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Quality control is essential for genome assemblies; however, a consensus has yet to be reached on what metrics should be adopted for the evaluation of assembly quality. N50 is widely used for contiguity measurement, but its effectiveness is constantly in question. Prevailing metrics for the completeness evaluation focus on gene space, yet challenging areas such as tandem repeats are commonly overlooked. Achieving correctness has become an indispensable dimension for quality control, while prevailing assembly releases lack scores reflecting this aspect. We propose a metric set with a set of statistic indexes for effective, comprehensive evaluation of assemblies and provide a score of a finished assembly for each metric, which can be utilized as a benchmark for achieving high-quality genome assemblies. The lack of a consistent language highlights the value for consensus of the metric set for quality evaluation of genome assembly. We propose a metric set covering eight metrics to measure assembly quality. N50 is not robust enough to measure assembly contiguity. We suggest the ratio of contig counting to chromosome pair number to compensate for the flaws of N50. To assess completeness, the major challenge lies in tandem repeats, including centromeres, telomeres, and ribosomal loci. Also, organellar genomes should be concerned. Correctness is frequently overlooked. To measure it, we suggest assessing both base-level and structural error. Technologies are reaching adulthood to generate a finished eukaryotic assembly. We provide a score of a finished genome for each metric as a reference to measure assembly quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization (WHO) encourages countries to provide appropriate vaccinations for children, adolescents, and relevant adult populations. Childhood programme have been the focus of global investments, but recent pandemics have increasingly demonstrated the value of life course vaccination. Our objective is to compare national life course immunization programmatic maturity prior to mass COVID-19 vaccine introduction, the largest adult vaccination programme, globally. As coverage estimates (typically used to assess childhood programmes) are not available for adult vaccinations, this analysis pilots a standardized quantitative metric of programmatic maturity. Through consultation with vaccination experts, we developed a standardized approach to assess national immunization programme maturity across the life course. In accordance with expert input, five vaccines were selected to represent delivery across the life course: diphtheria tetanus toxoid and pertussis (DTP); measles (MCV) second dose; human papillomavirus (HPV) final dose; pneumococcal conjugate (PCV) final dose; and seasonal influenza annual dose. Experts recommended inclusion of the following indicators for each vaccine: a legal mandate (national policy), experience delivering the vaccine (programme duration), and vaccine use (uptake for relevant populations). We developed a metric accordingly that provides up to 5 points per vaccine ("vaccine specific maturity score") which when summed forms the "life course maturity score", with a maximum score of 25. We analysed the prevalence of national policies, experience, and use by region and World Bank income group. More than 55% of the 194 WHO Member States had childhood vaccine policies for all three of the vaccines considered (DTP, MCV, and PCV) compared to 60% for HPV (proxy for adolescent vaccination programme) and 52% for seasonal influenza (proxy for adult vaccination programme). Childhood vaccination programmes (e.g., MCV and DTP) had the highest vaccine specific maturity scores, while seasonal influenza and HPV vaccination programmes had much lower scores. The national life course maturity scores ranged from 1 to 23, with a global median of 12 (IQR: 8; 16). The piloted metric provides an overview of the maturity of life course immunization programmes. The metric is structured to be a flexible, rapid resource that can be used to assess other combinations of vaccines across the life course. The findings from this paper provide a baseline of immunization programme maturity for childhood, adolescent, and adult vaccination programmes immediately prior to the COVID-19 vaccine introduction. This maturity score, or adaptations of this approach, could be used to monitor the trajectory of national immunization programme maturity across the life course in the years ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given an edge-weighted metric complete graph with n vertices, the maximum weight metric triangle packing problem is to find a set of n / 3 vertex-disjoint triangles with the total weight of all triangles in the packing maximized. Several simple methods can lead to a 2/3-approximation ratio. However, this barrier is not easy to break. Chen et al. proposed a randomized approximation algorithm with an expected ratio of (0.66768 − ε) for any constant ε > 0. In this paper, we improve the approximation ratio to (0.66835 − ε). Furthermore, we can derandomize our algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For vertices u and v in a strong digraph D , the directed distance from u to v is the length of a shortest directed path from u to v in D. Directed distance is not a metric in general. Chartrand and Tian (1997) proposed a metric called sum distance on strong digraphs. The sum distance between vertices u , v in a strong digraph D is defined to be s d D (u , v) = d D (u , v) + d D (v , u). The sum distance matrix of D is the matrix D D = (s d D (u , v)) u , v ∈ V (D) . For u ∈ V (D) , let S D be the diagonal matrix with (u , u) -entry to be s D (u) = ∑ v ∈ V (D) s d D (u , v). Then the matrices Q D = S D + D D and L D = S D − D D are called the sum distance signless Laplacian and the sum distance Laplacian of D , respectively. In this paper, we propose to study the sum distance spectral properties of strong digraphs. For each of the above three matrices, we determine those digraphs that uniquely minimize and/or maximize the largest eigenvalue in some families of strong digraphs, and we also determine the digraphs minimizing and/or maximizing other eigenvalues, particularly, the second largest and/or the smallest ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While fuzzy logic connectives were seen as generalisations of classical logic connectives, their utility has extended beyond their intended use and context. One interesting avenue of exploration that began almost 4 decades ago is to obtain metrics from fuzzy logic connectives. Not only was this a fertile approach for obtaining metrics with myriad properties but such studies have also thrown up some interesting insights. In this work, we present a state-of-the-art survey of the different works detailing the multitude of operators used to obtain these distance functions, the host of properties they satisfy, the novel contexts in which they have been employed, and the insightful commentary that they have provided on the underlying structures. Recently, monometrics - distance functions compatible with the underlying order - have attracted scrutiny for their utility in the fields of rationalisation of ranking rules, penalty-based aggregation, and binary classification. In this work, adding to the survey, we examine if and when the existing distance functions yield a monometric. Further, by employing monotonic fuzzy logic connectives and fuzzy negations, we offer a construction of distance functions that always yield monometrics and helps us in providing a characterisation of symmetric monometrics on the unit interval. Our work showcases a close relationship between monometrics and fuzzy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • SWAT+ effectively simulates Drainage Water Management (DWM) • Field-scale annual DWM tile flow reduction varies by approximately ± 26 % • Zone of Influence defines areal extent of field scale model parameterization. • DWM adoption viable for 34 % of croplands surrounding the SWAT+ calibrated site. Drainage Water Management (DWM) is widely implemented to mitigate nutrient outflow from tile-drained croplands. However, the performance of process-based hydrological models in simulating DWM remains untested. This study aimed to assess the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) in simulating daily tile flow for a paired DWM field site in eastern South Dakota. Additionally, it sought to develop a method for determining the transferability of field-scale model parameterization to the surrounding watershed. Field-scale SWAT+ yielded satisfactory results during the calibration period (2016–2017) (East: NSE = 0.82, PBIAS = -26.8, RSR = 0.42; West: NSE = 0.75, PBIAS = -30.5, RSR = 0.5) and validation period (2018) (East: NSE = 0.71, PBIAS = -17, RSR = 0.55; West: NSE = 0.81, PBIAS = -4.6, RSR = 0.44) for each half of the experimental site. Further, ten-year SWAT+ simulations for the calibrated site showed an average annual reduction of 6.5 ± 1.7 mm in tile flow across the field due to DWM. Additionally, the study utilized remotely sensed Evapotranspiration to demonstrate that the calibrated site's model parametrization could be transferred to only 28 % to 46 % of surrounding croplands each year. Overall, the implications of the study extend beyond South Dakota, making the proposed research applicable to other geographical regions with tiled croplands as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Products rarely consider adaptation to changing user needs. • Encouraging adaptability promotes the use phase of products and would avoid discarding them prematurely. • There is no metric to evaluate the adaptability of concepts. • A metric has been developed to evaluate conceptual proposals in terms of adaptability. • To continue analysing the parameters that shape the metric to facilitate its application. This study proposes a metric for assessing the upgradability and adaptability of circular design concepts. Both design strategies are part of the design for slow loops, which is based on extending the life of products as long as possible. To achieve this, different parameters have been defined such as Standard Design Unit, Function Use Time and frequency of use and rates. Subsequently, the metric has been validated with the practical application to four baby stroller concept solutions. This metric could be useful to discern which is the best concept in terms of Total Function Use Value of the functions considered in each scenario according to the estimated material to realize them and comparing it. Encouraging the strategies of adaptability and upgradability in the conceptual design phase would help in optimizing the use of resources, both technical and biological, to give them the longest possible service life and durability. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares two contrasting cases of a widely used market-based conservation policy, namely private single conservation banks and habitat exchanges as two economic mechanisms for the production and circulation of species credits. The analysis of their economic morphologies reveals differences regarding regulatory pressure, organizational configuration, type of metric and robustness. Despite common objectives, these two policy instruments essentially differ in terms of the type of constitutive agreement they employ: private single conservation banks, as local and confined economic exchanges, are based on an agreement about exchange with little attention to metrics and credit definition. Habitat exchanges on the other hand tend to be wider and inclusive centralized marketplaces within which agreement is settled in terms of metric and credit harmonization. The reliance on distinct metrics establishes varying forms of accountability within these policy instruments and raises questions about the need to regulate metrological processes. • Species credits are produced to cope with ESA mitigation obligation. • Metrics for species habitat quantification range from simple to complex. • Mandatory mitigation favors simple and easy-to-implement metrics. • Voluntary mitigation relies on complex metrics. • This has major implication on public accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brain is able to calculate the distance and direction to the desired position based on grid cells. Extensive neurophysiological studies of rodent navigation have postulated the grid cells function as a metric for space, and have inspired many computational studies to develop innovative navigation approaches. Furthermore, grid cells may provide a general encoding scheme for high-order nonspatial information. Built upon existing neuroscience and machine learning work, this paper provides theoretical clarity on that the grid cell population codes can be taken as a metric for space. The metric is generated by a shift-invariant positive definite kernel via kernel distance method and embeds isometrically in a Euclidean space, and the inner product of the grid cell population code exponentially converges to the kernel. We also provide a method to learn the distribution of grid cell population efficiently. Grid cells, as a scalable position encoding method, can encode the spatial relationships of places and enable grid cells to outperform place cells in navigation. Further, we extend the grid cell to images encoding and find that grid cells embed images into a mental map, where geometric relationships are conceptual relationships of images. The theoretical model and analysis would contribute to establishing the grid cell code as a generic coding scheme for both spatial and conceptual spaces, and is promising for a multitude of problems across spatial cognition, machine learning and semantic cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The k -Nearest Neighbor (k -NN) is a well-known supervised learning algorithm. The effect of the distance used in the analysis on the k -NN performance is very important. According to Ostrowski's theorem, there are only two nontrivial absolute values on the field of rational numbers, Q , which are the usual absolute value and the p -adic absolute value for a prime p. In view of this theorem, the p -adic absolute value motivates us to calculate the p -adic distance between two samples for the k -NN algorithm. In this study, the p -adic distance on Q was coupled with the k -NN algorithm and was applied to 10 well-known public datasets containing categorical, numerical, and mixed (both categorical and numerical) type predictive attributes. Moreover, the p -adic distance performance was compared with Euclidean, Manhattan, Chebyshev, and Cosine distances. It was seen that the average accuracy obtained from the p -adic distance ranks first in 5 out of 10 datasets. Especially, in mixed datasets, the p -adic distance gave better results than other distances. For r = 1 , 2 , 3 , the effect of the r -decimal values of the number for the p -adic calculation was examined on numerical and mixed datasets. In addition, the p parameter of the p -adic distance was tested with prime numbers less than 29, and it was found that the average accuracy obtained for each p was very close to each other, especially in categorical and mixed datasets. Also, it can be concluded that k -NN with the p -adic distance may be more suitable for binary classification than multi-class classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metrics of journal's impact factor may suggest the journal's influence in a particular field, but they have been used inadvertently as a measure of the journal and individual publications' scientific quality.Methods: We assessed how scientific journals in the field of psychiatry and mental health are ranked (top 20) according to the scores of distinct metrics (Eigenfactor score, Google Scholar Metrics, Journal Citation Reports, Scimago Journal & Country Rank, and Source Normalized Impact per Paper), described their main characteristics and perfomed a spearman's correlation analyses to investigate to which extent these metrics are associated. We also discussed the limitations of dealing with these metrics and the rankings they provide as a proxy of the journal's quality.Results: Only 5 (12.5%) journals appear in all metrics (JAMA Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, Schizophrenia Bulletin, and the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry), more than one-third of the journals show up in only one and less than half (42.5%) appear in three or more. Only JAMA Psychiatry is in one of the first five positions of all metrics. No journal ranked in the same position across the metrics. On the other hand, we found the correlations between all the metrics were statistically significant.Limitations: The metrics included are not exhaustive.Conclusions: Although each metric provides a particular ranking, they are highly correlated. Rankings also change according to distinct subject categories in which they are assessed. We suggest less emphasis should be given to Journal Metrics to infer journal's quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a metric graph G = (V , E , w) and an integer k , we aim to find a single allocation k -hub location, which is a spanning subgraph consisting of a clique of size k such that every node outside of the clique is adjacent to exactly one node inside the clique. For various objective functions studied in the literature, we present improved hardness and approximation results. • Consider single allocation hub location problems with six different objectives. • For each problem we achieve improved hardness and/or approximability results. • For five of the six problems we present improved approximation algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an accurate and robust approach to salient region detection for 3D polygonal surface meshes. The salient regions of a mesh are those that geometrically stand out from their contexts and therefore are semantically important for geometry processing and shape analysis. However, a suitable definition of region contexts for saliency detection remains elusive in the field, and the previous methods fail to produce saliency maps that agree well with human annotations. We address these issues by computing saliency in a global manner and enforcing sparsity for more accurate saliency detection. Specifically, we represent the geometry of a mesh using a metric that globally encodes the shape distances between every pair of local regions. We then propose a sparsity-enforcing rarity optimization problem, solving which allows us to obtain a compact set of salient regions globally distinct from each other. We build a perceptually motivated 3D eye fixation dataset and use a large-scale Schelling saliency dataset for extensive benchmarking of saliency detection methods. The results show that our computed saliency maps are closer to the ground-truth. To showcase the usefulness of our saliency maps for geometry processing, we apply them to feature point localization and achieve higher accuracy compared to established feature detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the problem of constructing a fuzzy betweenness relation from a metric. More precisely, given a continuous Archimedean triangular norm, we present two construction methods for a fuzzy betweenness relation from a metric by making use of the pseudo-inverse of either a continuous additive generator or a continuous multiplicative generator of the triangular norm. In case the metric is bounded and given a 1-Lipschitz continuous triangular norm, we present a third construction method for a fuzzy betweenness relation from a metric by making use of the residual implication of the triangular norm. Since the Łukasiewicz and product triangular norms are both continuous Archimedean and 1-Lipschitz continuous, all three construction methods may be used. Interestingly, the construction method based on the residual implication is proved to coincide with that based on a continuous additive generator for the Łukasiewicz triangular norm and with that based on a continuous multiplicative generator for the product triangular norm. We end by noting that all three construction methods result in a fuzzy prebetweenness relation when considering a pseudometric instead of a metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there are a lot of researches on the metric about static source code. However, there are few studies about automatic code generation. Based on the quality and efficiency of automatic code generation, this paper proposes the metric model including six metric characteristics. Then, three automatic code generation tools are used to measure the experimental source code. Finally, the experimental results showed that the metric of automatic code generation is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a considerable activity in acquisition of large data sets of macroscopic grain boundary parameters. Analysis of these sets requires grouping boundaries with similar parameters, and thus one needs a measure of similarity or a distance between interfaces. A number of such functions have been previously defined. Interface distances are constructed in two steps: first, an underlying metric is devised, and then it is modified to account for equivalences between points in the space of macroscopic parameters. The paper characterizes and compares the known underlying distance functions. Features important for a function to be applicable as the interface distance are considered. The main aspects are the invariance with respect to symmetries in the parameter space and the property of metric intrinsicality which is essential for analysis of interface distributions. Also ways of devising alternative metrics are described, and suggestions for choosing a standard metric which may serve in conventional computations are given. Results of the metric characterization are of importance for laying out foundations of the statistical analysis of macroscopic grain boundary data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-known that fuzzy number plays a basic role in many fields of fuzzy mathematics, such as fuzzy analysis, fuzzy differential equations, fuzzy probability, and even applications on image processing. In the course of study, some natural metrics on the family of all fuzzy numbers and some natural maps such as weighted mean maps on fuzzy numbers are defined. In the present paper, 16 different topologies on the related sets are defined and compared. Moreover, the continuity of the weighted mean maps as a binary map or a unary map is discussed with respect to these topologies. Finally, an application of the above results is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albeit the numerous scientific advantages provided by macrocyclic compounds, there is still a significant gap between the "proof of concept" research and their application. This is a direct consequence of the challenging macrocyclization reactions generally involved in their production. Indeed, macrocyclizations are against the principles of Green Chemistry, as long reaction times, high dilution conditions, and solvent-consuming purification techniques are commonly needed. However, new tools -catalysts, templates, preorganization, flow chemistry- are blossoming to develop environmentally friendly approaches for synthesizing macrocycles. Here, we present some of these tools together with a simple metric to assess the environmental impact of several reported macrocyclic systems. The metric has been proved as a useful way to scrutinize macrocyclizations, even in the cases where other environmental metrics such as E-Factor and Emac did not show conclusive results. [Display omitted] • A new environmental metric for assaying macrocyclization efficiencies was proposed. • Up to 35 macrocyclizations studied with MEI and well-established metrics. • The performance of novel synthetic approaches in macrocyclizations was evaluated. • Reaction and set-up design proved as key variables for improving sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying socio-spatial disparities in accessibility to urban facilities is a crucial step toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of universal access to these facilities. Drawing on mobility big data in Wilmington metropolitan area in the United States, we proposed a novel dynamic utilization-based accessibility metric based on the traditional gravity model, and assessed the residents' grocery store accessibility and restaurant accessibility before, during and after Hurricane Florence in 2018, revealing disparities in residents' access patterns. Then, we investigated the roles of potential accessibility and neighborhoods' demographics and socioeconomic status in explaining the residents' accessibility both in the normal state and during the hurricane. Notably, our findings show that, despite a general decline in accessibility during hurricanes, our metric adeptly captures varying extents of disruption across different facilities. A surge in spatial inequity of restaurant accessibility was observed alongside reduced spatial inequity levels in grocery store accessibility. Interestingly, while normal-state grocery accessibility hinges on aspatial factors like median income and race, "potential accessibility" as a spatial factor emerges as the most significant determinant during the hurricane. The findings provide new insights for city planners and policymakers to promote sustainable mobility and resource allocations for social justice in emergency response. • This study proposes a novel dynamic utilization-based accessibility metric calculated using human mobility data. • The proposed metric is applied to assess the disaster dynamics and disparities in Wilmington residents' accessibility. • Spatial inequity of restaurant accessibility surged while that of grocery store accessibility reduced in Hurricane Florence. • Spatial and aspatial factors are investigated in explaining disparities in the residents' accessibility. • The findings provide new insights to promote sustainable mobility and equitable resource allocations in disaster response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a 3-dimensional smooth manifold M equipped with an arbitrary, a priori non-integrable, distribution (plane field) D and a vector field T transverse to D. Using a 1-form ω such that D = ker ⁡ ω and ω (T) = 1 we construct a 3-form analogous to that defining the Godbillon-Vey class of a foliation, and show how does this form depend on ω and T. For a compatible Riemannian metric on M , we express this 3-form in terms of the curvature and torsion of normal curves and the non-symmetric second fundamental form of D. We deduce Euler-Lagrange equations of associated functionals: for variable (D , T) on M , and for variable Riemannian metric on (M , D). We show that for a geodesic field T (e.g., for a contact structure) such (D , T) is critical, characterize critical pairs when D is integrable (with examples among twisted products) and prove that these critical pairs are not extrema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing based surface energy balance (SEB) models, such as SEB Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) and Mapping evapotranspiration (ET) at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration (METRIC) are widely used to monitor ET. However, their operational use is challenged by model complexity and the tedious process of selecting hot and cold pixels. We developed a new Matlab-based ET mapping toolbox named "LandMOD ET Mapper" for automated implementation of these models to facilitate their widespread applications among new users. The toolbox is demonstrated using one Landsat and one Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra image covering three AmeriFlux sites in Nebraska, U.S. Daily ET estimates were comparable with the observed ET for five days when near cloud-free Landsat and MODIS Terra images were available in the 2006 maize growing season. The toolbox provides a viable ET mapping option to new and inexperienced users with reduced time and labor demands. • A new Matlab-based GUI "LandMOD ET Mapper" was developed. • The toolbox implements SEBAL/METRIC model automatically using thermal imagery. • Daily ET estimates from the toolbox were comparable with observed ET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital culture is identified as both a component of the current digital transformation of society and an epistemological obstacle toward the sociological analysis of the same phenomenon. Two theoretical distinctions are bought in to remove this obstacle: medium/form and metric/nonmetric. Digital culture is then analysed as a nonmetric form specifically and criticized for leaving aside other social forms, most notably metric forms such as the flows of information connected with the operations of algorithms for instance. • Using Douglas' theory, we can describe digital culture as generating markets and supporting individualism. • Digital culture has consequences at the level of cognition that cause limitations for social theory. • All social forms emerge in a crowd of countless individuals; digital culture is only one form among others in this medium. • Alternative forms include metric forms, which appear as flows rather than groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information Security Governance Systems are not adequate to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of security tasks for the enterprises. Although some of the systems offer ways for measurement, they still need the definition of measurement objectives and metrics. This study proposes a conceptual framework mode which has human and tool/process related metrics. This system also allows the collection of evidence data for security-related tasks and ways to motivate the security staff to provide a more productive environment. This system may be applied to any size of enterprise independent of its business domain or functions as long as the aim is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of security-related tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Betweenness relations are the mathematical formalization of the geometrical notion of an element being in between other two elements. In this paper, we exploit a well-known result representing a betweenness relation as a family of order relations and analyse the corresponding family of induced (Alexandrov) topologies. In particular, the intersection of this family of topologies is proved to be the anti-discrete topology and a necessary and sufficient condition for the supremum of this family of topologies to be the discrete topology is provided. Interestingly, this condition is proved to hold when dealing with a finite set. We end with a discussion on the relation between the topology induced by an order relation or a metric and the family of topologies induced by the betweenness relation induced by the same order relation or metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Primary findings from the METRIC (TMT212A2301) study demonstrated that trametinib improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with chemotherapy in patients with unresectable or metastatic cutaneous melanoma with a BRAF V600 E/K mutation. However, clinical data characterising the long-term use of these therapies in combination with BRAF inhibitors or as monotherapies are limited. Methods In this open-label, phase 3 study, 322 patients with BRAF V600 E/K–mutant metastatic melanoma were randomised in a 2:1 ratio to receive trametinib (2 mg orally, once daily; n = 214) or chemotherapy (dacarbazine [1000 mg/m2] or paclitaxel [175 mg/m2] intravenously, every 3 weeks; n = 108). Patients who progressed on chemotherapy were allowed to cross over and receive trametinib. Five-year results of efficacy and safety analyses are reported. Results The median PFS was 4.9 months in the trametinib arm versus 1.5 months in the chemotherapy arm (hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.41–0.73). Landmark OS rates for trametinib versus chemotherapy arms at 1 year, 2 years and 5 years were 60.9% versus 49.6%, 32.0% versus 29.4% and 13.3% versus 17.0%, respectively. Most patients (n = 70 [65%]) from the chemotherapy arm crossed over to the trametinib arm early in their treatment. No unexpected adverse events were reported. Conclusions This 5-year follow-up of patients with BRAF V600 E/K–mutant metastatic melanoma on a targeted therapy demonstrates that long-term use of trametinib is possible with no new or unexpected adverse events. Some patients experienced long-term survival benefit with trametinib monotherapy (METRIC ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01245062.). Highlights • Patients experienced long-term survival benefit with trametinib in the 5-year follow-up analysis of METRIC study. • No statistically significant difference in overall survival was seen between the treatment arms. • Trametinib could be considered as an alternative therapeutic option for patients. • The findings can be a basis for future indirect comparisons against ongoing long-term studies of dabrafenib + trametinib. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Characterizations are given for a group of homeomorphisms of a uniform space, with weakly micro-transitive action, to be SIN. If the phase space is compact and the group is given the compact-open topology, the group is SIN if and only if it is precompact. Under very general conditions, the group is shown to be SIN if and only if it is uniformly equicontinuous with respect to a particular uniformity on the phase space. The SIN property of any Hausdorff topological group is characterized by its actions. A new condition is discovered for the group topology to be admissible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A review of the academic and best practice literature indicates that while there is no shortage of publications on performance measurement systems/performance measurement and management system (PMS&PMMS) in the business and organizational perspectives, but there is a dearth of research on how to measure activities/things more precisely and how they contribute to performance using an appropriate measurement theory. Key findings of the weaknesses of PMS&PMMS are: poor definitions of terms, too many terms are used, terms are used interchangeably or tautologically, and, no clear differentiation of measurement and performance measurement (M&PM). These show that the current ways in measuring activities/things and their performance are not reliable and meaningful. To overcome these weaknesses, using mathematical formulation of the hard and soft (social) sciences, a theoretical foundation of the measuring attributes (measures, metrics, indicators) of M&PM is ensconced and empirically tested using a numerical analysis. The key of this theory is accuracy (reliability) and meaningfulness of M&PM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance is a worldwide problem. Inappropriate antimicrobial use contributes to this resistance, and several metrics of drug usage have been used to monitor their consumption and rational use. We examined several existing drug metrics, and developed a new one, dose/duration-density (D/d2), for a the best correlation between carbapenem usage and carbapenem resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The annual changes of antimicrobial use density (AUD), days of therapy (DOT), daily dose (DD) and D/d2 for meropenem, imipenem and total carbapenems was analyzed for a correlation with carbapenem susceptibility of P. aeruginosa from 2006 through 2015 at a university hospital. The substitution of meropenem for imipenem usage, and an approximate 10% increase in carbapenem susceptibility of P. aeruginosa occurred over the study period. There were significant correlations of the meropenem susceptibility of P. aeruginosa and meropenem usage as measured by the meropenem DD, of imipenem susceptibility and imipenem AUD and DOT, and overall carbapenem susceptibility and imipenem DOT. The D/d2 for meropenem, imipenem and total carbapenems had significant correlations with individual and all carbapenem susceptibility of P. aeruginosa. These D/d2 is the best single carbapenem use metric for correlating carbapenem usage with P. aeruginosa resistance. Further studies are warranted to consider the value of D/d2 for other antimicrobials and bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Water use efficiency (WUE) was calculated as the ratio of gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) • WUE was estimated for moist deciduous & young mixed dry deciduous planted forest. • VPM and METRIC models were used to estimate GPP and ET from 2016 to 2018 using Landsat 8 OLI. • The accuracy of WUE was validated using eddy covariance (EC) tower based GPP and ET. • First attempt to examine WUE pattern at fine resolution (30 m) using Landsat data in Indian forests. The significance of forests in limiting the consequences of climate change and maintaining the biogeochemical cycle is immense. Gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) are the two most important measures of carbon and water fluxes in the forest ecosystem. The ratio between these two parameters is termed water use efficiency (WUE). In this study, the WUE was estimated for two contrasting forest ecosystems: a moist deciduous forest at the Barkot Flux Site (BFS) and a young mixed dry deciduous forest plantation at the Haldwani Flux Site (HFS), Uttarakhand, India. The Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM) was utilized to estimate GPP, whilst the Mapping Evapo-Transpiration at High Resolution with Internal Calibration (METRIC) approach was employed to evaluate ET using Landsat 8 OLI satellite data from 2016 to 2018. Concurrent measurements of WUE as the ratio of GPP to ET, obtained from eddy covariance (EC) towers, were used for validation purpose. For both the sites, the maximum and minimum GPP were reported in October and December-January, respectively, whereas, the months of April-May and December had the highest and lowest ET, respectively. WUE remained elevated during November-December and reached its lowest point in April-May at both sites. The METRIC model estimated ET and EC-based GPP had reasonably good agreement with R2 values of 0.76 and 0.71, respectively. Consequently, the simulated WUE also matched closely with the observed WUE (R2 = 0.62). Accurate quantification of spatial WUE using the GPP and ET obtained from remote sensing-based VPM and METRIC models provided insight into its variability in different vegetation compositions. Further, the availability of long-term satellite data may pave the way for an improved understanding of forest ecosystems' response to water limitation in changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By interpreting planar polynomial curves as complex-valued functions of a real parameter, an inner product, norm, metric function, and the notion of orthogonality may be defined for such curves. This approach is applied to the complex pre-image polynomials that generate planar Pythagorean-hodograph (PH) curves, to facilitate the implementation of bounded modifications of them that preserve their PH nature. The problems of bounded modifications under the constraint of fixed curve end points and end tangent directions, and of increasing the arc length of a PH curve by a prescribed amount, are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent prolonged droughts in California have emphasized the urgent need to implement more efficient water management practices for high value tree crops. Accurate estimation of evapotranspiration (ET), a main component of consumptive water use, is critical for improving management of micro-irrigated pistachio orchards grown in the San Joaquin Valley of California. We estimated ET of three mature commercial pistachio orchards on non-saline and increasingly saline soils in 2015 and 2016, using the Mapping Evapotranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration (METRIC) method and Landsat 8 satellite observations. Based on a comparison with field observations at 8 sites, we modified the parameterizations of the momentum roughness length and net radiation for pistachio tree crops and reduced the uncertainty of daily ET estimates. When compared with field data, the recalibrated METRIC ET estimates had an R 2 of 0.59, a mean absolute error of 1.1 mm/day, and a RMSE of 1.4 mm/day during Landsat overpass dates (n = 72). The METRIC ET map captured the temporal dynamics and spatial heterogeneity both within and among the orchards. The mean annual crop season estimated ET (mid-March to mid-October in 2016) with remote sensing decreased by 32% from 1064 ± 99 mm in the non-salt affected control orchard to 725 ± 82 mm in the orchard with the highest level of soil-water salinity. The ET reduction was consistent with canopy volume differences among the study orchards, as shown by summer Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat observations, e.g., 0.72 ± 0.06 in the control vs. 0.52 ± 0.06 in the most saline orchard. The available energy was controlled mostly by canopy features and explained 64% of daily ET variation among all Landsat pixels and satellite overpass days. The normalized differenced water index (NDWI) could be considered as an important parameter to capture the partitioning of available energy for ET (R 2  = 0.38), suggesting that the lower soil osmotic potential in saline orchards further reduced crop ET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The lotic habitats affected by trout farm waste are colonized with a particular invertebrate community of which chironomids are the most abundant group. However, there is little information available regarding how chironomid community structures respond to this type of pollution at the highest taxonomic resolution. Eight fish farms, together with their lotic systems as recipients, were used to test the variability of the chironomid community and its surrogates (taxonomic and functional metrics) across spatially arranged sampling sites to form a gradual decrease in the trout farm influence. The self organizing map (SOM) classified six different types of chironomid communities which were characteristic for both the control and affected habitats. The species indicator analyses listed 32 taxa as positive indicators of water pollution. The SOM and Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that the pattern of chironomid community structure obtained was mainly driven by six environmental parameters (Altitude, conductivity, distance from the outlet, hardness, HN 4 -N, NO 3 -N). Categorical principal components analysis (CATPCA) derived three models for each type of biotic metric, in which for diversity-, taxonomy- and functional feeding group-based metrics, the first two dimensions explained 55.2%, 58.3% and 55.4%, of the total variance respectively for 315 sampling sites. According to this analysis, the total number of taxa (S), abundance and the Shannon-Wiener index (H′) (as a diversity metric), as well as the proportion of Tanypodinae (as taxonomic group) and grazers/scraper (GRA) and gatherer collector (GAT)(as FFG metrics), were related to the outlet distance gradient, thus showing great potential to be used in the multimetric approach in bioassessment. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • We tested how chironomid community reacts to trout fish farming. • The SOM has revealed that community changes along the fish farm effluent gradient. • Chironomid grazers were negatively correlated with the distance from the outlet. • Diversity indices, taxa groups and FFG can be useful metrics for bioassessment. The taxonomy- and functional chironomid community structure acts as a fine-tuned bioindicator of the impact of fish-farm effluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clear, accessible, objective metrics of species status are critical to communicate the state of biodiversity and to measure progress towards biodiversity targets. However, the population data underpinning current species status metrics is often highly skewed towards particular taxonomic groups such as birds, butterflies and mammals, primarily due to the restricted availability of high quality population data. A synoptic overview of the state of biodiversity requires sampling from a broader range of taxonomic groups. Incorporating data from a wide range of monitoring and analysis methods and considering more than one measure of species status are possible ways to achieve this. Here, we utilise measures of species’ population change and extinction risk to develop three species status metrics, a Categorical Change metric, a Species Index and a Red List metric, and populate them with a wide range of data sources from the UK, covering thousands of species from across taxonomy. The species status metrics reiterate the commonly reported decline in freshwater and terrestrial species’ status in the UK in recent decades and give little evidence that this rate of decline has slowed. The utility of species status metrics is further improved if we can extrapolate beyond the species sampled to infer the status of the community. For the freshwater and terrestrial species status metrics presented here we can do this with some confidence. Nevertheless, despite the range and number of species contributing to the species metrics, significant taxonomic bias remained and we report weighting options that could help control for this. The three metrics developed were used in the State of Nature 2016 report and indications are they reached a large number of audience members. We suggest options to improve the design and communication of these and similar metrics in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riemannian and contact geometry formalisms are used to study the fundamental equation of electromagnetic radiation-like systems, obeying a Stefan–Boltzmann’s-like law. The vanishing of metric determinant is used for classifying what kind of systems cannot represent a possible generalization of blackbody-like systems. In addition, thermodynamic curvature scalar R is evaluated for a thermodynamic metric, giving R = 0 , which validates the non-interaction hypothesis stating that the scalar curvature vanishes for non-interacting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we apply natural metrics defined in the space of Keplerian orbits to search for asteroids in close orbits. First, we use as a metric the distance between two orbits in the five-dimensional space of Keplerian orbits. Then, we apply the distance in three-dimensional factor-space of positional orbital elements. We have identified new asteroid pairs with a possible common origin. Once the asteroid pairs candidates are identified, we analyze their dynamical evolution. We find that the Yarkovsky effect must be taken into account when carrying out high-accuracy numerical simulations of the orbital evolution of asteroid pairs. Finally, we consider the planning of follow-up astrometric and photometric observations of the candidate asteroid pairs to determine their rotational parameters, needed to modeling the Yarkovsky effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims The endoscopic reference score (EREFS) is used to determine severity of 5 endoscopic findings: edema, rings, exudates, furrows, and strictures. Little is known about the relationship between EREFSs and histologic markers of disease activity in children with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). We aimed to determine whether the EREFS can be used to identify children with EoE and how it changes with treatment. Methods We performed a prospective study of consecutive children (ages 2–17 years) undergoing diagnostic or post-treatment endoscopy scored real-time with EREFS from December 2012 through 2016. Findings from 192 diagnostic endoscopies and 229 post-treatment endoscopies were evaluated, from 371 children. Incident EoE cases were diagnosed based on 2011 consensus guidelines. Patients were treated with either elimination diet or topical steroids. Subjects who underwent endoscopy for symptoms of esophageal dysfunction but had normal esophageal findings from histology analysis were used as controls. EREFS and receiver operating characteristic curves were determined for incident EoE cases (n = 77) vs controls (n = 115), patients with active EoE (n = 101) vs inactive EoE after treatment (n = 128), and paired pre- and post-treatment cases of EoE (n = 85). Component and composite scores were correlated with eosinophilia. Results Visual detection of more than 1 esophageal abnormality during the diagnostic endoscopy identified children with EoE with 89.6% sensitivity and 87.9% specificity. EREFS correlated with peak level of eosinophilia ( P < .001) at all esophageal levels. Children who responded to therapy had mean EREFSs of 0.5 compared to 2.4 in non-responders. In comparing pre-treatment vs post-treatment data from 85 patients, we found a significant reduction in the composite EREFS (from 2.4 to 0.7) ( P < .001) among patients who responded to treatment; 92% of responders had a reduced EREFSs after treatment. EREFSs identified children with EoE with an area under the curve value (AUC) of 0.93. EREFSs identified children with active EoE following treatment with an AUC of 0.81 before treatment and an AUC of 0.79 after treatment. Conclusions In a prospective study of children undergoing diagnostic or post-treatment endoscopy, we found the EREFS to accurately identify those with EoE. Children who responded to therapy had lower EREFS scores than non-responders. EREFSs can be used to measure outcomes of pediatric patients, in conjunction with histology findings, and assess treatments for children with EoE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several resilience metrics have been proposed for engineering systems (e.g., mechanical engineering, civil engineering, critical infrastructure, etc.); however, they are different from one another. Their difference is determined by the performances of the objects of evaluation. This study proposes a new availability-based engineering resilience metric from the perspective of reliability engineering. Resilience is considered an intrinsic ability and an inherent attribute of an engineering system. Engineering system structure and maintenance resources are principal factors that affect resilience, which are integrated into the engineering resilience metric. A corresponding dynamic-Bayesian-network-based evaluation methodology is developed on the basis of the proposed resilience metric. The resilience value of an engineering system can be predicted using the proposed methodology, which provides an implementation guidance for engineering planning, design, operation, construction, and management. Some examples for common systems (i.e., series, parallel, and voting systems) and an actual application example (i.e., a nine-bus power grid system) are used to demonstrate the application of the proposed resilience metric and its corresponding evaluation methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we calculate a tight relaxed triangle inequality ratio for some of the most well-known indexes used in finding dissimilarities between two finite sets known as the Sørensen–Dice and Tversky indexes. This relaxed triangle inequality ratio affects efficiency and approximation ratios of recent algorithms for many combinatorial problems such as traveling salesman and nearest neighbor search. Because of that, there are many works providing ratios for several other indexes. In this work, we focus on the Tversky index, which is a generalization of many dissimilarity indexes commonly used in practice. We provide the tight ratio of the Tversky index in this paper. Because the Sørensen–Dice index is a special case of the Tversky index, we know from the results that the tight ratio for the Sørensen–Dice index is equal to 1.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud computing provides a cheap and elastic platform for executing large scientific workflow applications, but it rises two challenges in prediction of makespan (total execution time): performance instability of Cloud instances and variant scheduling of dynamic schedulers. Estimating the makespan is necessary for IT managers in order to calculate the cost of execution, for which they can use Cloud simulators. However, the ideal simulated environment produces the same output for the same workflow schedule and input parameters and thus can not reproduce the Cloud variant behavior. In this paper, we define a model and a methodology to add a noise to the simulation in order to equalise its behavior with the Clouds’ one. We propose several metrics to model a Cloud fluctuating behavior and then by injecting them within the simulator, it starts to behave as close as the real Cloud. Instead of using a normal distribution naively by using mean value and standard deviation of workflow tasks’ runtime, we inject two noises in the tasks’ runtime: noisiness of tasks within a workflow (defined as average runtime deviation ) and noisiness provoked by the environment over the whole workflow (defined as average environmental deviation ). In order to measure the quality of simulation by quantifying the relative difference between the simulated and measured values, we introduce the parameter inaccuracy . A series of experiments with different workflows and Cloud resources were conducted in order to evaluate our model and methodology. The results show that the inaccuracy of the makespan’s mean value was reduced up to 59 times compared to naively using the normal distribution. Additionally, we analyse the impact of particular workflow and Cloud parameters, which shows that the Cloud performance instability is simulated more correctly for small instance type (inaccuracy of up to 11.5%), instead of medium (inaccuracy of up to 35%), regardless of the workflow. Since our approach requires collecting data by executing the workflow in the Cloud in order to learn its behavior, we conduct a comprehensive sensitivity analysis. We determine the minimum amount of data that needs to be collected or minimum number of test cases that needs to be repeated for each experiment in order to get less than 12% inaccuracy for our noising parameter. Additionally, in order to reduce the number of experiments and determine the dependency of our model against Cloud resource and workflow parameters, the conducted comprehensive sensitivity analysis shows that the correctness of our model is independent of workflow parallel section size. With our sensitivity analysis, we show that we can reduce the inaccuracy of the naive approach with only 40% of total number of executions per experiment in the learning phase. In our case, 20 executions per experiment instead of 50, and only half of all experiments, which means down to 20%, i.e. 120 test cases instead of 600. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytoplankton is a key element for the assessment of ecological and environmental status of aquatic ecosystems, also in the frame of the MSFD. The methods used to analyse phytoplankton communities are mainly based on time consuming cell counts, dictating a trade-off between the number of cells counted and the number of phytoplankton samples in a monitoring plan, whenever the financial budget, the available personnel or the response time are limited. We investigated the optimal sample size effort, intended as number of phytoplankton cells enumerated per sampling station, of many commonly used metrics. To this aim, precision and uncertainty of the metrics as a function of the sample size have been addressed using a case study carried out in the Lesina lagoon (Apulia, Italy), where 12000 cells per sample have been enumerated within five sampling stations. Overall, we show that some of the commonly used indices/metrics for the description of phytoplankton communities are strongly dependent upon the sampling effort (as number of enumerated individuals per sample), while other metrics are relatively independent. Metrics based on the number of taxa only (e.g. Taxonomic richness), on the ratio between number of taxa and number of individuals (e.g. Margalef's diversity index) or on the species evenness (e.g. Pielou's evenness index) strongly depend on the sample size and their uncertainty (in term of sampling variance) is usually large. On the other hand, metrics of taxonomic diversity accounting for the proportional abundance of each taxa (e.g. Shannon-Wiener's diversity index), metrics accounting for the dominance of the most abundant taxa (e.g. Berger-Parker's dominance index) and metrics derived from the individual size distribution (e.g. Index of Size spectra Sensitivity, ISS Phyto) are able to achieve high precision and low uncertainty already at small sample sizes (virtually less than 200 enumerated cells) and thus they minimize the allocated effort vs. the gained information. Accordingly to our observations, we provide recommendations about the metric selection and the optimal effort per sample to be allocated in phytoplankton monitoring plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a dimension-independent, Delaunay-based anisotropic mesh generation algorithm suitable for integration with adaptive numerical solvers. As such, the mesh produced by our algorithm conforms to an anisotropic metric prescribed by the solver as well as the domain geometry, given as a piecewise smooth complex. Motivated by the work of Lévy and Dassi [10-12,20], we use a discrete manifold embedding algorithm to transform the anisotropic problem to a uniform one. This work differs from previous approaches in several ways. First, the embedding algorithm is driven by a Riemannian metric field instead of the Gauss map, lending itself to general anisotropic mesh generation problems. Second we describe our method for computing restricted Voronoi diagrams in a dimension-independent manner which is used to compute constrained centroidal Voronoi tessellations. In particular, we compute restricted Voronoi simplices using exact arithmetic and use data structures based on convex polytope theory. Finally, since adaptive solvers require geometry-conforming meshes, we offer a Steiner vertex insertion algorithm for ensuring the extracted dual Delaunay triangulation is homeomorphic to the input geometries. The two major contributions of this paper are: a method for isometrically embedding arbitrary mesh-metric pairs in higher dimensional Euclidean spaces and a dimension-independent vertex insertion algorithm for producing geometry-conforming Delaunay meshes. The former is demonstrated on a two-dimensional anisotropic problem whereas the latter is demonstrated on both 3 d and 4 d problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental issues and the prospect of an energy crisis inspire humans to exploit wind power. However, with the increase of wind power penetration level, operating power systems securely and reliably is a serious challenge due to the inherent nature of wind power intermittency. Wind power intermittency has been the major barrier for large scale wind power integration. This paper reviews past research on wind power intermittency, including its impacts on power system, how it is measured, and mitigation solutions. It has been found that as wind power integration increase, the system reverses and costs consequently increase, while the system reliability and CO 2 reductions decrease. In order to mitigate wind power intermittency, studies on intermittency measurements and mitigation solutions are necessary. Existing measurements of wind power intermittency are summarized firstly. Considering the limitations of existing methods, new definitions and metrics are proposed based on our study. Then, various wind power intermittency mitigation solutions are comprehensively reviewed, including wind farms, generation-side, demand-side and energy storage. In the final part of this paper, the further work on wind power intermittency is discussed in detail. In summary, wind power intermittency can be effectively mitigated using various technological and managerial approaches based on an in-depth understanding of intermittency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temporal variability of the solar resource – which occurs at different time scales – is a major concern regarding its impact on the grid and photovoltaic (PV) power plants. To handle the increasing penetration rate of solar energy, grid managers require accurate forecasts of incident solar irradiance. This work discusses standard and new procedures to assess the quality of solar forecasting models and highlights the limitations of some widely used metrics in concrete situations. The paper recommends practices for characterizing the quality of a forecast, i.e. a quality control to reject any suspicious data; classifications to relate each performance criterion to the nature of the solar irradiance variability; and a wide selection of established and new metrics. In this context, two new metrics are notably proposed in order to obtain more complete information about the performance of a forecasting method. This article aims to make a step towards standardizing metrics for solar forecasting by taking into account some of the new metrics recently presented in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In typical surface energy balance (SEB) models such as surface energy balance for land (SEBAL) and mapping evapotranspiration (ET) at high resolution with internalized calibration (METRIC), calibration of sensible heat flux ( H ) requires identification of endmember (i.e. hot and cold) pixels. Such pixel selection is typically done manually, which makes it labor intensive to apply SEBAL or METRIC over large spatial areas or long time series. In this paper, we introduce a new automated approach that uses an exhaustive search algorithm (ESA) to identify endmember pixels for use in these models. The fully automated models were applied on 134 near cloud-free Landsat images with each image covering one of four flux measurement sites covering a distinct land cover type in humid Florida or relatively drier Oklahoma. Observed land surface temperatures ( T s ) at automatically identified hot and cold pixels were within 0.25% of manually identified pixels (both coefficient of determination, R 2 , and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, NSE, ≥ 0.98, and root mean squared error, RMSE, ≤ 1.31 K). The new fully automated model performed better and demonstrated better consistency than an existing semi-automated method that used a statistical approach to subset coldest and hottest pixels within an image. Daily ET estimates derived from the automated SEBAL and METRIC models were in good agreement with their manual counterparts (e.g., NSE ≥ 0.94 and RMSE ≤ 0.35 mm day − 1 ). Automated and manual pixel selection resulted in similar estimates of observed ET across all sites. The proposed automated pixel selection approach greatly reduces time demands (e.g. approximately one image per hour vs. hundreds of image per hour) for applying SEBAL and METRIC and allows for their more widespread and frequent use. This automation can also reduce potential bias introduced by an inexperienced operator and extends the domain of the models to new users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust evapotranspiration (ET) models are required to predict water usage in a variety of terrestrial ecosystems under different geographical and agrometeorological conditions. As a result, several remote sensing-based surface energy balance (SEB) models have been developed to estimate ET over large regions. However, comparison of the performance of several SEB models at the same site is limited. In addition, none of the SEB models have been evaluated for their ability to predict ET in rain-fed high biomass sorghum grown for biofuel production. In this paper, we evaluated the performance of five widely used single-source SEB models, namely Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL), Mapping ET with Internalized Calibration (METRIC), Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS), Simplified Surface Energy Balance Index (S-SEBI), and operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop), for estimating ET over a high biomass sorghum field during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons. The predicted ET values were compared against eddy covariance (EC) measured ET (ET EC ) for 19 cloud-free Landsat image. In general, S-SEBI, SEBAL, and SEBS performed reasonably well for the study period, while METRIC and SSEBop performed poorly. All SEB models substantially overestimated ET under extremely dry conditions as they underestimated sensible heat ( H ) and overestimated latent heat ( LE ) fluxes under dry conditions during the partitioning of available energy. METRIC, SEBAL, and SEBS overestimated LE regardless of wet or dry periods. Consequently, predicted seasonal cumulative ET by METRIC, SEBAL, and SEBS were higher than seasonal cumulative ET EC in both seasons. In contrast, S-SEBI and SSEBop substantially underestimated ET under too wet conditions, and predicted seasonal cumulative ET by S-SEBI and SSEBop were lower than seasonal cumulative ET EC in the relatively wetter 2013 growing season. Our results indicate the necessity of inclusion of soil moisture or plant water stress component in SEB models for the improvement of their performance, especially under too dry or wet environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Workforce productivity is poorly defined in health care. Particularly in the field of pediatric palliative care (PPC), the absence of consensus metrics impedes aggregation and analysis of data to track workforce efficiency and effectiveness. Lack of uniformly measured data also compromises the development of innovative strategies to improve productivity and hinders investigation of the link between productivity and quality of care, which are interrelated but not interchangeable.Objectives: To review the literature regarding the definition and measurement of productivity in PPC; to identify barriers to productivity within traditional PPC models; and to recommend novel metrics to study productivity as a component of quality care in PPC.Methods: PubMed® and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews searches for scholarly literature were performed using key words (pediatric palliative care, palliative care, team, workforce, workflow, productivity, algorithm, quality care, quality improvement, quality metric, inpatient, hospital, consultation, model) for articles published between 2000 and 2016. Organizational searches of Center to Advance Palliative Care, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, National Quality Forum, and National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care were also performed. Additional semistructured interviews were conducted with directors from seven prominent PPC programs across the U.S. to review standard operating procedures for PPC team workflow and productivity.Results: Little consensus exists in the PPC field regarding optimal ways to define, measure, and analyze provider and program productivity. Barriers to accurate monitoring of productivity include difficulties with identification, measurement, and interpretation of metrics applicable to an interdisciplinary care paradigm. In the context of inefficiencies inherent to traditional consultation models, novel productivity metrics are proposed.Conclusions: Further research is needed to determine optimal metrics for monitoring productivity within PPC teams. Innovative approaches should be studied with the goal of improving efficiency of care without compromising value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study point-models for the set L → of oriented line-elements by reviewing existing ones and by constructing them from different approaches proposed in the literature. We distinguish between point-models resulting from transformations and those implied by representations, where we also pursue the strategy to represent oriented line-elements by oriented line-segments with a constant length. For path planning in robotics (e.g. approximation, interpolation, optimization, ...) it is desirable to have a metric on L → , thus we also study geometric meaningful distance measures. Based on the resulting metric spaces we finally discuss the problem of motion design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By means of Multi-Body musculoskeletal simulation, important variables such as internal joint forces and moments can be estimated which cannot be measured directly. Validation can ensued by qualitative or by quantitative methods. Especially when comparing time-dependent signals, many methods do not perform well and validation is often limited to qualitative approaches. The aim of the present study was to investigate the capabilities of the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm for comparing time series, which can quantify phase as well as amplitude errors. We contrast the sensitivity of DTW with other established metrics: the Pearson correlation coefficient, cross-correlation, the metric according to Geers, RMSE and normalized RMSE. This study is based on two data sets, where one data set represents direct validation and the other represents indirect validation. Direct validation was performed in the context of clinical gait-analysis on trans-femoral amputees fitted with a 6 component force-moment sensor. Measured forces and moments from amputees' socket-prosthesis are compared to simulated forces and moments. Indirect validation was performed in the context of surface EMG measurements on a cohort of healthy subjects with measurements taken of seven muscles of the leg, which were compared to simulated muscle activations. Regarding direct validation, a positive linear relation between results of RMSE and nRMSE to DTW can be seen. For indirect validation, a negative linear relation exists between Pearson correlation and cross-correlation. We propose the DTW algorithm for use in both direct and indirect quantitative validation as it correlates well with methods that are most suitable for one of the tasks. However, in DV it should be used together with methods resulting in a dimensional error value, in order to be able to interpret results more comprehensible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable intensification (SI) is at the forefront of food security discussions as a means to meet the growing demand for agricultural production while conserving land and other resources. A broader definition of SI is emerging that takes into account the human condition, nutrition and social equity. Next steps require identification of indicators and associated metrics, to track progress, assess tradeoffs and identify synergies. Through a systematic, qualitative review of the literature we identified SI indicators, with a primary focus on African smallholder farming systems. We assessed indicators and metrics for which there is consensus, and those that remain contested. We conclude that, while numerous metrics for evaluating SI systems exist, many often-cited indicators lack strong sets of associated metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]