Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing Water Use Forecasting Model Selection Criteria: The Case of Commercial, Institutional, and Industrial Sector in Southern California

The United States is one of the largest per capita water withdrawers in the world, and certain parts of it, especially the western region, have long experienced water scarcity. Historically, the U.S. relied on large water infrastructure investments and planning to solve its water scarcity problems. These large-scale investments as well as water planning activities rely on water forecast studies conducted by water managing agencies. These forecasts, while key to the sustainable management of water, are usually done using historical growth extrapolation, conventional econometric approaches, or legacy software packages and often do not utilize methods common in the field of statistical learning. The objective of this study is to illustrate the extent to which forecast outcomes for commercial, institutional and industrial water use may be improved with a relatively simple adjustment to forecast model selection. To do so, we estimate over 352 thousand regression models with retailer level panel data from the largest utility in the U.S., featuring a rich set of variables to model commercial, institutional, and industrial water use in Southern California. Out-of-sample forecasting performances of those models that rank within the top 5% based on various in- and out-of-sample goodness-of-fit criteria were compared. We demonstrate that models with the best in-sample fit yeild, on average, larger forecast errors for out-of-sample forecast exercises and are subject to a significant degree of variation in forecasts. We find that out-of-sample forecast error and the variability in the forecast values can be reduced by an order of magnitude with a relatively straightforward change in the model selection criteria even when the forecast modelers do not have access to “big data” or utilize state-of-the-art machine learning techniques.
A Virtual Geostationary Ocean Color Sensor to Analyze the Coastal Optical Variability

In the coastal environment the optical properties can vary on temporal scales that are shorter than the near-polar orbiting satellite temporal resolution (~1 image per day), which does not allow capturing most of the coastal optical variability. The objective of this work is to fill the gap between the near-polar orbiting and geostationary sensor temporal resolutions, as the latter sensors provide multiple images of the same basin during the same day. To do that, a Level 3 hyper-temporal analysis-ready Ocean Color (OC) dataset, named Virtual Geostationary Ocean Color Sensor (VGOCS), has been created. This dataset contains the observations acquired over the North Adriatic Sea by the currently functioning near-polar orbiting sensors, allowing approaching the geostationary sensor temporal resolution. The problem in using data from different sensors is that they are characterized by different uncertainty sources that can introduce artifacts between different satellite images. Hence, the sensors have different spatial and spectral resolutions, their calibration procedures can have different accuracies, and their Level 2 data can be retrieved using different processing chains. Such differences were reduced here by adjusting the satellite data with a multi-linear regression algorithm that exploits the Fiducial Reference Measurements data stream of the AERONET-OC water-leaving radiance acquired at the Acqua Alta Oceanographic Tower, located in the Gulf of Venice. This work aims to prove the suitability of VGOCS in analyzing the coastal optical variability, presenting the improvement brought by the adjustment on the quality of the satellite data, the VGOCS spatial and temporal coverage, and the inter-sensor differences. Hence, the adjustment will strongly increase the agreement between the satellite and in situ data and between data from different near-polar orbiting OC imagers; moreover, the adjustment will make available data traditionally masked in the standard processing chains, increasing the VGOCS spatial and temporal coverage, fundamental to analyze the coastal optical variability. Finally, the fulfillment by VGOCS of the three conditions for a hyper-temporal dataset will be demonstrated in this work.
Some aspects of the behaviour of muntjacs in Wilpattu National Park

Une etude du comportement du muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) a ete realisoe dans le pare national de Wilpattu ä Gey Ian, de septembre 1972 ä octobre 1973. Un total de 1056 muntjacs furent observes, dont 1005 furent classes selon leur äge et leur sexe. De tous les muntjacs observes, 64,5% etaient solitaires, alors que 30,8% elaient en groupes de 2 et 4,7 % en groupes de 3 ou 4. Je n'ai vu aucun groupe de plus de 4 individus. Un male avec une femelle (79 cas) et une femelle accompagnoe d'un jeune (50 cas) e"taient de loin les paires les plus communes. Le sex-ratio de la population adulte otait de 91 males pour 100 femelies. J'ai estime la densito de la population ä 2,5 adultes par km* pendant la saison seche. II n'y a pas ä Wilpattu de saison de reproduction bien marquee ; ceci est surprenant, etant donne que la chute annuelle des bois des males suit un cycle bien deflni. Une tres forte proportion des males (53 %) portait des blessures resultant probablement de combats entre eux. D'apres un nombre limite" d'observations (27), il semble que le muntjac se nourrisse surtout de feuilles tendres et de fruits tombe's. Les muntjacs ne furent obsen^s ä decouvert que tres rarement, sauf aux points d'eau qui leur faisaient quitter la fore" t pour s'abreuver. D'apres la distribution horaire des cris d'alarme et des visites journalieres aux points d'eau, il semble que le muntjac soit actif surtout tot apres le lever du soleil et peu avant le crepuscule. Les principaux caracteres des «ruminants-solitaires-forestiers-de petite taille » dont le muntjac fait partie, sont analysos en function de leur valeur adaptative et de leur interdependence.
EFFECTS OF SUBSTRATE POTASSIUM, SUBSTRATE TEMPERATURE AND LIGHT INTENSITY ON GROWTH AND UPTAKE OF MAJOR CATIONS BY GREENHOUSE TOMATO PLANTS

Seedlings of the tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Michigan-Ohio Hybrid were grown in perlite in plastic containers in a growth chamber. Maximum growth (dry weight and stem girth) was obtained under the higher substrate temperatures (24 C and 29 C) and the higher light intensity (16.2 × 103 lx) with an enhanced effect from high substrate potassium (12 meq K +/liter). Higher light intensity, coupled with higher potassium and higher substrate temperature, hastened maturity of the first flower buds. Total content of magnesium and calcium in the aerial portions of the plants was affected mainly by substrate temperature. Total content of potassium was, of course, influenced by potassium substrate levels as well as by substrate temperature. For all three cations, the content in plants grown at the lowest substrate temperature (13 C) was significantly lower than at the higher temperatures. However, when the uptake of these ions was expressed as percentage of dry weight, the differences due to substrate te.
Can the internet reduce the loneliness of 50+ living alone?

ABSTRACT Living alone has been indicated as a key variable to explain loneliness in older adults. In contemporary society, where technology has become one of the main means of communication and personal interaction, has the internet influenced the relationship between living alone and loneliness? This paper aims to answer this research question by using a sample of 64,297 individuals who were surveyed in SHARE project wave 6 – in European countries with different welfare regimes (Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Poland, Czech Republic; Slovenia, Estonia, and Croatia). The results of the regression analysis evidence the moderating role of the internet on the relationship between living alone and feelings of loneliness in individuals aged 50 and over, so that the impact of living alone on loneliness is diminished for internet users as compared to their peers who do not use the internet. The results therefore reinforce the importance of policies aimed at fostering e-inclusion as a way of reducing the loneliness of older adults.
Hydrogen sulphide emission from two large pig-finishing buildings with long-term high-frequency measurements

Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a common toxic air pollutant and is emitted from decomposing manure at animal facilities. However, there have been only a few studies of H2S emissions from animal buildings, especially those involving long-term, high-frequency measurements. In the current study, H2S emissions from two, 1000-head pig-finishing buildings in Illinois, USA, were monitored with a high-frequency measurement system for 6 months in 1997 during two, partial, pig-growth cycles. Air sample streams were continuously taken from the pit headspace, and the pit and wall fan exhaust air. Hydrogen sulphide concentration was measured at each location with H2S converters and sulphur dioxide (SO2) analysers during 16 or 24 sampling cycles per day, resulting in 4544 sampling cycles and 219 days of reliable data. Building ventilation rate was the summation of pit fan and wall fan airflow rates. Airflow rates of the underfloor manure pit fans were measured directly with full-size impeller anemometers or calculated from airflow/voltage relationships of the fans. Airflow rates of the wall fans were calculated from fan operation and differential static pressure data and fan performance curves. Mean H2S emission was 0·59 kg/day per building, 0·74 g/day per m2 of pit surface area, or 6·3 g/day per animal unit (AU = 500 kg animal weight). The determination of H2S emission per AU was restricted to 193 days when building occupancy was at least 700 pigs per building. Higher temperatures and building ventilation rates resulted in significantly higher H2S emissions per AU.
First Observations of Magnetosonic Waves With Nonlinear Harmonics

Magnetosonic waves, with the frequency between proton cyclotron frequency and lower hybrid frequency, mainly occur near the Earth's magnetic equatorial plane and play an important role in the magnetospheric dynamics. In this paper, we report unusual magnetosonic waves with nonlinear harmonics observed by Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the magnetotail. These magnetosonic waves have multiband enhanced electromagnetic power spectral densities (Bw/B0 up to 1/45) with the frequency from below to above the lower hybrid frequency and are quasi‐perpendicular propagating and linearly polarized. The frequency of the fundamental band is much higher than the proton cyclotron frequency fci (i.e., ~35 fci). We identified these emissions as high‐frequency magnetosonic waves with nonlinear harmonics. These are the first observations of such high‐frequency magnetosonic waves with the frequencies of harmonics higher than the lower hybrid frequency in the Earth's magnetosphere to the best of our knowledge. Given the absence of ring distributions for the protons and the easy coupling between compressed mode and its electromagnetic term, we propose that these nonlinear harmonic structures of the observed magnetosonic waves are likely generated by the nonlinear wave‐wave coupling among electromagnetic terms of the fundamental and higher harmonic waves.
An extension of renewal theory

Renewal theory can be and has been viewed in several different ways. One way is to reduce the problems to those concerning the addition of independent, non-negative random variables having a common distribution. Accordingly we introduce the random variables X1, X2, * * *, independent, non-negative, and all possessing the same distribution function F(x) with mean m-=f.r. xdF(x) (O<m =< X), and their successive sums S. = Et=1 X. Either F(x) is purely discontinuous with all its discontinuities located at the multiples of a fixed real number or it is not so; we call the first case the lattice case and the second the nonlattice case. In the lattice case there is no real loss of generality by assuming (as we shall do in the following) the said discontinuities are all located at integers whose greatest common divisor is one. One of the main results of renewal theory can then be stated as follows: (i) In the lattice case, if x runs through integers:
Quasi‐time‐dependent asynchronous filtering for discrete time switched systems via the event triggering mechanism

This article is concerned with the quasi‐time‐dependent asynchronous ℋ∞ filter design problem for a class of discrete‐time switched systems via the event‐triggering mechanism. Applying the quasi‐time‐dependent Lyapunov functions and the mode‐dependent average dwell time technique, an asynchronous ℋ∞ filter is designed with a weighted performance index; the filter parameter matrices are quasi‐time‐dependent in each event‐triggering‐dependent sampling interval; both cases (Case 1: no more than one switching, Case 2: multiple switchings) are taken into account in this sampling interval, by which the assumption, that the maximal asynchronous period is not larger than the minimal dwell time, is relaxed in this article. Simulation examples are given to show the less conservatism and effectiveness of the proposed results.
A Simple Method to Predict Regional Fish Abundance: An Example in the McKenzie River Basin, Oregon

Abstract Regional assessments of fisheries resources are increasingly called for, but tools with which to perform them are limited. We present a simple method that can be used to estimate regional carrying capacity and apply it to the McKenzie River Basin, Oregon. First, we use a macroecological model to predict trout densities within small, medium, and large streams in the McKenzie Basin. Next, we evaluate the reliability of the predicted trout densities by comparing them with field-measured densities. We then calculate the total surface areas of small, medium, and large streams within the basin and multiply these surface areas by the predicted trout densities to estimate regional carrying capacity. Predicted carrying capacity within the basin is approximately 2.1 million trout (median predicted abundance). Our method requires minimal input data, and much of this data can be compiled from literature sources. The method may therefore have broad utility. This article not subject to U.S. Copyright Law.
Social capital and financial capital acquisition: creating gaming ventures in Shanghai’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

Entrepreneurs have been a driving force in the rapid development of the Chinese digital game industry. However, in previous studies, little attention has been paid to entrepreneurs’ business development and performance, especially the ways in which they obtain key resources in the process of venture creation. Because most gaming entrepreneurs in China have wrestled with fundraising difficulties in recent years, this study was conducted to examine how gaming entrepreneurs acquire financial capital from a social capital perspective. Data were collected from 33 in-depth interviews with gaming entrepreneurs who were operating ventures in Shanghai, one of China’s major game industry hubs. The data included detailed accounts of the acquisition of financial capital in relation to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem’s four capital providers: business angels, venture capitalists, incubators/accelerators, and government funding agencies. The findings showed that the gaming entrepreneurs in this study used diverse patterns of social capital access and mobilization to acquire financial capital. The findings also showed how the entrepreneurs had adjusted their social capital use in response to the worsening financial market. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on the Chinese digital game industry by articulating how gaming entrepreneurs leverage social resources to enact venture creation.
Social Gender Construction in Political Context: A Corpus-Based Study of Lexical Differences across Genders

Anchored on the public stereotype towards the dichotomization of gender and the social gender construct theory, the study examines the gender differences in terms of lexical choice manifested by the selected 20 U.S. presidential candidates from the year 2012 to 2020 and presents the changes of each gender group in a male-dominated political context. The corpus of this study consists of 60257 lexis of 10 male politicians and 63095 words of 10 female politicians which are extracted from their announcement and campaign speeches. Findings obtained from the results based on the quantitative research design and the application of CLAWS, AntConc and chi-square test reveal statistically significant gender-based differences. The findings support that even though male and female presidential candidates have almost the same priorities of usage in general lexical categories, the lexical choice of male candidates was relatively close to feminization while women tended to be neutral. Finally, it further speculates that the candidates of differing gender enjoy a distinctive consciousness on the social gender construction in public discourse to challenge or neutralize public stereotypes of gender identity. In view of the findings, the study recommends a questionnaire survey to verify the inference on gender color displayed by different language variables and an extensive database to enable a greater validity of the results in the future.
Vocational counseling for Australian spinal cord injury inpatients – Defining vocational role expectations and behavior

Abstract A novel inpatient vocational counseling service (named “In-Voc”) was developed and evaluated in three Australian spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation hospitals, aiming to improve vocational outcomes after SCI. The program provided a trained Vocational Counseling Coordinator who worked alongside the allied health team, medical, and nursing staff at each hospital. The Coordinators were interviewed to examine the role expectations and role behaviors associated with the introduction of their novel, vocationally focused, occupational role. The Coordinators’ descriptions of their role behavior were very similar to those defined by rehabilitation counselors in North America. They reported the novel role to be a productive and satisfying one. Encouragingly, the In-Voc program was associated with significantly higher post-injury employment outcomes.
The interacting content and process of the employer brand: person-organization fit and employer brand clarity

ABSTRACT In their striving to be an attractive employer, organizations aspire to create effective employer brands. Building on HRM system strength theory, we posit that the effectiveness of an employer brand is determined by the integration of its content and process. This paper investigates whether person-organization fit (i.e., employer brand content) is positively linked to employer attractiveness and whether employer brand clarity (i.e., process) strengthens this relationship. Using a secondary dataset containing 24,317 responses from 2123 individuals reporting on 235 Belgian organizations, a cross-classified multilevel model was tested. Findings reveal that person-organization fit relates to employer attractiveness above and beyond universally appealing features of the employer (e.g., career progression opportunities). Unexpectedly, a negative moderation effect of employer brand clarity was found, indicating that clarity might be useful in case of low person-organization fit, but is not when person-organization fit is optimal. Replication studies yielded similar results, which confirms our findings and highlights the relevance of both the employer brand content and the employer branding process as determinants of employer attractiveness.
Effects of Different Treatments on Seed Germination and Improvement of Vitellaria paradoxa

Shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) tree is one of the most important tree species in Africa owing to its high potential in reduction of poverty and hunger in rural areas and enhancing environmental sustainability. All parts of shea tree are important from bark to wood and from leaves to fruits. Despite all the uses and many more, shea is amongst the endangered species of trees because of over-utilization, low regeneration abilities and lack of efficient propagation methods. Consequently, this research seeks to determine the most efficient methods for propagating V. paradoxa. The experiment consists of three stages. In the first stage, complete fruits were planted without depulping; in the second experiment, the seeds were exposed to single seed treatments that were applied to the seeds and in the third experiment, the seeds were exposed to double seed treatments. It was observed that intact fruits did not germinate while the results showed the single seeds treatment to significantly have affected germination performance. De-shelled seeds germinated faster (43 days) than all other treatments but 48 hours soaking produced the highest germination percentage (91.7%). An even better result was recorded with double seeds treatments in which de-shelled plus 24 hours soaked seed germinated faster (39.3 days) than other treatments while sandpapered plus 24 hours soaked seeds had the best germination percentage (75%). Therefore, scarification using sandpaper plus soaking for 24 hours was identified as the best treatment for breaking seed dormancy in V. paradoxa.
Alternative Conceptions about Micro-organisms are Influenced by Experiences with Disease in Children

Children’s ideas concerning natural phenomena often differ from those of scientists, and these ideas are termed as alternative conceptions. The prevalence of alternative conceptions is highest among young children who possess less experience with the natural world as compared with adults. Children’s ideas about micro-organisms are of special importance, because an improved awareness of them may reduce risk of contamination by pathogenic infection. We investigate in this paper how individual differences in vulnerability to disease influence expressions of conceptions regarding micro-organisms amongst kindergarten children. More disease-vulnerable children drew smaller micro-organisms and used darker colours when drawing them compared to their healthier counterparts. The children’s drawings were not influenced by gender differences. Interviews showed that all the children knew that micro-organisms are somewhere in the human body and that their placement in all probability reflects their own experiences with disease. Perhaps surprisingly, hands were one of the least frequently cited sources of micro-organisms which may reflect low awareness on the part of children regarding threats from potentially pathogenic bacteria. These results support the universality of children’s conceptions regarding micro-organisms and suggest further implications both for teaching and research regarding children’s conceptions.