Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of local forest attributes, utilizing two-phase sampling and auxiliary data

This thesis examines the feasibility of a forest inventory method based on two-phase sampling in estimating forest attributes at the stand or substand levels for forest management purposes. The method is based on multi-source forest inventory combining auxiliary data consisting of remote sensing imagery or other geographic information and field measurements. Auxiliary data are utilized as first-phase data for covering all inventory units. Various methods were examined for improving the accuracy of the forest estimates. Pre-processing of auxiliary data in the form of correcting the spectral properties of aerial imagery was examined (I), as was the selection of aerial image features for estimating forest attributes (II). Various spatial units were compared for extracting image features in a remote sensing aided forest inventory utilizing very high resolution imagery (III). A number of data sources were combined and different weighting procedures were tested in estimating forest attributes (IV, V). Correction of the spectral properties of aerial images proved to be a straightforward and advantageous method for improving the correlation between the image features and the measured forest attributes. Testing different image features that can be extracted from aerial photographs (and other very high resolution images) showed that the images contain a wealth of relevant information that can be extracted only by utilizing the spatial organization of the image pixel values. Furthermore, careful selection of image features for the inventory task generally gives better results than inputting all extractable features to the estimation procedure. When the spatial units for extracting very high resolution image features were examined, an approach based on image segmentation generally showed advantages compared with a traditional sample plot-based approach. Combining several data sources resulted in more accurate estimates than any of the individual data sources alone. The best combined estimate can be derived by weighting the estimates produced by the individual data sources by the inverse values of their mean square errors. Despite the fact that the plot-level estimation accuracy in two-phase sampling inventory can be improved in many ways, the accuracy of forest estimates based mainly on single-view satellite and aerial imagery is a relatively poor basis for making stand-level management decisions.
Excessive force: A comparative study of police in the Caribbean

Police scholars attribute police use of excessive force to various factors including individual characteristics, situational contingencies, organizational determinants and leadership styles. Most research investigating the determinants of excessive use of force concerns deadly force among urban police agencies in developed nations, primarily the United States. Only recently has research attention focused on excessive force that is less than lethal. This research reports the findings of a study on police perceptions regarding the use of less-than-lethal excessive force in three Caribbean nations. A model is developed based on current literature from developed nations that specifies the relationships among situational, individual, and organizational factors and the use of excessive force as measured by observations, interviews, and surveys. A questionnaire collected data from 672 street-level constables and their immediate supervisors. Observations of constables, interviews with their supervisors, and inter.
How Enterprise Education Can Promote Deep Learning to Improve Student Employability

This paper focuses on identifying the approaches students take to their learning, with particular regard to issues of enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation when comparing the traditional lecture format to a more applied, practice-based case study format. The notions of deep and surface learning are used to explain student learning. More active methods of teaching (such as discussion and case studies) promote a deep approach; and work elsewhere has suggested that these methods are more effective than lectures for the promotion of thought. For this study, questionnaire surveys were used to determine whether there was a difference in approach to learning between most and least beneficial course modules, and between the lecture-based and more applied, practice-based case study formats. The findings indicated that deeper learning results from a more active approach, with students who adopted deeper learning being better able to apply their learning in different entrepreneurial contexts.
English teachers’ racial literacy knowledge and practice

This article examines how secondary English teachers in two racially diverse schools – one in Massachusetts, USA, the other in Ontario, Canada – described their knowledge of and practices for teaching about race and racism. The extent and quality of teachers’ racial literacy knowledge and practice were considered in light of the literature on racial literacy, racial literacy instruction, and anti‐racist education. Three approaches to racial literacy instruction were identified: apprehensive and authorized; incidental and ill‐informed; and sustained and strategic. The paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of teachers’ knowledge and skills in order to suggest content and structures for professional development in support of racial literacy instruction.
Bone mineral density and serum bone turnover markers in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Comparison of megadose methylprednisolone and conventional‐dose prednisolone treatments

During recent decades, the survival rate after childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved substantially; consequently, the long‐term side effects of ALL and its treatment have gained attention, of which osteoporosis is one of the most important. The purpose of the present study was to compare the influence of different treatment protocols that include high‐dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) versus conventional‐dose prednisolone (CDP) for remission‐induction therapy on bone mineral density (BMD) and serum bone turnover markers in survivors of childhood ALL after cessation of chemotherapy. Thirty‐six boy and 23 girl survivors, treated for ALL, were cross‐sectionally studied, at a mean age of 11.7 years (range 6–19). Group 1 (n = 30) received CDP therapy (prednisolone, 2 mg/kg/day, orally) and group 2 (n = 29) received HDMP therapy (prednol‐L, 900–600 mg/m2, orally). All other therapies were similar in both groups. Cranial irradiation was added for high‐risk patients as soon as possible after consolidation therapy. We found that mean lumbar spine BMD z score value was −1.75 (0.83) SDS in group 1 and −1.66 (1.21) SDS in group 2. There is no difference between both groups (P = 0.736). The mean BMD z scores of prepubertal and pubertal patients were not significantly different in both groups. Comparison of serum bone turnover parameters of the patients revealed no difference between the two groups. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that lumbar spine BMD z scores was predicted by height SDS and the time past since cessation of therapy, but not age at diagnosis, BMI SDS, cranial radiotherapy, and puberty. Our study results showed that HDMP treatment did not deteriorate the bone mass any more than CDP treatment. These results proved that high‐dose steroid therapy over a short period of time in remission‐induction treatment would not affect the bone mass any more adversely than would conventional doses approximately 3 years after cessation of chemotherapy. Am. J. Hematol. 80:113–118, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Human Cytomegalovirus Infection of Placental Cytotrophoblasts In Vitro and In Utero: Implications for Transmission and Pathogenesis

ABSTRACT Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of prenatal viral infection. Affected infants may suffer intrauterine growth retardation and serious neurologic impairment. Analysis of spontaneously aborted conceptuses shows that CMV infects the placenta before the embryo or fetus. In the human hemochorial placenta, maternal blood directly contacts syncytiotrophoblasts that cover chorionic villi and cytotrophoblasts that invade uterine vessels, suggesting possible routes for CMV transmission. To test this hypothesis, we exposed first-trimester chorionic villi and isolated cytotrophoblasts to CMV in vitro. In chorionic villi, syncytiotrophoblasts did not become infected, although clusters of underlying cytotrophoblasts expressed viral proteins. In chorionic villi that were infected with CMV in utero, syncytiotrophoblasts were often spared, whereas cytotrophoblasts and other cells of the villous core expressed viral proteins. Isolated cytotrophoblasts were also permissive for CMV replication in vitro; significantly, infection subsequently impaired the cytotrophoblasts' ability to differentiate and invade. These results suggest two possible routes of CMV transmission to the fetus: (i) across syncytiotrophoblasts with subsequent infection of the underlying cytotrophoblasts and (ii) via invasive cytotrophoblasts within the uterine wall. Furthermore, the observation that CMV infection impairs critical aspects of cytotrophoblast function offers testable hypotheses for explaining the deleterious effects of this virus on pregnancy outcome.
Voices without Words: Doing Critical Literate Talk in English as a Second Language.

Critical thinking is believed to be an essential skill for 21st century survival and therefore has been widely promoted in education. In Hong Kong, critical thinking is one of nine generic skills to be developed across all subjects, including English. How students do critical thinking in ESL, which is seldom used outside school and yet holds high social value, has, however, been underresearched. This article is concerned with how some low-English-proficiency senior secondary students in Hong Kong conducted critical talk in English. The study specifically investigates how the students used English to express ideas that were first developed in Cantonese (the students' first language). Based on a discourse analysis of the criticality and elaborateness of the Cantonese and English utterances of one group of students, the authors discuss findings that reveal a significant contrast between the students' more elaborated discourse in Cantonese and a restricted discourse in English characterised by reduced content and limited lexicogrammatical structures. The findings call for more attention to the impacts of linguistic proficiencies on critical thinking performance of ESL learners and to how the communicative gaps in critical literate talk revealed in ESL learners' first and second languages can be gradually reduced.
Challenging Current Notions of “Highly Qualified Teachers” through Work in a Teachers’ Inquiry Group

A small group of Boston Public School teachers met for a year to explore the question of what keeps teachers going, a question that bears asking because of the precarious situation of public education today. In this article, I describe the work of the What Keeps Teachers Going? inquiry group as a way to challenge current notions of what it means to be a “highly qualified teacher” as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Rather than “best practices” or prescribed pedagogy, we found that a combination of interrelated conditions and values keep excellent teachers going, including love, autobiography, hope, anger, intellectual work, and the ability to shape the future. This article ends with implications for professional development and a call for new national priorities in public education.
Phylogenetic Analysis of “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis” Isolates from Pet Cats in the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa, with Analysis of Risk Factors for Infection

ABSTRACT Two hemotropic mycoplasmas have been recognized in cats, Mycoplasma haemofelis and “Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum. ” We recently described a third feline hemoplasma species, designated “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis,” in a Swiss cat with hemolytic anemia. This isolate induced anemia after experimental transmission to two specific-pathogen-free cats and analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed its close relationship to rodent hemotropic mycoplasmas. The agent was recently shown to be prevalent in Swiss pet cats. We sought to investigate the presence and clinical importance of “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis” infection in pet cats outside of Switzerland and to perform the molecular characterization of isolates from different countries. A “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis”-specific real-time PCR assay was applied to blood samples from 426 United Kingdom (UK), 147 Australian, and 69 South African pet cats. The 16S rRNA genes of isolates from different countries were sequenced and signalment and laboratory data for the cats were evaluated for associations with “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis” infection. Infections were detected in samples from UK, Australian, and South African pet cats. Infection was associated with the male gender, and “Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum” and M. haemofelis coinfection. Coinfected cats exhibited significantly lower packed cell volume (PCV) values than uninfected cats. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that some Australian and South African “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis” isolates branched away from the remaining isolates. In summary, “Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis” infection in pet cats exists over a wide geographical area and significantly decreased PCV values are observed in cats coinfected with other feline hemoplasmas.
Early Reports : A History of Stereotypes

methodological problems with many reports on female gangs. This Bulletin summarizes both past and current research on female gangs and draws attention to programmatic and research needs. It considers the underlying reasons for female gang membership, assesses the delinquency and criminal activity of female gang members, examines how ethnicity and gender norms may influence female gang behavior, and discusses the longterm consequences of gang membership for females. It concludes with some proposals for future research.
Winter Cover Crops in Illinois: Evaluation of Ecophysiological Characteristics of Corn

Understanding ecophysiological characteristics of corn (Zea mays L.) under winter cover crops (WCCs) can improve management and farmers’ acceptance by increasing the positive effects and decreasing the negativeeffects associated with their use. This study was conducted to quantify the effects of WCC on corn development, growth, and yield through the evaluation of ecophysiological characteristics. No-till corn planted after hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), cereal rye (Secale cereale L.), and hairy vetch–cereal rye biculture and with four levels of Nfertilizer(0,90,180,and270kgha 21 )wasevaluatedin2002and2003 at Urbana, IL. Number of leaves, height, leaf area, chlorophyll meter readings(CMRs),light interception (LI), leaf carbondioxideexchange rate (CER), grain yield, and yield components were measured. At 0 kg ha 21 , rye had significant detrimental effects on corn ecophysiological characteristics. However, most of the detrimental effects were overcome byadding 90 kg N ha 21 . Overall, hairy vetch provided benefits to corn that resulted in higher corn grain yield and was significantly better than all other treatments when no N fertilizer was used. Corn yield following hairy vetch–rye was intermediate between no cover and rye. As long as N rates are at least 90 kg ha 21 , incorporating WCC in a corn–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] rotation in Illinois does not affect corn ecophysiological characteristics and yield potential.
Conceptualizing Alberta District Leadership Practices: A Cross-Case Analysis

We interviewed 45 district-level staff, principals, and trustees in two high-performing and one rapidly improving Alberta school districts. We asked interviewees to detail the what and the how of key leadership practices to promote and sustain student achievement and how they had changed over the last five to ten years. The cross-case findings are clustered around four practices that respondents described and strongly endorsed: (1) collaboration between school- and district-level leadership in setting the direction in leadership for learning; (2) development of a shared expertise in the uses of evidence about student learning; (3) provision of professional development that is job-embedded and based on school needs; and (4) alignment of an array of practices and structures to support student learning.
Design of a low-temperature plasma (LTP) probe with adjustable output temperature and variable beam diameter for the direct detection of organic molecules.

RATIONALE The direct detection of organic molecules by mass spectrometry requires ionization methods which are compatible with ambient conditions. A relatively new strategy is the use of a free low-temperature plasma beam for ionization. The objective is to design a safe and adjustable plasma beam to enable optimal ionization and desorption parameters for specific molecules. METHODS A plasma probe based on a dielectric barrier discharge was designed, where the plasma is guided through an internal second tube. This setup permits different beam diameter settings and the control of the plasma temperature. The ionization and desorption of pure organic compounds, as well as their direct detection from roasted coffee beans, were tested. RESULTS The presented plasma probe provides improved safety with respect to arcing, ozone generation and electric shock, compared with conventional designs. The functionality of previously reported devices is expanded. A defined plasma diameter can be set by choosing the appropriate insert, while the input voltage controls the plasma temperature. The variation of measurement parameters enables the optimized direct detection of target compounds from roasted coffee beans, such as caffeine, guaiacol and vanillin. CONCLUSIONS The presented low-temperature plasma probe allows the fine-tuning of ionization and desorption parameters, according to the target molecules. Possible applications include: (1) The ambient ionization and desorption of organic compounds with different volatility and (2) The direct analysis of food products such as roasted coffee beans.
Assessment of metamorphopsia in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy

Background: To evaluate the presence and extent of metamorphopsia using M-CHARTS™ (Inami Co., Tokyo, Japan) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Design: Retrospective consecutive medical record review in a university hospital. Materials and Methods: We examined 33 eyes of 33 consecutive CSC patients using M-CHARTS, which yields scores reflecting the severity of metamorphopsia. The condition was considered present when an M-CHARTS score was 0.3 or over. In all patients, optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was assessed, and M-CHARTS scores were calculated at the first and the 1- and 3-month follow-up visits. The correlation between M-CHARTS scores and BCVA values was determined. We also sought to define relationships between the level of metamorphopsia and specific OCT findings. Results: Of 33 CSC patients, 15 showed symptoms of metamorphopsia, and all 15 had M-CHARTS scores of over 0.3. However, no correlation was evident between BCVA values and the extent of metamorphopsia as determined using M-CHARTS. In metamorphopsia patients, the incidence of focal retinal pigment epithelial detachment was notably greater than in the non-metamorphopsia group (P = 0.03). Conclusion: M-CHARTS is valuable for monitoring subjective symptom improvement during the clinical course of CSC. M-CHARTS serves as a useful adjunct to OCT.
Newspaper Advertisements in Canadian Election Campaigns

Student concerns were the focus of 13% of the articles in the Chicago Tribune. The Sun had 7% of its education articles related to the student concerns while only 4% of the education articles in Panorama focused on student concerns. Other Areas. The remaining areas (e.g., exceptional children, evaluation, ceremonies) received some note in each of the three newspapers. Generally speaking, however, articles in these areas comprised less than 5% of the total number of articles. The dearth of information reported on standards and evaluation was unexpected.
"No, We're Not Playing Families": Membership Categorization in Children's Play

In this article, we use Sacks's (1992) work on membership categorization in children's play and games as an analytic basis for examining the organization of play sequences between 6- and 7-year-old children. We collected and examined around 33 hr of audio-recorded interactions between children in the school playground. We discuss how the children used membership categorization devices and their associated rules and applications to organize social action in a range of play activities. Membership in a game was achieved through the mapping of children to the category-sets of players. The consistency rule and the notion of programmatic relevance were central operative features in the organization of the children's games. Mapping occurred recurrently in the children's play, for example, on initiating a new play sequence or when incorporating a newplayer into an established activity. The sequential and categorical organization of play involves the situated use of cultural resources to produce nuanced and creative versions of the world. In this article, we contribute to understandings of children's communicative competencies and the situated production of their cultural and social worlds in their talk in interaction.
Quantitative comparison of a human cancer cell surface proteome between interphase and mitosis

The cell surface is the cellular compartment responsible for communication with the environment. The interior of mammalian cells undergoes dramatic reorganization when cells enter mitosis. These changes are triggered by activation of the CDK1 kinase and have been studied extensively. In contrast, very little is known of the cell surface changes during cell division. We undertook a quantitative proteomic comparison of cell surface‐exposed proteins in human cancer cells that were tightly synchronized in mitosis or interphase. Six hundred and twenty‐eight surface and surface‐associated proteins in HeLa cells were identified; of these, 27 were significantly enriched at the cell surface in mitosis and 37 in interphase. Using imaging techniques, we confirmed the mitosis‐selective cell surface localization of protocadherin PCDH7, a member of a family with anti‐adhesive roles in embryos. We show that PCDH7 is required for development of full mitotic rounding pressure at the onset of mitosis. Our analysis provided basic information on how cell cycle progression affects the cell surface. It also provides potential pharmacodynamic biomarkers for anti‐mitotic cancer chemotherapy.
Korean- and English-speaking children use cross-situational information to learn novel predicate terms*

ABSTRACT This paper examines children's attention to cross-situational information during word learning. Korean-speaking children in Korea and English-speaking children in the US were taught four nonce words that referred to novel actions. For each word, children saw four related events: half were shown events that were very similar (Close comparisons), half were shown events that were not as similar (Far comparisons). The prediction was that children would compare events to each other and thus be influenced by the events shown. In addition, children in these language groups could be influenced differently as their verb systems differ. Although some differences were found across language, children in both languages were influenced by the type of events shown, suggesting that they are using a comparison process. Thus, this study provides evidence for comparison, a new mechanism to describe how children learn new action words, and demonstrates that this process could apply across languages.