods, tests of a server and a client library of MQTT, a transport protocol designed for IoT environments, with Modbat, a modelbased test tool, are performed. Moreover, simple applications using an MQTT server and MQTT clients are created and tests of them are performed.
Optimal control of a simplified natural convection-radiation model

The study of optimal control problems for the two fields of fluid flow and radiation gained considerable attention during the last decade. In this paper we present a comprehensive analysis of an optimal boundary control for a combined natural convection-radiation model, which has applications in the design of combustion chambers or for the control of cooling processes, glass production, or crystal growth. The model under investigation consists of the transient Boussinesq system coupled with a nonlinear heat equation and the SP3 model for radiation. First, we show the existence of unique, regular solutions for this forward system, which is challenging due to the cross-diffusion character of the SP3 model, since it does not allow for the application of standard maximum principles. Second, we show the existence of an optimal boundary control and analyze the linearized state system, which yields the existence of adjoint states and the differentiability of the control-to-state map.
Evolution of cell populations in vitro: peculiarities, driving forces, mechanisms and consequences

This review outlines the major features and distinctions of cell populations, types and directions of selection in such populations. Population-genetic basis for cell adaptation to growth conditions in vitro is elucidated; in particular, peculiarities of genome evolution in the course of cell dedifferentiation and further cell adaptation to growth conditions in passaged culture are evaluated. Main factors of variation and selection in cell populations in vitro, influence of growth conditions on structure of cell populations and some regularities of cultured cells and regenerated plants are considered. Details of creation of stable cell lines-producers of biologically active substances are presented. Views and suppositions of author resulting from analysis of both literature data and own multiyear studies on cell population genetics are set forth. Among others are substantiated such key statements: cell culture in vitro presents dynamically-heterogeneous biological system, clone population, which is developing (evolving) as a result of major driving factors of evolution – variation, heredity, selection and drift of genes (genotypes); interaction between these processes determines the biological characteristics of each particular cell line grown in specific conditions; in adaptation of cells to growth conditions in vitro one can single out three periods: the initial population of isolated cells, the period of strain (cell line) formation and the established strain. The division into periods is determined by the type, direction and intensity of «natural» selection that acts in cell population. The formed (adapted to growth in vitro) strains are genetically heterogeneous, they are characterized by the presence of physiological and genetic homeostasis, which are mostly caused by the action of stabilizing selection; cultured cells of higher plants are able to synthesize practically all classes of secondary (specialized) compounds (alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, etc.); any somatic cell with living (functionally active) nucleus during its isolation and further cultivation in tissue culture, as a result of the process of «somaclonal» variability occurring according to the N. I. Vavilov’s law of homologous series in hereditary variability, can restore in it’s descendants, including regenerated plants, the entire genetic polymorphism (or at least a significant part of it) characteristic of the plant’s species and may be even it’s genus. This provides an opportunity to preserve and restore the natural polymorphism in cultured cells and tissues in vitro.
An Application of Regression Models with Student Ratings in Determining Course Effectiveness.

The purpose of this study was to construct regression models that can identify sources of desired or undesired influences on student ratings. The approach uses course effectiveness findings developed with regression models to identify a possible solution to the two problems in using student ratings as a major component of course effectiveness: (1) variables other than teacher performance may contribute to ratings; and (2) students may tend to be generous in their ratings. The sample included 114 undergraduate courses from the Department of Elementary Education at National Hualien Teachers College, Taiwan, in 1999. The Student Ratings of Instruction form was used to measure students' perceptions of faculty performance. Five background variables are included in the developed regression equation. They are student enthusiasm, participation, expected grade, grading standard, and course difficulty. The results of this study indicate that 99.1% of the courses are rated above the middle of the entire raw-score scale. The T scores (adjusted scores), converted from the residual in regression models, are between 16.45 and 74.94. Twenty courses rated effective by the unadjusted score are classified as ineffective by the adjusted score. Eighteen courses judged ineffective through the unadjusted score are classified as effective through the adjusted score. The consistency of course-ranking classification is 66.7%. The correlation between unadjusted scores and adjusted scores in 0.447. The correlation between unadjusted course rankings and adjusted course rankings is 0.334. (Contains 37 references and 8 tables.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.