Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utah State University From the SelectedWorks of James Long March , 2015 Environmental drivers of deadwood dynamics in woodlands and forests

Deadwood dynamics play a key role in many forest ecosystems. Understanding the mechanisms involved in the accumulation and depletion of deadwood can enhance our understanding of fundamental processes such as carbon sequestration and disturbance regimes, allowing better predictions of future changes related to alternative management and climate scenarios. A conceptual framework for deadwood dynamics has been generally accepted but has not been broadly tested with empirical data. We used a large (n 1⁄4 6191) data set containing measurements of live and standing dead trees, and downed woody material, representing numerous woodland and forest types from throughout the Interior Western USA, to assess relationships between environmental factors and basic elements of forest structure, with particular focus on the various components of deadwood (i.e., fine woody debris, litter, duff and large deadwood, both standing and downed). Environmental gradients emerged as the most influential factors determining structure and deadwood dynamics of these diverse vegetation types. We found that dead components are approximately proportional to the live component and that all of the various components of structure can be ordered as a function of climatic gradients representing temperature and moisture. The postulate that maximum accumulation of biomass is associated with intermediate values of temperature and moisture was only partially supported by our results, indicating that conceptualizations of deadwood dynamics must be considered in the context of the particular disturbance regimes (e.g., fire, insect outbreaks, wind) most commonly associated with particular woodland and forest types. These findings are relevant to a wide range of applications, from ecosystem modeling to development of resource management plans under alternative future climates.
Relationships between leadership communication practices and organisational commitment in a selected higher education institution

The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership communication practices and organisational commitment among the staff in a selected institution of higher education. The chosen organisation is located in the Klang Valley and was established 37 years ago. Stratified random sampling was used for sample selection and a total of 235 respondents participated in this study using a questionnaire survey method. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson Product Moment correlation, and Multiple Regression using both enter and stepwise methods. With regard to the levels of organisational commitment, the study shows that the employee’s affective, continuance and normative commitments are moderate. Correlation analysis showed significant relationships between leadership communication practices and organisational commitment. While communication climate tended to be a good predictor of organisational commitment. Through effective leadership communication practices, a leader is able to influence and convince employees to be more committed towards their organisation in order to achieve organisational objectives. In conclusion, this research shows that leadership communication practices can contribute towards higher staff commitment in an organisation.
Humidity-independent conducting polyaniline films synthesized using advanced atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization with in-situ iodine doping

This study reports on the synthesis and characterization of conducting polyaniline (PANI) thin films when using advanced atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs). A simple method for synthesizing conducting polymers (CPs) with humidity-independent characteristics is introduced using advanced APPJs and an in-situ iodine doping method. In the case of ex-situ I2 doping, a humidity effect study showed that increasing the relative humidity produced significant changes in the electrical resistance (R) of the PANI, indicating strong humidity-dependent characteristics similar to conventional CPs. In contrast, in the case of in-situ I2 doping, the R and sensitivity of the PANI remained essentially unchanged when increasing the relative humidity, except for a very low sensitivity of 0.5% under 94% relative humidity. In addition, the R for the PANI with in-situ I2 doping showed no aging effect, while the R for the ex-situ-doped PANI increased dramatically over time. Thus, it is anticipated that the use of in-situ do.
Agricultural protection and poverty in Indonesia: a general equilibrium analysis.

A general equilibrium modeling approach is used to estimate the effects within Indonesia of unilateral and global trade liberalization, including effects on poverty incidence. It is concluded that global reform of trade policy in all commodities is a significant potential source of poverty reduction for Indonesia. The poor rural and urban have a strong interest in global trade policy reform. If Indonesia were to liberalize unilaterally, poverty incidence also will decline but the effect is small. If liberalization is confined to agricultural products, the effects are similar but the declines in poverty incidence within Indonesia are much smaller.
THE IMPLANTABLE GLUCOSE SENSOR IN DIABETES: A BIOENGINEERING CASE STUDY

INTRODUCTION Since my previous review on this subject that appeared in Introduction to Bioengineering in 2000 (1), there have been many changes in the field. Most importantly, diabetes has become much more prevalent, especially type 2 diabetes, and the incidence of new cases worldwide has reached epidemic proportions. This has led to widespread concerns that the consequences of the disease, if unabated, may begin to over-tax health care resources in the near future. There has also been remarkable progress in the development of new technologies for addressing the disease. Nevertheless, there remain numerous opportunities for bioengineers, some of which are reviewed here. This article focuses on the rationale for glucose monitoring and advances made at UCSD, and is an abridged version of a more extensive recent review (2).
Classification of the glioma grading using radiomics analysis

Background Grading of gliomas is critical information related to prognosis and survival. We aimed to apply a radiomics approach using various machine learning classifiers to determine the glioma grading. Methods We considered 285 (high grade n = 210, low grade n = 75) cases obtained from the Brain Tumor Segmentation 2017 Challenge. Manual annotations of enhancing tumors, non-enhancing tumors, necrosis, and edema were provided by the database. Each case was multi-modal with T1-weighted, T1-contrast enhanced, T2-weighted, and FLAIR images. A five-fold cross validation was adopted to separate the training and test data. A total of 468 radiomics features were calculated for three types of regions of interest. The minimum redundancy maximum relevance algorithm was used to select features useful for classifying glioma grades in the training cohort. The selected features were used to build three classifier models of logistics, support vector machines, and random forest classifiers. The classification performance of the models was measured in the training cohort using accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve. The trained classifier models were applied to the test cohort. Results Five significant features were selected for the machine learning classifiers and the three classifiers showed an average AUC of 0.9400 for training cohorts and 0.9030 (logistic regression 0.9010, support vector machine 0.8866, and random forest 0.9213) for test cohorts. Discussion Glioma grading could be accurately determined using machine learning and feature selection techniques in conjunction with a radiomics approach. The results of our study might contribute to high-throughput computer aided diagnosis system for gliomas.
The Glass Ceiling and the Paper Floor: Gender Differences Among Top Earners, 1981-2012

We analyze changes in the gender structure at the top of the earnings distribution in the United States over the last 30 years using a 10% sample of individual earnings histories from the Social Security Administration. Despite making large inroads, females still constitute a small proportion of the top percentiles: the glass ceiling, albeit a thinner one, remains. We measure the contribution of changes in labor force participation, changes in the persistence of top earnings, and changes in industry and age composition to the change in the gender composition of top earners. A large proportion of the increased share of females among top earners is accounted for by the mending of, what we refer to as, the paper floor – the phenomenon whereby female top earners were much more likely than male top earners to drop out of the top percentiles. We also provide new evidence at the top of the earnings distribution for both genders: the rising share of top earnings accruing to workers in the Finance and Insurance industry, the relative transitory status of top earners, the emergence of top earnings gender gaps over the life cycle, and gender differences among lifetime top earners.
Sociodemographic Risk Factors of Cervical Cancer in Imphal, Manipur

Cervical cancer is preventable if detected early. Determination of risk factors is essential to plan screening programmes to prevent the disease. To study the demographic risk factors of cervical cancer among Manipuri women, information on age, marital status, educational level, monthly family income and socioeconomic status were collected through a pre-tested interview schedule. In this study, 64 incident cases registered at the RT Dept, RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences), Imphal, Manipur, India during 2008-09 participated. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and the results were expressed in percentages. Among the 64 patients with cervical cancer, 56 (88.9%) were in the age group of 40+ years. The majority of the patients were from rural areas (68.75%) and 31.25% were from urban areas. The majority of the patients were Hindus (73%), 55(85.9%) were of low educational level, 43(67.2%) were married, and 36 (56.25%) belonged to Class IV socioeconomic status. In conclusion, if detected early, cervical cancer is preventable and curable. The potential risk factors need to be identified and women in the risk group need to be motivated for screening. Affordable screening programmes and health care resources will help in lessening the burden of the disease. Keywords—Cervical cancer, Manipuri women, RIIMS, Sociodemographic risk factors.
Estimation of atmospheric mixing layer height from radiosonde data

Abstract. Mixing layer height (h) is an important parameter for understanding the transport process in the troposphere, air pollution, weather and climate change. Many methods have been proposed to determine h by identifying the turning point of the radiosonde profile. However, substantial differences have been observed in the existing methods (e.g. the potential temperature (θ), relative humidity (RH), specific humidity (q) and atmospheric refractivity (N) methods). These differences are associated with the inconsistency of the temperature and humidity profiles in a boundary layer that is not well mixed, the changing measurability of the specific humidity and refractivity with height, the measurement error of humidity instruments within clouds, and the general existence of clouds. This study proposes a method to integrate the information of temperature, humidity and cloud to generate a consistent estimate of h. We apply this method to high vertical resolution (~ 30 m) radiosonde data that were collected at 79 stations over North America during the period from 1998 to 2008. The data are obtained from the Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate Data Center (SPARC). The results show good agreement with those from N method as the information of temperature and humidity contained in N; however, cloud effects that are included in our method increased the reliability of our estimated h. From 1988 to 2008, the climatological h over North America was 1675 ± 303 m with a strong east–west gradient: higher values (generally greater than 1800 m) occurred over the Midwest US, and lower values (usually less than 1400 m) occurred over Alaska and the US West Coast.
Differential responses to MVA-induced pain : normative data

s of posters to be presented at the 11 World Congress on Pain to be held in Sydney, 2005. These presentations were made possible by this MAA funded project. I. Title: The nature of depression in a chronic pain patient sample. Authors’ information and affiliations: M.K. Nicholas*, A. Asghari, N. Harris, T. Newton-John, C. Perry, S. Overton, R. Murray, K. Nicholson Perry, A. Singer. Pain Management & Research Centre, University of Sydney at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. (SPON: M.K. Nicholas) Aim of Investigation: Concern over the adequacy of existing models of depression to account for co-morbid depression in people with chronic pain has led to calls for a reconsideration of concepts of depression in this population (e.g. Pincus, Williams, 1999; Morley et al., 2002). This is reflected research findings that have diminished the role of somatic symptoms of depression in favour of more cognitive aspects. This study examined the nature of depression in a large sample of chronic pain patients using a scale (DASS) with no somatic items, Methods: Questionnaires completed at initial assessment (covering pain, mood, disability and cognitions) provided the main data. DASS scores were compared across the pain clinic sample, a healthy community sample and a diagnosed Mood Disorder (non-pain) sample. DASS scores across age groups and frequency of items endorsed were also examined, as well as the relationship between depression and other variables measured at initial assessment. Results: Data from 2,445 pain patients (58% women; mean age: 48 yrs; mean pain duration: 82 mths) yielded a mean depression score of 14.3 (SD 12). This was significantly higher than that of a normal community sample (X = 5), but only 19.9% scored > 25 (mean score of the Mood Disorder sample). The most frequently endorsed items were reflective of sadness, lack of initiative, and anhedonia. The least endorsed were reflective of low self-worth. Depression was much lower in those > 60 yrs (vs those < 60 yrs), despite similar pain levels. Depression scores correlated more with catastrophising, self-efficacy, and disability than pain severity and chronicity. Conclusions: The results support earlier findings with other depression scales and indicate depression in pain patients is more closely related to cognitive, motivational, behavioural and age variables than pain severity. The pattern of item endorsement is supportive of calls for reconsideration of concepts of depression in chronic pain populations. Acknowledgements: Grant support by NSW Motor Accident Authority (Grant No. 02/844).
A current sheet traced from the Sun to interplanetary space

Context. Magnetic reconnection is a central concept for understanding solar activity, including filament eruptions, flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The existence of transverse and vertical current sheets, sites where reconnection takes place in the solar atmosphere, is frequently proposed as a precondition for flare/CME models, but is rarely identified in observations. Aims. We aim at identifying a transverse current sheet that existed in the pre-CME structure and persisted from the CME solar source to interplanetary space. Methods. STEREO A/B provide us a unique opportunity to calculate the interplanetary current sheets for the magnetic cloud. We analyze such a structure related to the fast halo CME of 2006 December 13 with assembled observations. A current sheet at the front of the magnetic cloud is analyzed to its origin in a transverse current sheet in the CME solar source, which can be revealed in the magnetic field extrapolations, XRT, and LASCO observations. Results. An interplanetary current sheet is identified as coming from the CME solar source by carefully mapping and examining multiple observations from the Sun to interplanetary space, along with nonlinear force-free magnetic field extrapolations of the active region NOAA 10930. Conclusions. The structure identified in the pre-flare state is a global transverse current sheet, which plays a role in the CME initiation, and propagates from the corona to interplanetary space.
Amyloid Imaging PET Ligands as Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease, Preclinical Evaluation

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the aging population. It is a complex disease that affects many brain functions and is characterized by a progressive impairment of cognitive abilities, such as memory, learning and social skills. AD was first described over hundred years ago by the German psychiatrist Dr. Alois Alzheimer, reporting of the in due course characteristic pathological changes postmortem discovered in his 56 years old patient Auguste D (Alzheimer, 1907). The disease is obviously devastating for the patients and affects everyday life for both patients and their families, but it also generates economical challenges for the heath-care system and the society as the elderly population is growing (Wimo & Winblad, 2008). Although research regarding AD is intensive worldwide and new results do get a greater understanding of the causes of the disease, the exact mechanisms and underlying cause behind AD are still unsolved. The disease progresses over decades leading to premature death. There are no diseasemodifying therapies for AD available, and the current treatment might provide symptomatic relief and slower disease progression.
Active underwater object recognition from multibeam sonar imagery

Automatic object recognition is very hard to achieve underwater. Water turbidity and low lighting cause optical cameras to often have very limited range and result in poor quality images. Multibeam sonars, sometimes referred to as ”acoustic cameras”, are not influenced by the optical visibility problems. However, the image they produce can be quite noisy and lack in detail. In order to cope with the low detail images of objects, multiple views from different perspectives can be very helpful and provide additional information needed to successfully recognize an object. The area of active object recognition deals in how to manipulate the sensor and from which perspective to approach the object in order to reduce the uncertainty of the recognition estimate. Having the sonar mounted on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) makes this scenario a perfect candidate for active object recognition task. Another issue with building a recognition system for a multibeam sonar is unavailability of the training data. Using synthetic 3D models and a sonar simulator to create images from different views will be considered as alternative to recording large amounts of real data.
The Effects of Aerobic Exercise during Ramadan on the Levels of Leptin and Adiponectin in Overweight Women

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article type: Original article Introduction: Several epidemiological studies have indicated factors such as Leptin level, Adiponectin and plasma leptin -to-adiponectin index to be the predicting biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases. Given the importance of healthy nutrition and adequate exercise in reducing the risk of Atherosclerosis, this study aimed to investigate the effects of fasting and aerobic exercis e on the level of leptin and adiponectin in overweight women. Materials and Methods: In this study, 27 overweight and obese women with the body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m2 and the age range of 45-20 years were selected by targeted sampling and were divided into two groups of fasting accompanied with aerobic exercise (N=15), and fasting only (N=12). The active group had an exercise protocol including three 60-minute sessions of aerobic exercise per week, with a 50% to 65% of heart rate reserve. Anthropometric dimensions and blood levels of leptin and adiponectin were measured in all the subjects before, at the second week and the fourth week and one week after Ramadan. Data were analyzed using repeated measures and the significance level of P≤0.05 was considered. Results: In this study, one month of fasting accompanied with aerobic exercise had a significant effect on the amount of leptin, adiponectin and leptin-to-adiponectin ratio (P<0.05). However, no significant differences were observed between the two study protocols in terms of changes in leptin, adiponectin and leptin-to-adiponectin ratio in the two study groups. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, aerobic exercise during Ramadan could not result in any significant changes in the level of leptin, adiponectin and leptin-to-adiponectin index in comparison to fasting alone. The insignificant differences in the changes of leptin and adiponectin indices between the two study protocols could be due to the insufficient number of aerobic exercise
Strategic Marketing Planning, Marketing Networking and SMEs Performance: Modelling a Neural Network

This paper investigates the impact of strategic marketing planning and marketing networking on SMEs performance.126 SMEs participated in study. Using artificial neural network this study found the positive effect of strategic marketing planning and marketing networking on the performance and this effect is stronger when the strategic marketing planning and marketing networking dimensions effects merged.The current research identified the contribution of strategic marketing planning and marketing networking to the SMEs performance. In addition this study showcases the advantage of neural network for analyzing the nonlinear relationship and determining the simultaneous effect and importance of strategic marketing planning and marketing networking on the SMEs’ performance.
Analysis and Prediction of Anomalous Weather and Atmospheric Hazards

Synopsis This paper describes the analysis of various phenomena related with anomalous weather and its hazards, which consists of three parts. The first part describes predictability of the influence of stratospheric motions on the tropospheric circulation change just after the stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) event occurring in December 1998 using 1-month ensemble forecasts performed by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). In the second part, temporal changes in vegetation phenologies was investigate by remotely sensed Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for the background of anomalous weather. An intensive numerical study was also conducted in the second part and the transformation processes are analyzed based on the simulated results. The last part shows the field investigation on the severe damages of structures induced by the typhoon 0314(Maemi) which attacked Miyako Island on 11 th September 2003.