Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early growth and phenology of hybrid aspen and poplar in clonal field tests in Scandinavia

Results on early survival, growth and shoot phenology of hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. × P. tremuloides Michx.) and poplar clones (P. trichocarpa Torr. & A. Gray, P. balsamifera L., P. maximowiczii A. Henry and their hybrids) in 13 Scandinavian field trials are presented. The trials were established on forest land (7 sites) or former agricultural land (6 sites) within the latitude range of 56° to 65° N and were assessed 3–4 years after establishment. The main aim was to evaluate phenotypic and genetic differences related to early survival, growth and phenology for hybrid aspen and poplar for different site types and latitudes. Growth and survival was generally higher for hybrid aspen than poplar at all sites. The poor performance of poplar compared to hybrid aspen is likely due to climatic maladaptation or high soil acidity. The early growth performance of the species need to be confirmed at a higher age. The genetic variation and genetic control for growth, phenology and survival was in general intermediate to large indicating good possibilities for effective clonal selection. The genetic site x site correlations (rGE) for growth were for hybrid aspen mostly strong, indicating a weak genotype by environment interaction, while rGE were inconsistent for poplars.The result suggests that southern Sweden can be treated as a single test and utilization zone and in northern Sweden the region along the coast may be another zone. It is too early to make any corresponding conclusions for poplar. In addition, the result backs up the current recommendations for utilization of selected hybrid aspen and poplar regeneration material in Sweden.
Testing the effects of recreational disturbance on two upland breeding waders

Previous work has shown that Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria guarding chicks utilize heavily disturbed habitat at a lower rate than surrounding areas, but that such rates of avoidance are reduced when the movement of people is restricted to a surfaced footpath. However, there remained some unanswered questions, which are addressed in this paper. First, we examine to what extent habitat avoidance is dependent upon visitor numbers, and find no evidence that Golden Plovers avoided disturbed areas at a site where visitor pressure was half that previously studied. Secondly, we examine whether these relationships between habitat occupancy and disturbance apply to other upland waders and find that Dunlin Calidris alpina habitat utilization in disturbed areas showed a non-significant increase of approximately 50% following the provision of a surfaced footpath, in a manner similar to that observed for Golden Plover. Thirdly, we examine whether the large numbers of visitors (120 per weekend day) using the surfaced footpath impact on Golden Plover breeding success, despite the lack of habitat avoidance. There was no evidence that nest location, clutch survival or chick growth rates were reduced close to the footpath. Together, these results suggest that high levels of disturbance can impact upon habitat usage by upland waders, but only in limited circumstances where visitor pressure is very high (greater than at least 30 visitors per weekend day). However, access to such areas can be permitted for large numbers of visitors without impacting upon wader reproductive performance through the provision of a well-surfaced route.
The Role of the Proprietary Hospital

Within the hospital industry' in the United States there are few issues more controversial than that concerning the role of proprietary hospitals and the consequences of their operation.2 This controversy is striking in view of the fact that in I968 only I3.2 per cent of all nonfederal, short-term general and other special hospitals were proprietary, accounting for only six per cent of the total beds.3 Furthermore, the proportion of proprietary hospitals and beds has been declining over time, and yet the debate over proprietary hospitals has grown in recent years. What accounts for this apparent increase in interest? No doubt it is due in part to a general increase in interest in the hospital industry as a whole. Mounting dissatisfaction with the voluntary, nonprofit mode of hospital operation has grown as hospital costs have increased relative to other prices. It has been argued that the virtue of profit-seeking hospitals is their greater incentive to control costs. Others argue that cost control, or lower costs, comes at the expense of quality of care or by selective admission of simple cases. Associated with this debate has been the recent spectacular performance in the stock prices of the recently formed proprietary hospital corporations which own a chain of hospitals.4 But whatever the source of interest in proprietary hospitals, the literature on them is woefully incomplete. The debate has been unencumbered by evidence that could conceivably resolve the difference in views, and the discussion has been polem-
Numerical Modeling of the Iron Ore Sintering Process

Iron ore sintering involves the movement of a flame front down a particulate bed, and a series of physico-chemical reactions over a large temperature range. In the literature simple and more sophisticated iron ore sintering models have been reported. In this paper a more comprehensive numerical model which incorporates most of the significant processes and heat transfer modes proposed in earlier models is given. Therefore, sub-models are available to describe the relationship between airflow rate through the bed and flame front speed, the evaporation and condensation of water ahead of the front, the calcination of fluxes nearer to the front, the reactions that occur in the front and cooling of the bed with the departure of the front. Improvements were made to several areas – such as coke combustion, and the melting and solidification processes – to more accurately quantify the phenomena involved. More recent progress in understanding the fundamentals of sintering from BHP Billiton studies have also been incorporated into the model. To date, twelve sinter pot tests have been used for validation studies. Reasonably good agreement was obtained between predicted and measured results – in areas such as bed temperature profiles and waste gas temperature and compositions. Work is continuing to further improve the model, and broaden the validation work to include other bed temperature profile parameters.
Scenarios for Dutch Teacher Education. A Trip to Rome: Coach bus company or travel agency?

SUMMARY In The Netherlands, developments in teacher education are dominated by three issues. Stimulated by a severe shortage of teachers, teacher education is changing towards competence-based teacher education, work-based teacher education and market-oriented teacher education. These developments lead to a dynamic situation in teacher education, where the traditional presuppositions of the curriculum and teacher education itself are questioned. To many teacher educators, the number of changes and new approaches is rather confusing. To make sense out of the turbulent developments, the Dutch association for teacher education VELON started a scenario project in which four scenarios for the future of teacher education in The Netherlands emerge. These scenarios are structured by two variables: the freedom of schools to define the type of teacher education they want and the freedom of students in taking responsibility for their own learning process. Compared to the ATEE-RDC19 scenarios (ATEE-RDC19, 2003) the axis pragmatism-idealism is missing, since each of the VELON scenarios can be motivated both from a pragmatic and an idealistic point of view.
Forward-Looking Behavior, Precautionary Savings, and Borrowing Constraints in a Poor, Agrarian Economy: Tests Using Rainfall Data

Households in many poor, agrarian economies derive their income from rain-dependent agriculture. This dependence raises the possibility that,from rainfall patterns early on in the crop-cycle, households accumulate information about future cash inflows (e.g., harvests) before the cashflows are realized. Using detailed longitudinal data from three villages in India,this paper explores whether households utilize this information in the ways suggested by modern consumption theories. Two of the central hypotheses suggested by these theories are that households are forward-looking in their consumption behavior and react optimally to the receipt of information; and that in the face of uncertainty about future incomes, households engage in recautionary saving. The basic challenge in implementing tests of these hypotheses has been to find empirical measures of the 'news' that households receive, and the uncertainty they face. I show that, in the villages I study, rainfall patterns provide good proxies from which such measures might be constructed. I exploit this fact to test for precautionary saving and forward-looking behavior. I find that precautionary saving and forward-looking behavior do not, by themselves, fully explain the observed consumption patterns. However, when I explicitly incorporate the possibility of binding borrowing constraints into the testing strategy, I obtain fairly strong support for the joint hypothesis of precautionary saving and forward-looking behavior in the presence of borrowing constraints.
On the bulk composition of the lower mantle: Predictions and limitations from generalized inversion of radial seismic profiles

SUMMARY We examine the problem of obtaining the thermal structure and bulk chemical composition of the lower mantle from its seismologically determined velocity and density profiles, and the most recent results on the elastic properties of the relevant phases (including, of particular importance, shear moduli). A novel aspect of this paper is the application of an iterative technique solving generalized non-linear inverse problem, which allows us to simultaneously consider a complex chemical system (the MgO‐FeO‐SiO2‐Al2O3‐CaO system, which includes all major components in the lower mantle), and to rigorously evaluate the full covariance and resolution matrices. The effects of experimental uncertainties in the shear moduli are carefully accounted for. We show that although the a posteriori uncertainties in the results for lower-mantle compositions are relatively large, the averaged lower-mantle Mg/Si ratio should be lower than 1.3 in order to satisfactorily fit the 1-D seismic profiles. Two distinct families of best-fitting models are determined. The first is based upon a value for the pressure derivative of the perovskite shear modulus that is representative of various existing experimental measurements (µ � = 1.8). Under this assumption, it is not possible to match the lower mantle seismic properties with an adiabatic geotherm and uniform chemical composition. Instead, this family of solutions is characterized by a geotherm with large temperature gradients (dT/dz increases from 0.5 to 0.9 K km −1 between 800 and 2700 km and the temperature reaches 3400 K at the depth of 2700 km), and a depth dependent bulk composition with an Mg/Si ratio decreasing from 1.18 ± 0.14 to 1.03 ± 0.16 between 800 and 2700 km. The second family of solutions is obtained when we attempt to fit the lower mantle with a simpler compositional and thermal structure. This can only be done when the pressure derivative of the shear modulus for perovskite is close to the most recent values obtained by Brillouin spectroscopy, that is, with a µ � close to 1.6 instead of 1.8. The resulting temperature gradient is 0.25 K km −1 in the upper part of the lower mantle and 0.5 K km −1 below 1700 km depth; the geotherm reaches 2800 K at a depth of 2700 km. Corresponding Mg/Si ratio remains rather constant and close to 1.16 throughout the lower mantle. We show that the temperature gradient is strongly correlated with the pressure derivative µ � of the shear modulus of perovskite: lower values of µ � imply lower thermal gradients. We also discuss the importance of the Bullen parameter as an additional constraint. In order to refine conclusions on the lower-mantle structure, additional independent observables, such as accurate observations on electrical conductivity and 1-D Q profiles, are necessary.
Triggers and signatures of shear banding in steady and time-dependent flows

This precis is aimed as a practical field guide to situations in which shear banding might be expected in complex fluids subject to an applied shear flow. Separately for several of the most common flow protocols, it summarizes the characteristic signatures in the measured bulk rheological signals that suggest the presence of banding in the underlying flow field. It does so both for a steady applied shear flow and for the time-dependent protocols of shear startup, step stress, finite strain ramp, and large amplitude oscillatory shear. An important message is that banding might arise rather widely in flows with a strong enough time dependence, even in fluids that do not support banding in a steadily applied shear flow. This suggests caution in comparing experimental data with theoretical calculations that assume a homogeneous shear flow. In a brief postlude, we also summarize criteria in similar spirit for the onset of necking in extensional filament stretching.
An early political election problem

Under the democratic systems of government instilled in many sovereign states, the party in government maintains a constitutional right to call an early election. Whereas the constitution states that there is a maximum period between elections, early elections are frequently called. This right to call an early election gives the government a control to maximize its remaining period in power. We find the optimal control for the government by locating an exercise boundary, which indicates whether or not a premature election should be called. This problem draws upon the methods of optimal stopping and stochastic control.
Nativelike right-dislocation in near-native French

Recent research on advanced and near-native second-language (L2) speakers has focused on the acquisition of interface phenomena, for example at the syntax—pragmatics interface. Proponents of the Interface Hypothesis (e.g. Sorace, 2005; Sorace and Filiaci, 2006; Tsimpli and Sorace, 2006; Sorace and Serratrice, 2009) argue that (external) interfaces present difficulties for L2 grammars, resulting in permanent deficits even in near-native grammars. Other research, however, has argued that interfaces are acquirable, albeit with delays (Ivanov, 2009; Rothman, 2009). This study examines right-dislocation (RD) in experimental and production data from near-native French. Right-dislocation marks topic in discourse and thus requires the integration of syntactic and discourse—pragmatic knowledge. Participants were 10 near-native speakers of French who learned French after age 10 and whose grammatical competence was comparable to the near-native speakers of French in Birdsong (1992), and 10 French native speakers. The data come from two experimental tasks and an 8.5-hour corpus of spontaneous informal dyadic conversations. The near-natives demonstrated nativelike judgments, preferences, and use of RD in authentic discourse. Only one near-native displayed evidence of first-language (L1) transfer, which resulted in non-nativelike use of RD. On the whole, the results suggest nativelike acquisition of this area of the syntax—pragmatics interface and fail to provide support for the Interface Hypothesis.
Variability of the Atlantic Forest based on the EVI index and climate variables in Cunha-SP , Brazil

The fifth most threatened biome in the world is the Atlantic Forest. It originally covered over one million square kilometers, distributed along the Brazilian coastal region. It was reduced to less than 100,000 km2 vegetation distributed across multiple islands of small forest fragments, separated from each other (IBAMA, 2002; RBMA, 2012, Galindo-Leal e Câmara, 2005; Gascon et al., 2000). Brazilian biomes are threatened by human activities, particularly in agricultural production and property occupation (Aleixo et al., 2010). They are affected by the variability of regional to large-scale meteorological systems, and with influence on the increase in drought severity in some regions of Brazil (Caúla et al., 2015). Atlantic Forest and Cerrado ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the variability of the Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Cunha-SP, Brazil, based EVI index (Enhanced Vegetation Index) and climatic variables (air temperature and rainfall). Images of MOD13Q1 product from MODIS sensor, which represent the index EVI were used. The descriptive statistics and multiple were applied to climate variables and EVI for the cycle 2007/2008 (strong La Niña event). The lowest average values of the rain were found for 2008 (171.60 mm), while the highest average rainfall was found for 2007 (187.02 mm). The vegetation behaved in a manner contrary, where the lowest average EVI index was found for 2007 (0.38), already 2008 had the highest rate (0.46), respectively. The coefficient of determination between the rainfall and the EVI in 2007 (R2 = 0.43) higher than in 2008 (R2 = 0.12), followed by correlation indexes in 2007 (r = 0.65) and 2008 (r = 0.34). However, both indexes were low, except correlation index in 2007. In the multiple regression analysis for the year 2007 obtained 87% correlation, while in 2008 only 27%. There is no correlation between vegetation and air temperature.
Clinical Treatment of Unruptured Ectopic Pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancy is a major public health problem worldwide. The incidence of ectopic pregnancy (EP) has been increasing recently. Currently, approximately up to 2% of pregnancies are ectopic (CDC, 1995). It is a leading cause of mortality in the first trimester of pregnancy (Berger et al., 2003). Furthermore, it is an important cause of morbidity and a high percentage of these patients may become infertile. For all these reasons efforts should be made to perform an early diagnosis before the occurrence of rupture. However, there can be misdiagnosis because the clinical presentation of ectopic pregnancy can simulate a variety of other pelvic diseases. Therefore, the physician must keep a high index of suspicion. Diagnosis has improved with the evaluation of the levels of beta-human choriongonadotropin hormone (beta-hCG) and through transvaginal ultrasound. Consequently, ectopic pregnancies can often be diagnosed before the patient’s condition has deteriorated, which has changed the former clinical picture of a life-threatening disease into a more benign condition in frequently asymptomatic patients. As a result, early detection through non-invasive diagnosis makes it possible to perform conservative treatment, such as expectant management or medical treatment with methotrexate (MTX). Additionally, atypical localization of ectopic pregnancies is associated with greater morbidity. In these situations medical treatment with systemic MTX and in cases with embryonic cardiac activity treatment with direct injection of potassium chloride or MTX has been used effectively. Clinical treatment avoids surgeries such as hysterectomy that end up being required in great number of cases of unusual localization. In this chapter, it will be discussed aspects related to the conservative treatment of ectopic pregnancy, mainly clinical treatment with expectant management and medical treatment of methotrexate. The chapter will point out features of the selection criteria, methotrexate protocols, predictive factors of success and reproductive future.
THE APPENDICULAR SKELETON IN THE HATCHING AND IN YOUNG BUNOPUS TUBERCULATUS BLANFORD , 1874 ( GEKKONIDAE , REPTILIA )

The appendicular skeleton and its calcification are described in Bunopus tuberculatus at 3 ages: at hatching, 6-month-old and 12-month-old. Between the 3 ages there are several differences in the osteological pattern. The epiphyses of the long bones are separated from the diaphyses by a hyaline growth zone, while the phalangeal epiphyses are fused with their diaphyses or remain separated. The mature adult limbs have many sesamoids and metaplastic calcifications. This study shows how developmental osteology can help in the identification of gecko bo~es.
A Collagen Cardiac Patch Incorporating Alginate Microparticles Permits the Controlled Release of HGF and IGF-1 to Enhance Cardiac Stem Cell Migration and Proliferation

Cardiac Stem Cells (CSCs) represent a logical cell type to exploit as a regenerative treatment option for tissue damage accrued as a result of a myocardial infarction (MI). However, the isolation and expansion of CSCs prior to cell transplantation is time-consuming, costly and invasive, and the reliability of cell expansion may also prove to be a major obstacle in the clinical application of CSC based transplantation therapy after a MI. In order to overcome this, we propose the incorporation of growth factor-eluting alginate microparticles (MPs) into collagen-based scaffolds as an implantable biomaterial to promote the recruitment and expansion of CSCs in the myocardium. In order to obtain scaffolds able to enhance the motogenic and proliferative potential of CSCs, the aim of this work was to achieve a sustained delivery of both Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF1). Both proteins were initially encapsulated in alginate MPs by spray-drying and subsequently incorporated into a collagen scaffold. MPs were seen to homogeneously distribute through the interconnected scaffold pore structure. The resulting scaffolds were capable of extending the release of both proteins up to 15 days, a 3-fold increase over nonencapsulated proteins embedded in the scaffolds. In vitro assays with isolated CSCs demonstrated that the sustained release of both bioactive proteins resulted in an increased motogenic and proliferative effect.
Exploring epistemological beliefs and learning approaches in context: A sociocultural perspective

Introducción. La investigación sobre las creencias epistemológicas y los enfoques de aprendizaje de los estudiantes (SAL) desde una perspectiva cualitativa se ha limitado a algunos estudios. De forma particular, muchas investigaciones han intentado explorar el origen de la epistemología personal y su relación con SAL considerando el contexto sociocultural y la experiencia personal del individuo.Objetivos. El estudio examina, de forma cualitativa y desde una perspectiva sociocultural, el origen de la epistemología personal y los enfoques de aprendizaje de estudiantes universitarios de tercer curso.Muestra. Los participantes fueron 24 estudiantes universitarios de tercer curso (14 mujeres, 10 hombres) de origen Indo-Fijiano y de las islas del Pacífico. Método. Se utilizó la entrevista semi-estructurada para explorar el origen de la epistemología personal y su relación con SAL. Se realizaron análisis temáticos y de contenido para obtener información sobre los, teóricamente, dos grupos del medio sociocultural del Pacífico Sur. Discusión. Las creencias personales sobre la naturaleza del conocimiento y el saber dependen, en parte, del medio sociocultural del individuo. Los resultados sobre epistemología personal difieren de otros estudios previos (Baxter Magolda, 1987; Schommer, 1990) y ofrecen una nueva visión de las creencias de los estudiantes. Finalmente, existe evidencia de que el enfoque de aprendizaje superficial es el preferido y más usado por los estudiantes universitarios de tercer año.