Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial Variability and Transport of Nitrate in a Deep Alluvial Vadose Zone

Little empirical evidence exists about the spatial distribution of NO3–N in deep vadose zones and about the associated fate and transport of NO3–N between the root zone and the water table. We investigated NO3–N occurrence in a deep alluvial vadose zone and its relation to geologic site characteristics, hydraulic properties, and fertilizer application rates via an intensive three‐dimensional core‐sampling campaign beneath an irrigated orchard in semiarid Fresno County, California. Statistical and geostatistical analyses were used to determine spatial variability of NO3–N and water content, to estimate total NO3–N mass in the vadose zone beneath each of three fertilizer treatments, and to compare NO3–N occurrence with that predicted from standard agronomic analysis of N and water flux mass balances. Vadose zone NO3 was highly variable and lognormally distributed. Fertilizer treatment had a significant effect on NO3–N levels in the vadose zone. In all cases, deep vadose zone N mass estimated by kriging measured data totaled only one‐sixth to one‐third of the mass predicted by the N and water flux mass balance approach. Vadose zone denitrification estimates could not account for this discrepancy. Instead, the discrepancy was attributed to highly heterogeneous flux conditions that were not accounted for by the mass‐balance approach. The results suggest that spatially variable vadose zone flow conditions must be accounted for to better estimate the potential for groundwater NO3 loading.
Recession Propagation In Small Regional Economies: Spatial Spillovers And Endogenous Clustering

This paper develops a statistical model for measuring spatial interactions when estimating macroeconomic regimes and regime shifts. The model is applied to study the contagion and propagation of recessions in small regional economies in the United States from 1990 to 2015. The empirical analysis identifies two geographical concentrations (or clusters) where small regional economies were affected by recessions in similar ways. These clusters are interpreted as groups of regions that are potentially at-risk to collective economic distress, which is useful for national and regional policy makers. The first identified cluster is characterized by regional economies with important roles in the financial sector, while the second cluster is characterized by the oil and gas extraction sector. The empirical findings uncover an important propagation dynamic that would be overlooked if one were to apply the model without the spatial extension developed in this paper. Specifically, the evidence shows significant spatial spillovers between small regional economies, meaning that shocks to regions are expected to be higher, when shocks to neighboring regions are high on average. The magnitude of this effect is amplified for the period spanning and following the Great Recession.
Effects of chromium supplementation on selected metabolic responses in resting and exercising horses

Chromium (Cr) is required for insulin function in the control of cellular glucose uptake. Other functions of Cr relate to its effects on growth, lipid metabolism, immune responses and interactions with nucleic acids. This study was conducted to obtain information on the effect of Cr supplementation on the metabolic responses of five exercising Standardbred horses. During the experiment, horses were fed every day for a 21-day period in a randomized order either a yeast product without Cr (control) or with 4.15 or 8.3 mg Cr day −1 . Horses were exercised on a treadmill, alternating a work day of low-speed exercise at 5 m s −1 on a 3% incline for 45 min with a rest day. Each horse was adapted over a 21-day period to his or her respective supplementation before undergoing a standardized exercise test (SET). The SET comprised five incremental steps, each of 4 min duration, on a treadmill with a 3% incline; the first step was at 5 m s −1 and was followed with increments of 1 m s −1 . Blood samples were taken for lactate, plasma glucose, serum insulin and cortisol estimation before, during and after each SET (30, 120 min and 24 h post-exercise). Blood Cr was estimated 2 h after feeding the control or Cr-enriched yeast (intake 8.3 mg Cr) in two horses. Heart rate was monitored throughout each SET. Blood lactate and plasma glucose peaks were highest at 8 and 9 m s −1 during the SET when 8.3 mg Cr was supplied. Serum insulin levels declined during the SET and there were no treatment-related changes. Twenty-four hours after exercise, plasma glucose and serum cortisol concentrations returned to basal levels or lower. Serum insulin rebounded 30 min after exercise but 24 h later, serum insulin concentrations were below resting levels. During the recovery period, Cr supplementation did not clearly affect metabolic responses. These results suggest that Cr supplementation had no beneficial effect in healthy, exercising horses.
Performance Norms for British National Super League Netball

The use of norms allows performance indicator values to be related to the relevant population of performances. However, it is also necessary to relate performances to the quality of the opposition. The purpose of the current investigation was to determine percentiles for performance indicators in British National Super League netball. Percentiles were determined for different types of match based on the strengths of the teams involved. The strength of the opponent was found to effect teams in the top half of the league differently to teams in the bottom half of the league. Relating a team's performance to the relevant performance norms based on the strength of the opposition permits more effective interpretation of the performance indicators. This information can be used by coaches to identify facets of performance requiring attention and can support more effective decision making and use of video feedback.
Renal Artery Embolization in Patients with Blunt Renal Trauma: Evaluating the Efficacy of the Procedure and the Impacts on Renal Function and Blood Pressure-a retrospective case series study

To evaluate the impact of renal artery embolization (RAE) on renal function and blood pressure (BP) in patients with blunt renal trauma (BRT). This retrospective study was approved by institution review board of a level I trauma center. Over an 8-year period, 64 patients with BRT underwent RAE. The measurements of renal function and BP were obtained at admission, and followed up for the duration between 4 days and 12 months. Patients who died during hospitalization were excluded from the renal function and BP analysis. Variables were recorded and analyzed using uni-and-multivariate tests. Binary logistic regression was used to compute the predictive factors for mortality. Technical success (complete occlusion of the vascular lesions) rate was 96.9% (n = 62), clinical success (keeping alive and complete cessation of bleeding without the need for further procedure) rate was 85.9% (n = 55), and mortality r ate w as 9.4% (n = 6 ). P redictive f actors of a ge ≥ 6 0 years (OR = 10.1, p = 0.023) a nd multiple-organinjury (≥ 2 organs in addition to kidney; OR = 8.7, p = 0.015) were significant for mortality. The value of AUROC (Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve) was 0.887 indicating that the model has excellent accuracy. Forty-four patients (n = 44, 68.8%) had renal-related complications, in which, thirty-seven (n = 37, 84.1%) resolved after conservative treatment. Renal function analysis showed significant improvements in serum creatinine, eGFR (MDRD formula) and renal function stage (National Kidney Foundation) after RAE (p ＜ 0.001). BP analysis showed significant elevation in diastolic BP (p = 0.017) and mean arterial pressure (p = 0.018) after RAE. The number of patients with normal BP (stages 2 and 3) was significantly increased after RAE (p ＜ 0.001). RAE is the treatment of choice for patients with severe renal trauma because of its high technical and clinical success rates. RAE, with discretion, can preserve renal function and restore normal BP after the procedure.
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES FOR ALIEN PLANT SPECIES DETECTION AND MONITORING

Invasive species spread rapidly and their eradication is difficult. New methods enabling fast and efficient monitoring are urgently needed for their successful control. Remote sensing can improve early detection of invading plants and make their management more efficient and less expensive. In an ongoing project in the Czech Republic, we aim at developing innovative methods of mapping invasive plant species (semi-automatic detection algorithms) by using purposely designed unmanned aircraft (UAV). We examine possibilities for detection of two tree and two herb invasive species. Our aim is to establish fast, repeatable and efficient computer-assisted method of timely monitoring, reducing the costs of extensive field campaigns. For finding the best detection algorithm we test various classification approaches (object-, pixel-based and hybrid). Thanks to its flexibility and low cost, UAV enables assessing the effect of phenological stage and spatial resolution, and is most suitable for monitoring the efficiency of eradication efforts. However, several challenges exist in UAV application, such as geometrical and radiometric distortions, high amount of data to be processed and legal constrains for the UAV flight missions over urban areas (often highly invaded). The newly proposed UAV approach shall serve invasive species researchers, management practitioners and policy makers.
T ARGETED THERAPY IN COLORECTAL CANCER

Our understanding of the molecular pathways that mediate cancer cell proliferation has increased significantly and with this comes the rapid development of molecular targeted therapies. The epidermal growth factor receptor and the vascular endothelial growth factor are two such targets that have proven to be important in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. Successful inhibition of these targets, utilising monoclonal antibodies bevacizumab, cetuximab and panitumumab, has led to improved patient outcomes. Prolongation of patient survival and improvement in quality of life has been associated with the use of these antibodies. Such therapies are now becoming part of standard management of advanced colorectal malignancy. Predictive biomarkers that allow for a more rational and effective utilisation of these new molecular targeted therapies are being discovered. The number of potential molecular targets seems infinite as new drugs are rapidly processed through new accelerated clinical trial designs and drug development programs. Many challenges remain in the successful development of molecular targeted therapies, including overcoming mechanisms of resistance, optimal drug delivery, the issues of the financial cost of these new drugs and equitable access to the new therapies.
Comparison of NACA 0012 Laminar Flow Solutions: Structured and Unstructured Grid Methods

In this paper we consider the solution of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations for a class of laminar airfoil flows. The principal objective of this paper is to demonstrate that members of this class of laminar flows have steady-state solutions. These laminar airfoil flow cases are often used to evaluate accuracy, stability and convergence of numerical solution algorithms for the Navier-Stokes equations. In recent years, such flows have also been used as test cases for high-order numerical schemes. While generally consistent steady-state solutions have been obtained for these flows using higher order schemes, a number of results have been published with various solutions, including unsteady ones. We demonstrate with two different numerical methods and a range of meshes with a maximum density that exceeds 8 × 10^6 grid points that steady-state solutions are obtained. Furthermore, numerical evidence is presented that even when solving the equations with an unsteady algorithm, one obtains steady-state solutions.
Testing for Rational Speculative Bubbles on the Estonian Stock Market

This paper looks for empirical evidence of rational speculative bubbles on the Estonian stock market during the period 1996â€“1999. Four different testing methodologies are used in the paper: two tests are indirect, looking for statistical â€œfootprintsâ€ of the speculative dynamics in the data, and two other tests are based directly on testable implications of the Blanchard and Watson (1982) model of periodically collapsing rational speculative bubbles. The paper finds tentative support for the bubble hypothesis on the Estonian stock market during the period that includes the Asian and the Russian financial crises of 1997 and 1998. The paper offers an empirical contribution to the literature on financial markets efficiency in the emerging Central and Eastern European economies.
Gender Balance in Australian Boardrooms: The Business Case for Quotas

This chapter examines the current Australian policy position of ‘soft regulatory intervention’ to increase women in corporate leadership positions and assesses the potential benefits of enacting mandatory gender quota legislation. The first section of this chapter examines the global context of gender diversity. Many governments in Europe have put in place mandatory quotas for women on corporate boards backed by legal sanctions. Others, including Australia, have taken a softer voluntary approach by recommending that companies set targets and/or disclose policy on gender diversity. Our chapter draws on relevant literature both supportive and opposed to gender diversity on boards falling within two broad categories of arguments, namely fairness, equity and psychology in the context of responsible business practices and value in the context of firm performance. Boardroom diversity effects on performance of firms will then be analyzed as an evolving argument for legislative quotas. The second part of this chapter explores the importance of improving corporate culture to be more inclusive of women in leadership positions and diminishing male-dominated groupthink in corporations, before examining the gender of leaders and executives in the political and academic sectors. Finally, this chapter concludes in arguing that despite progress of increasing gender diversity in Australia via the soft policy and regulatory approach by ASX, the need for a long-term plan is evident, owing to the complexities of the issue and the current slow progress of women on Australian corporate boards. Therefore, coercive legislative measures in the form of mandatory legislated diversity quotas are needed as an adjunct to the current ‘soft regulatory’ measures in Australia. It is clear the appetite for change persists, as demonstrated by the volume of literature and reports examining the issue of increasing board diversity in Australia.
Assessing Consumers' Willingness to Buy Foreign Goods: An Integrative Modeling Approach

Globalization has resulted in the proliferation of foreign goods worldwide, thus saturating consumer markets with substitutable products and increasing the competitive landscape for marketers. This study attempts to provide an empirically testable, integrative model containing the majorantecedents influencing the consumer’s willingness to buy these foreign goods. A sample of 800 adults from the United States was surveyed through a consumer panelto represent the broad composition of U.S. consumers. Structural equations modeling is used to assess the fit of the proposed model and provide the explanatory strengths of each predictor while in the presence of the other primary determinants in the model. The study suggests that consumer ethnocentrism, animosity, andcounty-or-origin image affect different stages of the process used by consumers to evaluate and form attitudes toward foreign goods. These evaluations and attitudes eventually lead to purchase intention, which is indicative of the consumer’s purchase behavior at a later time. The findings support the proposed relationships in this baseline model and suggest that key country-related variables differ with regards to where they exert significant influence within the baseline model. Country-of-origin image is shown to influence the evaluation and attitude formation stages, while consumer ethnocentrism and animosity affects the consumers’ willingness to buy foreign goods. Market entry and promotional strategies can be utilized to control these country-related effects if the marketer is aware of their influence upon foreign product purchases.
Three stage maturity model in SME’s toward industry 4.0

Purpose: To address the challenges regarding the concept of Industry 4.0 and the diversification methodology and based on the strategic guidance towards Industry 4.0, we propose a process model as a guiding framework for Industry 4.0 collaborative diversification vision, strategy and action building. In this paper we suggest a stage process model to guide and train companies to identify new opportunities for diversification within Industry 4.0. Systematically carrying out the stages will take a company to their individual specific vision and collaborative vision between different companies in the Industry 4.0 scenario. Design/methodology/approach: This new collaborative diversification methodology involves industry within the pilot program; from the diversification and capacity assessment analysis of the company`s profile, skills and technologies that dominates, to identify the diversification opportunity map and its business modeling within the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Findings: The application of maturity models to the Industry 4.0 may help organizations to integrate this methodology into their culture. Results show a real need for guided support in developing a company-specific Industry 4.0 vision and specific project planning. Originality/value: Industry 4.0 promotes a vision where recent developments in information technology are expected to enable entirely new forms of cooperative engineering and manufacturing. The vision of industry 4.0 describes a whole new approach to business operations, and especially the production industries. To address the challenges regarding the concept of Industry 4.0 and the diversification methodology discussed above, and based on the strategic guidance towards Industry 4.0, we propose a unique process model as a guiding framework for Industry 4.0 collaborative diversification vision, strategy and action building.
Deficient Emotional Intelligence and Dysfunctional Early Emotional Prosody Processing Varying with the Severity of Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenics

Background Most individuals with schizophrenia (SPs) experience auditory hallucinations (AH) of a negative or threat-related nature; however, the impact of AH on the early perceptual processing of emotions at the auditory cortex remains relatively unknown. In this paper, we employed an implicit emotional task to investigate the effects of AH on the early central processing of emotional prosody (within 100 milliseconds after stimulus onset) in SPs. We hypothesized that abnormalities in the emotional responses of SPs may vary with the severity of AH and may also be associated with impaired social cognition. Methods and findings A total of 63 SPs with AH of various severities and 21 age-matched control participants (CP) were recruited for this study. We assessed clinical symptoms and emotional intelligence (EI) as an index of social cognition. Auditory responses, including M50 and M100 components, to neutral and emotional prosody (happy, sad, angry, and fearful) were recorded using magneto encephalography. We then compared the groups in terms of the emotion-specific responseindex scores (normalized by the response to neutral sound) followed by correlation analysis with EI performance. Our results revealed that SPs have a delayed M50 response to the sad prosody; compared to CPs. SPs with ongoing AH invoked faster M50 responses to the angry prosody, compared to SPs without AH. In cases of persistent AH, we found that SPs with worse EI performance exhibited faster M50 responses to negative-laden prosody. Conclusion This study revealed that AH influence early emotional responses at the low level of auditory processing. Dysfunction in the processing of less emotionally salient stimuli (sadness) may be a trait-feature of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, a predilection toward negative emotions with high arousal in persistent AH may act as a state-feature incurring the impairment of social cognition. These findings provide insight into the neural mechanisms underlying distinct phenotypes of SPs (with or without AH).
Experiments in Video-Based Whiteboard Reading

With the increasing computational support for collaborative work-environments electronically enhanced whiteboards have been developed to serve as automatic meeting assistants. The most e xible of these systems use cameras to observe the whiteboard, and, therefore, do not require the use of special pens or erasers. However, currently these systems are only capable to interpret some special graphical symbols and can not produce transcripts of the documents written on them. As a major advancement beyond the state-of-the-art we propose a system for automatic video-based reading of unconstrained handwritten text from a whiteboard. Text lines are extracted from the captured image sequence using an incremental processing strategy. The recognition results are then obtained from the text-line images by off-line techniques and a segmentation-free statistical recognizer. We will present results on a writer independent unconstrained handwriting recognition task showing that handwriting recognition can successfully be applied to automatically reading texts from whiteboards.
Prediction of Shear Wave Velocity Using Artificial Neural Network Technique, Multiple Regression and Petrophysical Data: A Case Study in Asmari Reservoir (SW Iran)

Shear wave velocity has numerous applications in geomechanical, petrophysical and geophysical studies of hydrocarbon reserves. However, data related to shear wave velocity isn’t available for all wells, especially old wells and it is very important to estimate this parameter using other well logging. Hence, lots of methods have been developed to estimate these data using other available information of reservoir. In this study, after processing and removing inappropriate petrophysical data, we estimated petrophysical properties affecting shear wave velocity of the reservoir and statistical methods were used to establish relationship between effective petrophysical properties and shear wave velocity. To predict (VS), first we used empirical relationships and then multivariate regression methods and neural networks were used. Multiple regression method is a powerful method that uses correlation between available information and desired parameter. Using this method, we can identify parameters affecting estimation of shear wave velocity. Neural networks can also be trained quickly and present a stable model for predicting shear wave velocity. For this reason, this method is known as “dynamic regression” compared with multiple regression. Neural network used in this study is not like a black box because we have used the results of multiple regression that can easily modify prediction of shear wave velocity through appropriate combination of data. The same information that was intended for multiple regression was used as input in neural networks, and shear wave velocity was obtained using compressional wave velocity and well logging data (neutron, density, gamma and deep resistivity) in carbonate rocks. The results show that methods applied in this carbonate reservoir was successful, so that shear wave velocity was predicted with about 92 and 95 percents of correlation coefficient in multiple regression and neural network method, respectively. Therefore, we propose using these methods to estimate shear wave velocity in wells without this parameter.