Vegetation change in the regional surface climate over East Asia due to global warming using BIOME4

This study investigates the possible changes in the regional surface climate due to global warming from a MM5 downscaling simulation for the period of 1971-2100. The main focus of this study is to observe the changes in vegetation types over East Asia. BIOME4, an equilibrium terrestrial biosphere model, is utilized to simulate vegetation patterns. Regional projections of this study show the increase of surface air temperature by 5◦C and precipitation by 6% over East Asia in the end of the 21st century. The present study also noticed that the increasing trend of temperature is associated with the increasing trends of the minimum temperature of the coldest month. Therefore, the region of favorable temperature conditions for vegetation growth in lower latitudes seems to extend toward the higher latitude. It leads to a northward shift of vegetation distribution in the lower latitudes besides the area extension. For instance, the trend in which the warm mixed forest and temperate deciduous forest shift northward may be distinguished. At the same time, the area of temperate deciduous forest pervades the area and replaces temperate grassland regions. Of interest, the tropical evergreen forest is expected to appear over southern China in the end of the 21st century. The possible vegetation changes are mainly affected by a temperature increase rather than a precipitation increase

Hexa: Self-Improving for Knowledge-Grounded Dialogue System

A common practice in knowledge-grounded dialogue generation is to explicitly utilize intermediate steps (e.g., web-search, memory retrieval) with modular approaches. However, data for such steps are often inaccessible compared to those of dialogue responses as they are unobservable in an ordinary dialogue. To fill in the absence of these data, we develop a self-improving method to improve the generative performances of intermediate steps without the ground truth data. In particular, we propose a novel bootstrapping scheme with a guided prompt and a modified loss function to enhance the diversity of appropriate self-generated responses. Through experiments on various benchmark datasets, we empirically demonstrate that our method successfully leverages a self-improving mechanism in generating intermediate and final responses and improves the performances on the task of knowledge-grounded dialogue generation

Effect of Peierls transition in armchair carbon nanotube on dynamical behaviour of encapsulated fullerene

The changes of dynamical behaviour of a single fullerene molecule inside an armchair carbon nanotube caused by the structural Peierls transition in the nanotube are considered. The structures of the smallest C20 and Fe@C20 fullerenes are computed using the spin-polarized density functional theory. Significant changes of the barriers for motion along the nanotube axis and rotation of these fullerenes inside the (8,8) nanotube are found at the Peierls transition. It is shown that the coefficients of translational and rotational diffusions of these fullerenes inside the nanotube change by several orders of magnitude. The possibility of inverse orientational melting, i.e. with a decrease of temperature, for the systems under consideration is predicted.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Pseudoaneurysm of the Medial Superior Genicular Artery after Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy

We describe a case of 43-year-old man who had a pseudoaneurysm of the medial superior genicular artery after arthroscopic partial meniscectomy with standard anterolateral and anteromedial portals. Pseudoaneurysm of the medial superior genicular artery has been reported at the previous superomedial portal site after arthroscopy. Described herein is a unique case that involved the medial superior genicular artery at the previous anteromedial portal site after arthroscopy. The pseudoaneurysm was successfully treated with transcatheter embolization

Audit market structure, fees and choice in a period of structural change: evidence from the UK – 1998–2003

This paper presents evidence on audit market concentration and auditor fee levels in the UK market in the crucial period of structural change following the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) merger and encompassing Andersen’s demise (1998–2003). Given the current interest in auditor choice, analysis is also undertaken at the individual audit firm level and by industry sector. There is evidence of significant upward pressure on audit fees since 2001 but only for smaller auditees. Audit fee income for top tier auditors (Big 5/4) did not change significantly while the number of auditees fell significantly, consistent with a move towards larger, less risky, clients. A decomposition analysis of the aggregate Big 5/4 concentration ratio changes over the period identifies the impact of four distinct consumer-based reasons for change: leavers; net joiners; non-par auditor switches; and (only for the audit fees measure) audit fee changes. Andersen’s demise markedly reduced the level of inequality among the top tier firms but PwC retained its position as a ‘dominant firm’. On switching to the new auditor, former Andersen clients experienced an initial audit fee rise broadly in line with inflation, with no evidence of fee premia or discounting. They also reported significantly lower NAS fees, consistent with audit firms and auditees responding to public concerns about perceptions of auditor independence. There is no general evidence of knowledge spillover effects or cross-subsidisation of the audit fee by NAS. The combined findings provide no evidence to indicate that recent structural changes have resulted in anticompetitive pricing; the key concerns remain the lack of audit firm choice and issues concerning the governance and accountability of audit firms

Effectiveness of Proactive Quitline Service and Predictors of Successful Smoking Cessation: Findings from a Preliminary Study of Quitline Service for Smoking Cessation in Korea

This study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the first proactive Quitline service for smoking cessation in Korea and determine the predictors of successful smoking cessation. Smoking participants were voluntarily recruited from 18 community health centers. The participants were proactively counseled for smoking cessation via 7 sessions conducted for 30 days from November 1, 2005 to January 31, 2006. Of the 649 smoking participants, 522 completed 30 days at the end of the study and were included in the final analysis. The continuous abstinence rate at 30 days of follow-up was found to be 38.3% (200/522), in the intention-to-treat analysis. Compared with non-quitters, quitters were mostly male, smoked <20 cigarettes/day, had started smoking at the age of ≥20 yr, and were less dependent on nicotine. Based on the stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis, the significant predictors of successful smoking cessation were determined to be male sex, low cigarette consumption, and older age at smoking initiation. We investigated the short-term effectiveness of the Quitline service and determined the predictors of successful smoking cessation