Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of fire danger rating systems for use in forests

Fire danger is the resultant of ‘factors affecting the inception, spread and difficulty of control of fires and the damage they cause’ (Chandler et al. 1983). If any of these factors are absent, then there is no fire danger (Cheney and Gould 1995). Fire danger rating is ‘a fire management system that integrates the facets of selected fire danger factors into one or more qualitative or numerical indices of current protection needs’ (Chandler et al. 1983). A variety of fire danger ratings are used around the world, including the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI, McArthur 1967), used in the eastern parts of Australia, the Forest Fire Behaviour Tables (FFBT, Sneeuwjagt and Peet 1998), developed for use in Western Australia1, the Fire Weather Index (FWI, van Wagner 1987) used in Canada, and the National Fire Danger Rating System (Deeming et al. 1977), used in the USA. Fire danger rating systems are used by fire and land management agencies to determine levels of preparedness, to issue public warnings, and to provide an appropriate scale for management, research, and law for fire related matters (Cheney and Gould 1995). All these systems integrate weather variables to assess fire danger, calculated as a numerical index. Although fire danger is not the same as fire behaviour, the indices were developed on the assumption that fire danger is related to fire behaviour, quantified as rate of spread or intensity. Index values are classified into rating classes to aid interpretation. All systems use five rating classes: Low, Moderate, High, Very High, and Extreme. Similar indices are available for grasslands but are not examined here. In recent years the FWI, originally developed for use in Canada, has been adapted for application in other countries, has been proposed as the basis for a global fire weather index (de Groot et al. 2006), and has been trialled in Tasmania (Mark Chladil, pers. comm.). Also, the FWI system has proved useful when examining fires in pine plantations in Australia (Cruz and Plucinski 2007). In an Australian context it is timely in light of these developments to gain a better A comparison of fire danger rating systems for use in forests
Donor Dependent Variations in Hematopoietic Differentiation among Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines

Hematopoiesis generated from human embryonic stem cells (ES) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are unprecedented resources for cell therapy. We compared hematopoietic differentiation potentials from ES and iPS cell lines originated from various donors and derived them using integrative and non-integrative vectors. Significant differences in differentiation toward hematopoietic lineage were observed among ES and iPS. The ability of engraftment of iPS or ES-derived cells in NOG mice varied among the lines with low levels of chimerism. iPS generated from ES cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) reproduce a similar hematopoietic outcome compared to their parental ES cell line. We were not able to identify any specific hematopoietic transcription factors that allow to distinguish between good versus poor hematopoiesis in undifferentiated ES or iPS cell lines. There is a relatively unpredictable variation in hematopoietic differentiation between ES and iPS cell lines that could not be predicted based on phenotype or gene expression of the undifferentiated cells. These results demonstrate the influence of genetic background in variation of hematopoietic potential rather than the reprogramming process.
IT governance balancing global integration and local responsiveness for multinational companies

Balancing global integration and local responsiveness (I–R) is becoming critical for multinational enterprises (MNEs). In considering information technology's (IT's) supporting role for I–R, an in-depth case study of a leading Taiwanese global network manufacturer was conducted. A virtuous cycle model with dual fit was developed to link the research in I–R and IT governance mechanisms to achieve the MNEs’ global strategy and respond agilely to the environmental change. Practical arrangements and critical mechanisms were derived to develop the dual fit model, which explores factors like structure redesign and value-creation modular design as structural arrangements. In addition, three critical mechanisms to achieve the dual fit model, including organisational configuration design, modular structure reconfiguration design, and adaptive IT co-management were suggested, consistent with total quality management key principles. Since few studies report the practices of achieving I–R and how IT governance should adjust simultaneously, this study made a contribution to knowledge in the subject area.
Latent Constructs in Psychosocial Factors Associated with Cardiovascular Disease: An Examination by Race and Sex

This study examines race and sex differences in the latent structure of 10 psychosocial measures and the association of identified factors with self-reported history of coronary heart disease (CHD). Participants were 4,128 older adults from the Chicago Health and Aging Project. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with oblique geomin rotation was used to identify latent factors among the psychosocial measures. Multi-group comparisons of the EFA model were conducted using exploratory structural equation modeling to test for measurement invariance across race and sex subgroups. A factor-based scale score was created for invariant factor(s). Logistic regression was used to test the relationship between the factor score(s) and CHD adjusting for relevant confounders. Effect modification of the relationship by race–sex subgroup was tested. A two-factor model fit the data well (comparative fit index = 0.986; Tucker–Lewis index = 0.969; root mean square error of approximation = 0.039). Depressive symptoms, neuroticism, perceived stress, and low life satisfaction loaded on Factor I. Social engagement, spirituality, social networks, and extraversion loaded on Factor II. Only Factor I, re-named distress, showed measurement invariance across subgroups. Distress was associated with a 37% increased odds of self-reported CHD (odds ratio: 1.37; 95% confidence intervals: 1.25, 1.50; p-value < 0.0001). This effect did not differ by race or sex (interaction p-value = 0.43). This study identified two underlying latent constructs among a large range of psychosocial variables; only one, distress, was validly measured across race–sex subgroups. This construct was robustly related to prevalent CHD, highlighting the potential importance of latent constructs as predictors of cardiovascular disease.
Long-Term Stabilization of Place Cell Remapping Produced by a Fearful Experience

Fear is an emotional response to danger that is highly conserved throughout evolution because it is critical for survival. Accordingly, episodic memory for fearful locations is widely studied using contextual fear conditioning, a hippocampus-dependent task (Kim and Fanselow, 1992; Phillips and LeDoux, 1992). The hippocampus has been implicated in episodic emotional memory and is thought to integrate emotional stimuli within a spatial framework. Physiological evidence supporting the role of the hippocampus in contextual fear indicates that pyramidal cells in this region, which fire in specific locations as an animal moves through an environment, shift their preferred firing locations shortly after the presentation of an aversive stimulus (Moita et al., 2004). However, the long-term physiological mechanisms through which emotional memories are encoded by the hippocampus are unknown. Here we show that during and directly after a fearful experience, new hippocampal representations are established and persist in the long term. We recorded from the same place cells in mouse hippocampal area CA1 over several days during predator odor contextual fear conditioning and found that a subset of cells changed their preferred firing locations in response to the fearful stimulus. Furthermore, the newly formed representations of the fearful context stabilized in the long term. Our results demonstrate that place cells respond to the presence of an aversive stimulus, modify their firing patterns during emotional learning, and stabilize a long-term spatial representation in response to a fearful encounter. The persistent nature of these representations may contribute to the enduring quality of emotional memories.
Wayward Governance: Illegality and Its Control in the Public Sector

This publication seeks to develop a theory of government illegality and to specify measures by which breaches of law by agents of the state may be prevented and controlled. The book contains 17 case studies which provide some revealing insight into these matters. Each case is carefully analysed with the intention of illustrating what went wrong and how a repetition of the incident might be prevented in the future.
Temporal bone computed tomography findings in bilateral sensorineural hearing loss

AIM To examine the yield of computed tomography (CT) of the temporal bones when investigating sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and to identify factors associated with CT findings. METHODS Retrospective analysis of 116 consecutively investigated children with bilateral SNHL at the audiology department of Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. Main outcome measures were CT results, hearing loss parameters, history, and clinical examination. RESULTS A total of 33 (28.4%) CT scans were identified as abnormal. Children with profound and/or progressive hearing loss and/or craniofacial abnormalities were more likely to have an abnormal CT scan and together accounted for 25 abnormal CT scans. Sex, consanguineous parents, or family history of SNHL were not associated with CT findings. Dilated vestibular aqueduct was significantly correlated with the presence of progressive SNHL. CONCLUSIONS All children with SNHL should undergo radiological investigation of the petrous bones/inner ear; abnormalities are more likely to be found in cases with craniofacial abnormalities, or profound or progressive hearing loss. The decision whether to perform a CT or magnetic resonance imaging will depend on scanner availability, expertise, and management considerations, but cochlear implant candidates will require both.
THE KIDS' TURN PROGRAM EVALUATION: PROBING CHANGE WITHIN A COMMUNITY-BASED INTERVENTION FOR SEPARATING FAMILIES

We provide evaluation results for Kids' Turn, a community-based divorcing parent education program. Based on pre- and post-test results from 61 parents, we found that parents reported improvements over time in interparental conflict, the number of topics parents argue about, parental alienation behaviors, parent anxiety and depression, and children's internalizing behaviors. These changes over time remained after we accounted for child sex, parent and child age, and time since separation. However, we did not observe any change in parenting behaviors. We discuss these results in light of factors influencing the ability of community-based programs to affect change in families after divorce. Over the past three decades, considerable change has occurred in knowledge about the implications of parent divorce for the social, emotional, and cognitive adjustment of children and parents. In the 1970s and early 1980s, research emerged to document that children of divorce are at increased risk for a number of deleterious outcomes and are at double the risk for developing a mental health disorder as compared to their peers from nondivorced families. Later, in the 1980s and early 1990s, attention was dedicated to the risk and protective factors associated with the divorce experience. Finally, a number of randomized field trial preventive intervention programs were developed and tested for efficacy in an attempt to help families ameliorate the supposed negative effects of divorce for children. Presently, however, few of the programs that have been evaluated for efficacy are currently available in the community (Wolchik, Sandler, Winslow, & Smith-Daniels, 2005). Further, efficacy results for community-based programs that serve divorcing families tend to lack evaluation data. This paper reviews the literature described above and introduces Kids' Turn, a divorcing family education program that has been offered in the San Francisco Bay Area continuously since 1988. This manu- script reports change over time within a sample of families who had participated in the Kids' Turn program and observed reductions in conflict intensity and breadth, parent rejection of child behavior, and parent anxiety and depression. These results are the first to provide evidence of change within participants in a community-based divorcing family education program. fcre_1376 348.363
Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II-expressing Endothelial Ceils Induce Allospecific Nonresponsiveness in Naive T Ceils

The role of endothelial cells (EC) in initiating a primary T cell response is of importance in clinical transplantation and autoimmunity since EC are the first allogeneic target encountered by the recipient's immune system and may display tissue-specific autoantigens in the context of an inflammatory response. In this study, we have investigated the antigen-presenting cell function of human umbilical vein-derived EC (HUVEC), depleted of constitutively major histocompatibility complex class II + cells and induced to express class II molecules by interferon-~. The results show that HUVEC do not express B7 but can support proliferation by antigen-specific T cell clones. In contrast, they were unable to initiate a primary alloresponse using three independent HUVEC cultures and MHC class II-mismatched CD4 + T cells from eight donors. The response to HUVEC was reconstituted by trans-costimulation provided by DAP.3 transfectants expressing human B7.1. Coculture of peripheral blood T cells with EC expressing allogeneic D R molecules had markedly different effects on CD45RO + and RA + subsets. Subsequent reactivity of the R`O + T cells was unaffected by exposure to EC, indicating a neutral encounter. In contrast, culture with DR. + EC induced allospecific nonresponsiveness in R_A + T cells.
Midkine: A Novel Biomarker to Predict Malignancy in Patients with Nodular Thyroid Disease

Background. Midkine (MK), a new heparin-binding growth factor, plays important roles in a variety of biological phenomena such as carcinogenesis, inflammation, and angiogenesis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate serum midkine (SMK) and nodular midkine (NMK) levels in patients with thyroid nodules to predict malignancy and whether there was any association between. Methods. A total of 105 patients (74 women, 31 men) with thyroid nodules were enrolled. The levels of SMK and NMK were measured. Any possible correlation between SMK, NMK, and biochemical, cytopathological, or radiological variables was investigated. Results. Both SMK and NMK were found to be higher in hypoechoic nodules with an irregular border and without a halo (p < 0.05). Serum MK levels were significantly higher in nodules with microcalcifications than nodules with macrocalcification or without calcification (p = 0.001). SMK levels were found to be correlated with NMK levels (SMK 0.63 ng/ml versus 1.04 ng/mL and NMK 0.55 ng/mL versus 0.55 ng/mL, r 2 = 0.54, p < 0.001). Conclusion. Both SMK and NMK can predict tumorigenesis of highly malignant/suspicious thyroid cytopathology and also well correlated with sonographic features of thyroid nodules. We suggest that MK levels may serve as an alternative biomarker, in conjunction with the cytopathological results in preoperative assessment of thyroid nodules.
Program Enrollment and Acreage Response to Reforestation Cost-Sharing Programs

Five alternative sets of predictions are presented of the total acreage of southern pine that would have been planted after clear-cut harvest if existing government Forest Improvement Programs had made different levels of cost-sharing available to nonindustrial private forest owners. The predictions illustrate the importance of separating and accounting for both the number of tracts enrolled and for the size of enrolled tracts. Predictions are obtained from a profit maximization model that represents the owner's decision as a simultaneous choice of reforestation practice and size of tract to harvest and reforest.
Alternative Corporate Governance: Domestic Media Coverage of Mergers and Acquisitions in China

A text analysis of domestic Chinese newspaper articles covering 797 proposed domestic mergers shows that the media in developing countries is susceptible to pressure: coverage is more favorable for deals consistent with government objectives and involving powerful local firms. However, we also find that coverage can affect the outcome of proposed M&A deals in non-stateowned firms. We identify this effect using an exogenous shock to market-driven governance from the Split-Share Structure Reform of 2007. Negotiation coverage predicts long-term performance, consistent with information dissemination. Despite biased coverage, domestic media in developing countries can function as an alternative channel for corporate governance.
MASS FUNCTIONS OF THE ACTIVE BLACK HOLES IN DISTANT QUASARS FROM THE LARGE BRIGHT QUASAR SURVEY, THE BRIGHT QUASAR SURVEY, AND THE COLOR-SELECTED SAMPLE OF THE SDSS FALL EQUATORIAL STRIPE

We present mass functions of distant actively accreting supermassive black holes residing in luminous quasars discovered in the Large Bright Quasar Survey (LBQS), the Bright Quasar Survey (BQS), and the Fall Equatorial Stripe of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The quasars cover a wide range of redshifts from the local universe to z = 5 and were subject to different selection criteria and flux density limits. This makes these samples complementary and can help us gain additional insight on the true underlying black hole mass distribution free from selection effects and mass estimation errors through future studies. By comparing these quasar samples, we see evidence that the active black hole population at redshift four is somewhat different than that at lower redshifts, including that in the nearby universe. In particular, there is a sharp increase in the space density of the detected active black holes (MBH ≳108M☉) between redshifts ∼4 and ∼2.5. Also, the mass function of the SDSS quasars at 3.6 ⩽ z ⩽ 5 has a somewhat flatter high-mass-end slope of β = −1.75 ± 0.56, compared to the mass functions based on quasars below z of 3 (BQS and LBQS quasars), which display typical slopes of β ≈ −3.3; the latter are consistent with the mass functions at similar redshifts based on the SDSS Data Release 3 quasar catalog presented by Vestergaard et al. We see clear evidence of cosmic downsizing in the comoving space density distribution of active black holes in the LBQS sample alone. In forthcoming papers, further analysis, comparison, and discussion of these mass functions will be made with other existing black hole mass functions, notably that based on the SDSS DR3 quasar catalog. We present the relationships used to estimate the black hole mass based on the Mg ii emission line; the relations are calibrated to the Hβ and C iv relations by means of several thousand high-quality SDSS spectra. Mass estimates of the individual black holes of these samples are also presented.
Cross-Linguistic Differences in the Neural Representation of Human Language: Evidence from Users of Signed Languages

Studies of deaf individuals who are users of signed languages have provided profound insight into the neural representation of human language. Case studies of deaf signers who have incurred left- and right-hemisphere damage have shown that left-hemisphere resources are a necessary component of sign language processing. These data suggest that, despite frank differences in the input and output modality of language, core left perisylvian regions universally serve linguistic function. Neuroimaging studies of deaf signers have generally provided support for this claim. However, more fine-tuned studies of linguistic processing in deaf signers are beginning to show evidence of important differences in the representation of signed and spoken languages. In this paper, we provide a critical review of this literature and present compelling evidence for language-specific cortical representations in deaf signers. These data lend support to the claim that the neural representation of language may show substantive cross-linguistic differences. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings with respect to an emerging understanding of the neurobiology of language.
Four years on the road to cosmopolitan lives : student development through the extended international education experience

The purpose of this research was to explore how students developed over a four-year international higher education experience, the first longitudinal study of student development through undergraduate careers completed entirely abroad. One hundred six students representing forty-three different countries at an American international liberal arts college in Switzerland participated in this grounded theory study, which incorporated an additional 186 anonymous survey respondents. The study addressed the processes and outcomes of such an education. The work utilized data produced through a number of different formats, including student peer-to-peer interviews, reflective student writing, participant observation, and open survey questions. The research showed that this experience prepared students for seven related cosmopolitan futures, ranging from global activist to glocal elite. In addition to classifying typologies, the study explained how students utilized three separate learning arenas to structure their experience: the intercultural bubble, the larger world of travel, and local communities. Students autonomously employed distinct methods within these learning arenas, using cyclical processes involving agency, constant comparison, risk-taking, and reflection. Students developed both intercultural competencies and worldliness. Key aspects of intercultural competencies included adaptability, open-mindedness, and perspective-taking. Worldliness instead comprised independence, travel savvy, and self-assuredness. Findings suggest that, regardless of a student’s original cosmopolitical orientation, the net effect of the extended international higher education experience was to expand students’ orientations and modes of acting and perceiving toward greater global understanding and appreciation, including aspects of ethical cosmopolitanism. The experience was transformative, albeit in an incremental fashion, building upon students’ previous lives. The research proposed a more evidence-based definition of cosmopolitan education than previous conceptualizations, one that encompasses tensions in discourses around internationalization and globalization. This thesis contributes to the literatures on the internationalization of higher education, international education, education for global citizenship, higher education policy, cosmopolitanism in practice, and the sociology of globalization. The thesis concludes with recommendations for international education researchers, practitioners, and campus leaders.