Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic impacts on the forest sector of increasing forest biodiversity conservation in Finland

In the next coming years, political decisions will be made upon future actions to safeguard forest biodiversity in Southern Finland. We address the economic consequences on the Finnish forest sector of conserving additional 0.5% to 5% of the old growth forest land in Southern Finland. The impacts on supply, demand and prices of wood and forest industry production are analysed employing a partial equilibrium model of the Finnish forest sector. An increase in conservation raises wood prices and thus the production costs of the forest industry. This makes sawnwood production fall, but does not affect paper and paperboard production. The forest owners’ aggregated wood sales income is unaffected or slightly increased, because an increase in stumpage prices offsets the decrease in the harvests. If conservation increases wood imports, negative effects on forest industry become smaller whereas aggregated forest owners’ income may decline depending on the magnitude of import substitution.
The Political Consequences of Resource Dependence - How Natural Gas Export Can Affect Policy Outcomes: A Quantitative Analysis

With the use of a liberal/rational framework as a baseline, this article examines whether economic asymmetric interdependence can yield political influence. More specifically, it examines exogenous gas supply to the EU and develops a theory that provides testable hypotheses aiming to answer whether the export of gas provides political advantages for the sender state. The outlined hypotheses, and more, are tested in a cross sectional time series dataset, where votes in the United Nations (UN) Assembly are used as the dependent variable, as a measurement for the policy preferences of states. The empirical findings support the prediction made in the theory section. Gas dependence has a conditional effect on policy behaviour. The sender government has to be a sizeable international power, whilst the recipient government should have low military capabilities and be dependent on foreign support.
Traditional Acceptance Theories and Mobile Technology Adoption - A Case Study

In recent years, researchers have attempted to find suitable acceptance models to explain adoption of mobile information systems. In this paper we examine the suitability of the adoption criteria of traditional models, UTAUT in particular, for mobile information systems in organizations. A case study of an introduction of a mobile ordering system in a restaurant is used to achieve these goals. Analysis of the reasons behind individual employees' decisions to use or reject the mobile device system helps to understand which criteria are likely to influence adoption of mobile technology in organizations. Proposed adoption factors suitable for mobile context include: Effort Expectancy, Performance Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions, Mobility, Trust, and Enjoyment. systems in an organizational context. As mobile systems are still at an early stage of development and their uptake has not been great, a better understanding of their adoption and use becomes an important goal. Repeated suggestions have been made that more efforts should focus on understanding issues and factors explaining adoption, acceptance, and use of mobile services (1). It is hoped that such studies will lead to improved strategic planning, more successful solutions, as well as better profits and increased benefits both for organizations and systems providers. Section 2 of this paper discusses technology adoption theories and situates them in the mobile context. The methodology and case study background are set out in Section 3. The authors discuss the results of the case research in Section 4 and conclude the paper in Section 5.
Enhancement of Taxane Production by the Combination of in situ Extraction with Lauryl Alcohol and Elicitation by Methyl Jasmonate in a Suspension Callus Culture

We report here on taxane production by a combination of in situ extraction with lauryl alcohol (LA) and elicitation by methyl jasmonate (MJ) in a suspension callus of Taxus cuspidata. LA is an effective organic solvent for the in situ extraction of paclitaxel which gives a decrease in the paclitaxel concentration in the medium thus reducing its feed-back inhibition against callus growth. Improved callus growth and increased production amounts of the taxanes were observed in the two phase systems including MJ, compared with the control culture where LA and MJ were not added. In particular significant amounts of 10-deacetyl baccatin III and baccatin III, which are precursors of paclitaxel, were produced, indicating that the rate-limiting steps in the production of paclitaxel might be the enzymatic activities of converting baccatin III to paclitaxel and/or the genes expression of the related enzymes.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY

-The Shelton Mastodon Site (Oakland County, Michigan) was the subject of a five-year multidisciplinary study and yielded late Wisconsinan remains of algae, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. The vertebrate faunule is comprised of: Esox lucius, Perca flavescens, Rana catesbeiana, R. clamitans, Meleagris gallopavo, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Ondatra zibethicus, Castor canadensis, Canis sp. , Alces alces, Cervalces scotti (extinct), and Mammut americanum (extinct). The bones were derived from marginal lacustrine strata deposited adjacent to a forested moraine and show evidence of prolonged exposure and subaerial weathering. Nine radiocarbon dates (eight from Pleistocene and one from Holocene; seven conducted on wood and two on bone) were obtained. Dates on the principal bone-bearing strata range from 12,320 i 110 to 11,740 f 175 years before present (ybp), which corresponds to the age of the Twocreekan substage of the late Wisconsinan. Two projectile points inferred on typological grounds to be between 8,500 and 9,900 years old were found at the lower level of the Holocene bog soil overlying the Pleistocene sediments. Floral remains associated with the Pleistocene vertebrates suggest the presence of a forest dominated by conifers (mostly spruce), while the strata at a higher level contain a heterogeneous mixture of trees (mostly pine), sedges, and grasses. Some pieces of wood have gnaw marks, inferred to be those of Castor canadensis. Habitat preferences of the 10 molluscan and 25 diatom genera recovered from the associated lacustrine beds suggest eutrophic to oligotrophic aquatic conditions. Analysis of dentinal lamination indicates that the mastodon died in the spring; its stage of molar eruption and wear suggests that it was 13 to 17 years old. It is an unusual specimen in that only the right tusk developed. The molars and premolars of C. scotti are the first found in Michigan. Similarly, the remains of E. lucius, P. flavescens, R. catesbeiana, and R. clamitans are the first records for the Pleistocene of Michigan. Analyses of this site are providing detailed knowledge of the late Wisconsinan deglaciation and paleoecology of southern Michigan. ' ~ a y n e State University, Detroit. Current affiliation: Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48013 2~niver ; i ty of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Michigan 3 ~ a y n e State University, Detroit, Michigan 40&land Community College, Farmington Hills, Michigan ' ~ o e ~ e r School, Birmingham, Michigan 6 ~ h i l d r e n ' s Village School, Waterford, Llichigan Contour intervals 50 ft.
The role of sulphates and organic vapours in growth of newly formed particles in a eucalypt forest

The influence of biogenic particle formation on climate is a well recognised phenomenon. To understand the mechanisms underlying the biogenic particle formation, determining the chemical composition of the new particles and therefore the species that drive the particle production is of utmost importance. Due to the very small amount of mass involved, indirect approaches are frequently used to infer the composition. We present here the results of such an indirect approach by simultaneously measuring volatile and hygroscopic properties of newly formed particles in a forest environment. It is shown that the particles are composed of both sulphates and organics, with the amount of sulphate component strongly depending on the available gas-phase sulphuric acid, and the organic components having the same volatility and hygroscopicity as photooxidation products of a monoterpene such as α-pinene. Our findings agree with a two-step process through nucleation and cluster formation followed by simultaneous growth by condensation of sulphates and organics that take the particles to climatically relevant sizes.
Corwin-Schultz Bid-Ask Spread Estimator in the Brazilian Stock Market

This paper tests the validity of the Corwin-Schultz bid-ask spread estimator in the Brazilian stock market. The Corwin-Schultz estimator arises as an easy way to compute asymmetric information throughout daily high and low stock prices for estimating overnight and non-negative adjusted spreads. The sample consisted of Ibovespa firms from 1986 to 2014 and was analysed with time series econometrics. The findings show that the measures of spread have stationarity properties, allowing for forecasting in a period of lagged variables, besides having the property of time-varying cointegration with market-to-book ratio, debt on equity, size and return and also presenting sensibility to different periods, industries and listing segments. Thus, the Corwin-Schultz bid-ask spread estimator seems to be a valid and reliable measure for forecasting aggregate-data variables through the weighted average of firm-level variables.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIVERSIFICATION AND SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN RIPARIAN VEGETATION: A CASE STUDY OF KORANG RIVER, ISLAMABAD

The present study was conducted at Korang river, Islamabad to determine soil and vegetation associations and affiliations. Herbaceous flora and soil samples were collected randomly by using 1×1 square meters quadrate. For each plant in quadrate visual cover estimation was noted. Twenty one species belonging to 14 families were identified. CCA (Canonical Correspondence Analysis) was applied in order to find out the strength and relation between environment and plant species. The results exhibited that pH and copper strongly affected the abundance of Cannabis sativa while profusion of Cynodon dactylon was influenced by moisture content. CCA functioned on water quality parameters indicated that sulphate and TSS were the major holding factors promoting the growth of Cannabis sativa. T-value biplots were created for each environmental parameter to assess whether the relation was positive or negative with variables. GLM was also taken into account to value the relation between response and predictors in a way that Cannabis sativa tolerated adverse environmental conditions in the current study. Partial ordination was used that gave variation partitioning of plant species against every parameter. The survey of edaphic factors and vegetation structure along Korang river was helpful for not only improving and mending the present condition of river but also for planning and conservation of plant species diversity.
Assessing the effect of flood restoration on surface–subsurface interactions in Rohrschollen Island (Upper Rhine river – France) using integrated hydrological modeling and thermal infrared imaging

Abstract. Rohrschollen Island is an artificial island of the large Upper Rhine river whose geometry and hydrological dynamics are the result of engineering works during the 19th and 20th centuries. Before its channelization, the Rhine river was characterized by an intense hydromorphological activity which maintained a high level of biodiversity along the fluvial corridor. This functionality considerably decreased during the two last centuries. In 2012, a restoration project was launched to reactivate typical alluvial processes, including bedload transport, lateral channel dynamics, and surface–subsurface water exchanges. An integrated hydrological model has been applied to the area of Rohrschollen Island to assess the efficiency of the restoration regarding surface and subsurface flows. This model is calibrated using measured piezometric heads. Simulated patterns of water exchanges between the surface and subsurface compartments of the island are checked against the information derived from thermal infrared (TIR) imaging. The simulated results are then used to better understand the evolutions of the infiltration–exfiltration zones over time and space and to determine the physical controls of surface–subsurface interactions on the hydrographic network of Rohrschollen Island. The use of integrated hydrological modeling has proven to be an efficient approach to assess the efficiency of restoration actions regarding surface and subsurface flows.
Wind-driven rivulet over an edge with break-up

An experimental and numerical study of a wind-driven rivulet break-up at the trailing edge of a horizontal plate was carried out. The experiment setup is a 20mm thick, 260 300mm 2 plate with a 1mm circular water inlet centered on top of the plate. The ambient air o ws on both sides of the plate. As the water is introduced, the ambient air will form a rivulet that travels towards the trailing edge of the plate. The rivulet breaks-up, at the trailing edge forming droplets with sizes that depend on the o w rate and velocity of the ambient o w. The experimental part was done at Volvo Car Corporation using three different water o w rates (0:8, 0:5 and 0:2l=h) and four ambient air o w velocities (11, 14, 19 and 25m=s). A high-speed camera was used to visualize the water which contained a ourecent liquid for easier post-processing. Every case was repeated ten times in order to obtain reasonably good statistics for the pinch-off frequency and the second order droplets. The static contact angle and surface tension were also measured. Numerical simulations were carried out using the numerical method volume of uid (VOF) within the commercial software FLUENT. The cases simulated were the experimental cases having the largest experimental water o w rate. This choice was based on earlier numerical generic studies of rivulets. It was concluded that a low water o w rate did not predict a rivulet, but a droplet train, on the plate in contrast to experiments. The computational domain was discretized using a block-structured boundary-tted mesh. The choice of hexahedral mesh was based on previous experience that showed poor performance of the VOF method on tetrahedral/prismatic mesh structures when there are strong gradients in the prismatic layer. The air o w is calculated without a turbulence model. The boundary layer is laminar upstream of the water inlet and matches the Blasius prole. The simulations show fairly good agreement with experiments in terms of droplet sizes and velocity, but it under predicts the results a little bit. This is probably because the rivulet arrives at the trailing edge with too high velocity and does not want to stay at the lower edge long enough to accumulate large droplets. This is because the model does not include surface roughness and dynamic contact angle.
Reproductive Performance of Two Cowpea ('Vigna unguiculata' (L)Walp) Varieties Ife Brown and TVX3236 as Influenced by Imidazolinone and Dinitroaniline Herbicides

Weed control management was carried out in plots of two cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp) varieties Ife brown and TVX3236 at the University of Ilorin main Campus during 2004 and 2005 cropping seasons. Imidazolinone (Imazaquin, and Imazethapyr) and Dinitroaniline (pendimethalin) herbicides were used as weed control agents. Results of this study revealed that these herbicides were adequate both as pre and early post emergence applications for weed control in cowpea without serious set back on the reproductive parameters such as number of pods per plant, pod weight per plant, seed number per plant, pod length, seed number per pod and pod filling potential. Seed number per pod was higher in herbicide treatments than the weedy control in both cowpea varieties. However, reduction in seed number per pod was noticed in higher concentration of 0.375 kg a.i./ha in the pre-emergence application of pendimethalin, pursuit plus and the early post emergence application of pursuit plus. There was no reduction in the pod length of both varieties by any of the herbicide treatments.
Māori dialect issues and Māori language ideologies in the revitalisation era

In recent times, during the Mäori language revitalisation era, there has been a renewed interest in learning and promoting Mäori dialects. Iwi identification is often signalled by younger speakers of Mäori through pronunciation, idiom, vocabulary and written forms that are thought to be associated with a particular iwi or region. To date, there has not been promotion of a standard form of Mäori; standardisation efforts have instead largely focused on lexical/technical development and promoting orthographic consistencies for writing Mäori. Mäori language is changing because of the need to create a new language for the modern world, along with dramatic changes, especially in the pronunciation of Mäori, mostly due to influences from New Zealand English. This paper discusses the literature on linguistic dialect variation, the historical context, and contemporary issues and tensions related to dialect usage and language change which have arisen in the language revitalisation era. It suggests that renewed interest in dialects can be framed in relation to overt expressions of what are sometimes termed “language ideologies” or beliefs about language. It is argued that further research is required on Mäori language ideologies in general, attitudes towards dialects and motivations for using them, and Mäori language use amongst younger speakers of Mäori.
Income Inequality and Poverty in Colombia - Part 2. The Redistributive Impact of Taxes and Transfers

Income inequality in Colombia has declined since the early 2000s but remains very high by international standards. While most of the inequality originates from the labour market, wealth – and thus capital income – is also highly concentrated and the tax and transfer system has little redistributive impact. The tax-to-GDP ratio remains low. Consumption taxes, which tend to be regressive, account for the bulk. The progressivity of income taxes had been undermined by generous tax reliefs, which benefit the well-off most and increase tax avoidance opportunities. The tax system should be reformed to enhance progressivity and raise more revenue which could be used to expand social policies. Cash transfers to households are small and dominated by non-redistributive schemes such as contributory pensions. Education coverage has increased steadily but quality and equity in access at the tertiary level remain important issues. Though significant progress has been made towards universal health coverage, the financing and organisation of the health care system could be improved to raise the quality of care and reduce adverse incentives to remain in the informal sector. Inegalites de revenu et pauvrete en Colombie - Partie 2. L'impact redistributif des impots et prestations sociales Les inegalites de revenu se sont attenuees depuis le debut des annees 2000 mais elles restent beaucoup plus fortes que dans la plupart des autres pays. Si le fonctionnement du marche du travail est le principal facteur a l'origine de ces inegalites, il convient de noter que la richesse – et donc les revenus du capital – est aussi tres inegalement repartie alors que les impots et prestations sociales n'ont qu'un faible impact redistributif. Le montant des prelevements obligatoires en pourcentage du PIB reste faible. Les taxes sur la consommation, qui tendent a etre regressives, ont un poids preponderant. La progressivite des impots sur le revenu est amoindrie par les dispositifs d'allegements qui beneficient aux plus fortunes et favorisent l'evasion fiscale. Le systeme fiscal devrait etre reforme afin de renforcer sa progressivite et d'augmenter les recettes qui pourraient etre utilisees pour mettre en place des politiques sociales plus ambitieuses. Les prestations sociales sont peu elevees et dominees par des programmes non-redistributifs, en particulier les pensions contributives. Les taux de scolarisation ont augmente mais la qualite de l'education et l'equite d'acces, en particulier pour l'universite, restent des defis importants. De meme pour la sante, si des progres remarquables ont ete faits concernant la couverture, rendue presque universelle, le financement et l'organisation du systeme de sante pourraient etre reformes afin d'augmenter la qualite des soins et de reduire les incitations au travail informel.
Organisational value of participating in a quality award process: a Swedish study

One way for organisations to support total quality management, and hence try to increase customer satisfaction is to participate in a quality award process. The purpose of this study is to explore the organisational value of participating in a quality award process. The study is based on interviews at 29 organisations that have participated in the process of the Swedish Quality Award. The main conclusion is that most of the organisations consider the process orientation, customer orientation and improvement work to have been improved as a result of the participation in the quality award process. However, there are also obstacles to surmount in order to benefit fully from the process: difficulties in finding resources within the organisation to perform mandatory work and implement identified improvements, and difficulties in applying the circumstantial model used in the quality award process.
Evaluation of vegetation indices for rangeland biomass estimation in the Kimberley area of Western Australia

Abstract. The objective of this paper is to test the relationships between Above Ground Biomass (AGB) and remotely sensed vegetation indices for AGB assessments in the Kimberley area in Western Australia. For 19 different sites, vegetation indices were derived from eight Landsat ETM+ scenes over a period of two years (2011–2013). The sites were divided into three groups (Open plains, Bunch grasses and Spinifex) based on similarities in dominant vegetation types. Dry and green biomass fractions were measured at these sites. Single and multiple regression relationships between vegetation indices and green and total AGB were calibrated and validated using a "leave site out" cross validation. Four tests were compared: (1) relationships between AGB and vegetation indices combining all sites; (2) separate relationships per site group; (3) multiple regressions including selected vegetation indices per site group; and (4) as in 3 but including rainfall and elevation data. Results indicate that relationships based on single vegetation indices are moderately accurate for green biomass in wide open plains covered with annual grasses. The cross-validation results for green AGB improved for a combination of indices for the Open plains and Bunch grasses sites, but not for Spinifex sites. When rainfall and elevation data are included, cross validation improved slightly with a Q2 of 0.49–0.72 for Open plains and Bunch grasses sites respectively. Cross validation results for total AGB were moderately accurate (Q2 of 0.41) for Open plains but weak or absent for other site groups despite good calibration results, indicating strong influence of site-specific factors.