Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping Decadal Land Cover Changes in the Woodlands of North Eastern Namibia from 1975 to 2014 Using the Landsat Satellite Archived Data

Woodlands and savannahs provide essential ecosystem functions and services to communities. On the African continent, they are widely utilized and converted to subsistence and intensive agriculture or urbanized. This study investigates changes in land cover over four administrative regions of North Eastern Namibia within the Kalahari woodland savannah biome, covering a total of 107,994 km2. Land cover is mapped using multi-sensor Landsat imagery at decadal intervals from 1975 to 2014, with a post-classification change detection method. The dominant change observed was a reduction in the area of woodland savannah due to the expansion of agriculture, primarily in the form of small-scale cereal and pastoral production. More specifically, woodland savannah area decreased from 90% of the study area in 1975 to 83% in 2004, and then increased to 86% in 2014, while agricultural land increased from 6% to 12% between 1975 and 2014. We assess land cover changes in relation to towns, villages, rivers and roads and find most changes occurred in proximity to these. In addition, we find that most land cover changes occur within land designated as communally held, followed by state protected land. With widespread changes occurring across the African continent, this study provides important data for understanding drivers of change in the region and their impacts on the distribution of woodland savannahs.
The Comparable Worth Controversy

The well-documented gap between men's and women's earnings has aroused intense debate over the concept of comparable worth, that is, equal pay for work judged to be of equal value. Government, business, labor unions, and the courts have been forced to consider whether workers in dissimilar jobs of comparable worthmeasured by such criteria as working conditions, degree of difficulty, and knowledge and responsibility requiredshould receive equal wages, and how wage adjustments can be implemented.The issue has provoked inflated rhetoric, litigation, and considerable confusion.In this concise study, Henry J. Aaron and Cameran M. Lougy review the conditions that have sparked the debate and unravel the implications of comparable worth for employers in public and private sectors, for labor union agendas and employer-employee negotiations, and for the administrative and and judicial burdens of the nation's courts. The authors conclude with general guidelines for implementing wage adjustments in ways that would not seriously disrupt society or have a major impact on overall economic efficiency. "
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Size Distributions, Sources and Source Areas of Water-soluble Organic Carbon in Urban Background Air

This paper represents the results of one year long measurement period of the size distributions of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), inorganic ions and gravimetric mass of particulate matter. Measurements were done at an urban background station (SMEAR III) by using a micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI). The site is located in northern European boreal region in Helsinki, Finland. The WSOC size distribution measurements were completed with the chemical analysis of inorganic ions, organic carbon (OC) and monosaccharide anhydrides from the filter samples (particle aerodynamic diameter smaller than 1 µm, PM 1). Gravimetric mass concentration varied during the MOUDI samplings between 3.4 and 55.0 µg m −3 and the WSOC concentrations were between 0.3 and 7.4 µg m −3. On average, water-soluble particulate organic matter (WSPOM, WSOC multiplied by 1.6 to convert the analyzed carbon mass to organic matter mass) comprised 25±7.7% and 7.5±3.4% of aerosol PM 1 mass and the PM 1−10 mass, respectively. Inorganic ions contributed 33±12% and 28±19% of the analyzed PM 1 and PM 1−10 aerosol mass. Five different aerosol categories corresponding to different sources or source areas were identified (long-range transport aerosols, biomass burning aerosols from wild land fires and from small-scale wood combustion, aerosols originating from marine areas and from the clean arctic areas). Categories were identified mainly using levoglucosan concentration level for wood combustion and air mass backward trajectories for other groups. Clear differences in WSOC concentrations and size distributions originating from different sources or source areas were observed, although there are also many other factors which might affect the results. E.g. the local conditions and sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aerosols as well as various transformation processes are likely to have an impact on the measured aerosol composition. Using the source categories, it was identified that especially the oxidation products of biogenic VOCs in summer had a clear effect on WSOC concentrations .
Advanced Data Mining Techniques

This book covers the fundamental concepts of data mining, to demonstrate the potential of gathering large sets of data, and analyzing these data sets to gain useful business understanding. The book is organized in three parts. Part I introduces concepts. Part II describes and demonstrates basic data mining algorithms. It also contains chapters on a number of different techniques often used in data mining. Part III focusses on business applications of data mining.Methods are presented with simple examples, applications are reviewed, and relativ advantages are evaluated.
Diagnosis of depression by behavioural signals: a multimodal approach

Quantifying behavioural changes in depression using affective computing techniques is the first step in developing an objective diagnostic aid, with clinical utility, for clinical depression. As part of the AVEC 2013 Challenge, we present a multimodal approach for the Depression Sub-Challenge using a GMM-UBM system with three different kernels for the audio subsystem and Space Time Interest Points in a Bag-of-Words approach for the vision subsystem. These are then fused at the feature level to form the combined AV system. Key results include the strong performance of acoustic audio features and the bag-of-words visual features in predicting an individual's level of depression using regression. Interestingly, in the context of the small amount of literature on the subject, is that our feature level multimodal fusion technique is able to outperform both the audio and visual challenge baselines.
Specific auditory training for children with dyslexia and central auditory processing disorder can improve spelling performance

Background: In this study, the question of whether auditory training for children with a reading and spelling disorder and a central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) can improve spelling performance is investigated. The training apparatus was the Audiva Company‘s DichoTrainer. Method: Dichotic discrimination, auditory/kinaesthetic perception and behavioral strengths and peculiarities as well as spelling ability and intelligence were assessed in 36 dyslexic children from years 2 to 4 of primary school with a central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). Subsequently, the children were divided into an auditory training group, a group with a computer-based drill-and-practice spelling PC program (LernReha) and a control group. After a 12-week training period (20 minutes per day), statistically significant improvements in performance were noted. Results: It was shown that improvements in spelling could be documented within the Dicho-Trainer group. A tendency in favor of the auditory training group could be detected in comparison to the spelling training group. As the implementation of the control group was not felicitous, no final conclusion regarding different spelling abilities after training period between Dicho-Trainer group and control-group can be drawn. Conclusions: The results support the assumption that auditory perception ability has an effect on written language. In the group of children experiencing difficulties with auditory perception, not alone can auditory training improve perception, but as a consequence, it can also improve spelling ability.
Harvesting Coffee, Bargaining Wages: Rural Labor Markets in Colombia, 1975-1990

"Harvesting Coffee, Bargaining Wages" offers an insightful scrutiny of rural market behavior and a convincing explanation of why farmers fail sometimes to manage their laborers in ways predicted by market models--and how power imbalances and social conditions can impair the ability of laborers to attain a fair market contract during lax labor market periods.This empirical study, based on interviews with both farmers and laborers, covers a fifteen-year period characterized by the modernization of production. Ortiz compares three localized coffee labor markets, expanding the analysis by contrasting the strategies used by the coffee farmers in her study areas with those that farmers in other parts of the world adopt in order to cope with similar problems. Her data challenge prevalent generalizations about the consequences of agricultural modernization on laboring families by showing that management practices and contractual arrangements are ultimately molded by local conditions--cultural perceptions of a fair exchange, familial obligations and roles, availability of housing, bargaining power in the home and in the market, kin networks, and information flows--in interaction with national and global influences. "Harvesting Coffee, Bargaining Wages" will be of primary interest to anthropologists and sociologists, geographers, political scientists interested in explicit and implicit contract formats, and economists intrigued by the possibility of integrating social variables as contextual aspects of management strategies.Sutti Ortiz is Associate Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Boston University.
The influence of polychronicity and identification on interactions in the workplace

Individual work identity, or the way individuals define themselves in the workplace, is composed of a combination of organizational, professional, and other identities. Such identities, and the related patterns of identification, shape the roles individuals enact and the corresponding ways they behave in the workplace, e.g. their social networks. In this paper, drawing on recent contributions on identity in organizations, we interpret the preference or desire to work on different tasks at the same time (polychronicity) as part of individuals' work identity and we explore how polychronicity, professional and organizational identification affect the patterns of interactions in the workplace. Specifically, we test a model where the relationship between individual polychronicity and network centrality is mediated by the perception of organizational polychronicity and moderated by the strength of professional and organizational identification. Adopting a mixed methods approach, we collected qualitative and quantitative data on R&D professionals employed in a world-leading company of the alternative energy industry. Theoretical and practical implications, together with future research directions, are discussed.
Phonon Anharmonicity in Silicon from 100 to 1500 K

Inelastic neutron scattering was performed on silicon powder to measure the phonon density of states (DOS) from 100 to 1500 K. The mean fractional energy shifts with temperature of the modes were ⟨Δɛ_i/ɛ_iΔT⟩=−0.07, giving a mean isobaric Gruneisen parameter of +6.95±0.67, which is significantly different from the isothermal parameter of +0.98. These large effects are beyond the predictions from quasiharmonic models using density functional theory or experimental data, demonstrating large effects from phonon anharmonicity. At 1500 K the anharmonicity contributes 0. 15k_B/atom to the vibrational entropy, compared to 0. 03k_B/atom from quasiharmonicity. Excellent agreement was found between the entropy from phonon DOS measurements and the reference NIST-JANAF thermodynamic entropy from calorimetric measurements.
International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems Decentralized Rbfnn Type-2 Fuzzy Sliding Mode Controller for Robot Manipulator Driven by Artificial Muscles Regular Paper

In the few last years, investigations in neural networks, fuzzy systems and their combinations become attractive research areas for modeling and controlling of uncertain systems. In this paper, we propose a new robust controller based on the integration of a Radial Base Function Neural Network (RBFNN) and an Interval Type‐2 Fuzzy Logic (IT2FLC) for robot manipulator actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAM). The proposed approach was synthesized for each joint using Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and named Radial Base Function Neural Network Type‐2 Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control (RBFT2FSMC). Several objectives can be accomplished using this control scheme such as: avoiding difficult modeling, attenuating the chattering effect of the SMC, reducing the rules number of the fuzzy control, guaranteeing the stability and the robustness of the system, and finally handling the uncertainties of the system. The proposed control approach is synthesized and the stability of the robot using this controller was analyzed using Lyapunov theory. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the RBFT2FSMC compared to other control technique, simulations experiments were performed using linear model with parameters uncertainties obtained after identification stage. Results show the superiority of the proposed approach compared to RBFNN Type‐1 Fuzzy SMC. Finally, an experimental study of the proposed approach was presented using 2‐ DOF robot. 1. Introduction It is well known that Sliding Mode Control (SMC) presents higher robustness for systems which have modeling uncertainty, parameters variations and/or external disturbances. Basically, SMC consists of two steps: a driving step that forces the system trajectory to reach a stable manifold, and sliding mode that assures the desired dynamics of the controlled system [1]. However, SMC has the chattering drawback [1]. In the other hand,
Variants in Adjacent Oxytocin/Vasopressin Gene Region and Associations with ASD Diagnosis and Other Autism Related Endophenotypes

Background: There has been increasing interest in oxytocin (peptide: OT, gene: OXT) as a treatment pathway for neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Neurodevelopmental disorders affect functional, social, and intellectual abilities. With advances in molecular biology, research has connected multiple gene regions to the clinical presentation of ASD. Studies have also shown that the neuropeptide hormones OT and arginine vasopressin (AVP) influence mammalian social and territorial behaviors and may have treatment potential for neurodevelopmental disorders. Published data examining molecular and phenotypic variation in ASD, such as cognitive abilities, are limited. Since most studies have focused on the receptors in the OT-AVP system, we investigated genetic variation within peptide genes for association with phenotypic ASD features that help identify subgroups within the spectrum. Methods: In this study, TDT analysis was carried out utilizing FBAT in 207 probands (156 trios) and a European Ancestry (EA) subsample (108 trios). The evolutionarily related and adjacent genes of OXT and AVP were studied for associations between the tagged single nucleotide polymorphisms and ASD diagnosis, social abilities, restrictive and repetitive behaviors, and IQ for cognitive abilities. Additionally, relationships with whole blood serotonin (WB5HT) were explored because of the developmental relationships connecting plasma levels of OT and WB5HT within ASD. Results: Results indicate significant association between OXT rs6084258 (p = 0.001) and ASD. Associations with several endophenotypes were also noted: OXT rs6133010 was associated with IQ (full scale IQ, p = 0.008; nonverbal IQ, p = 0.010, verbal IQ, p = 0.006); and OXT rs4813625 and OXT rs877172 were associated with WB5HT levels (EA, p = 0.027 and p = 0.033, respectively). Additionally, we measured plasma OT (pOT) levels in a subsample (N = 54). Results show the three polymorphisms, OXT rs6084258, OXT rs11697250, and OXT rs877172, have significant association with pOT (EA, p = 0.011, p = 0.010, and p = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: These findings suggest that SNPs near OXT and AVP are associated with diagnosis of ASD, social behaviors, restricted and repetitive behaviors, IQ, pOT, and WB5HT. Future studies need to replicate these findings and examine gene-interactions in other neurodevelopmental disorders. Mechanisms of action may influence early social and cognitive development that may or may not be limited to ASD diagnosis.
The MUC1 Extracellular Domain Subunit Is Found in Nuclear Speckles and Associates with Spliceosomes

MUC1 is a large transmembrane glycoprotein and oncogene expressed by epithelial cells and overexpressed and underglycosylated in cancer cells. The MUC1 cytoplasmic subunit (MUC1-C) can translocate to the nucleus and regulate gene expression. It is frequently assumed that the MUC1 extracellular subunit (MUC1-N) does not enter the nucleus. Based on an unexpected observation that MUC1 extracellular domain antibody produced an apparently nucleus-associated staining pattern in trophoblasts, we have tested the hypothesis that MUC1-N is expressed inside the nucleus. Three different antibodies were used to identify MUC1-N in normal epithelial cells and tissues as well as in several cancer cell lines. The results of immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy analyses as well as subcellular fractionation, Western blotting, and siRNA/shRNA studies, confirm that MUC1-N is found within nuclei of all cell types examined. More detailed examination of its intranuclear distribution using a proximity ligation assay, subcellular fractionation, and immunoprecipitation suggests that MUC1-N is located in nuclear speckles (interchromatin granule clusters) and closely associates with the spliceosome protein U2AF65. Nuclear localization of MUC1-N was abolished when cells were treated with RNase A and nuclear localization was altered when cells were incubated with the transcription inhibitor 5,6-dichloro-1-b-d-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB). While MUC1-N predominantly associated with speckles, MUC1-C was present in the nuclear matrix, nucleoli, and the nuclear periphery. In some nuclei, confocal microscopic analysis suggest that MUC1-C staining is located close to, but only partially overlaps, MUC1-N in speckles. However, only MUC1-N was found in isolated speckles by Western blotting. Also, MUC1-C and MUC1-N distributed differently during mitosis. These results suggest that MUC1-N translocates to the nucleus where it is expressed in nuclear speckles and that MUC1-N and MUC1-C have dissimilar intranuclear distribution patterns.
Sequential Liver Chemistry Profiling and Abdominal Ultrasound Assessments to Predict Biliary Strictures after Liver Transplantation

Background: After orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) early detection of biliary strictures is important. Our aim was to evaluate the predictive value of routine serum liver chemistry profiling and abdominal ultrasound as non- invasive diagnostic tools in detecting biliary strictures after OLT. Methods: We performed a retrospective study in which 141 primary OLTs, performed between 1992 and 2007 with more than 1 year follow-up, were included. Routinely assessed serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, alanine-aminotransferase, aspartate-aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and bilirubin at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, and abdominal ultrasounds performed at 3, 6 and 12 months after OLT were evaluated. All biliary strictures requiring intervention occurring after 3 months were included. Time-dependent Cox regression analysis was performed to identify predictive factors for the development of biliary strictures. Results: Eighteen grafts developed non-anastomotic strictures (12.8%) and 18 grafts (12.8%) developed anastomotic strictures requiring intervention. An elevated gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (HR 1.24 per 100 IU/L; p = 0.05) and dilated bile ducts on ultrasound (HR 3.45; p < 0.01) were found to have an independent predictive value for the development of biliary strictures requiring intervention. Bilirubin and the other studied liver enzymes were not independently predictive. Conclusion: Dilated bile ducts on ultrasound and elevated gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase after OLT are independent predictive factors for the development of biliary strictures requiring intervention. Routine assessment by serum gGT and US at 3-month intervals during the first year post-OLT is useful to screen for biliary strictures post-OLT.
Is Transcriptomic Regulation of Berry Development More Important at Night than During the Day?

Diurnal changes in gene expression occur in all living organisms and have been studied on model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana. To our knowledge the impact of the nycthemeral cycle on the genetic program of fleshly fruit development has been hitherto overlooked. In order to circumvent environmental changes throughout fruit development, young and ripening berries were sampled simultaneously on continuously flowering microvines acclimated to controlled circadian light and temperature changes. Gene expression profiles along fruit development were monitored during both day and night with whole genome microarrays (Nimblegen® vitis 12x), yielding a total number of 9273 developmentally modulated probesets. All day-detected transcripts were modulated at night, whereas 1843 genes were night-specific. Very similar developmental patterns of gene expression were observed using independent hierarchical clustering of day and night data, whereas functional categories of allocated transcripts varied according to time of day. Many transcripts within pathways, known to be up-regulated during ripening, in particular those linked to secondary metabolism exhibited a clearer developmental regulation at night than during the day. Functional enrichment analysis also indicated that diurnally modulated genes considerably varied during fruit development, with a shift from cellular organization and photosynthesis in green berries to secondary metabolism and stress-related genes in ripening berries. These results reveal critical changes in gene expression during night development that differ from daytime development, which have not been observed in other transcriptomic studies on fruit development thus far.
The Effect of National Culture on the Definition of Process Ownership as a Requirement for Effective Business Process Reengineering

One of the main requirements for a successful implementation of a process reengineering effort is the appropriate definition of process owners. Such ownership is intended to determine responsibilities and accountability over process performance. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact that Geert Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture have on the definition of process ownership. It is hypothesized that cultural dimensions will make a difference in the ability and manner to attain this goal across different nations. A survey method is intended for data collection to assess the proposed model. Depending on the nature of the data, the appropriate lineal or non-lineal statistical method will be employed to assess the strength and directions of causality in the proposed model. Furthermore, since it is intended to collect data in, at least, two different nations, a deeper analysis will be required to determine significant differences between the two groups in the sample.