Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning Extreme Vegetation Response to Climate Forcing: A Comparison of Recurrent Neural Network Architectures

Vegetation state variables are key indicators of land-atmosphere interactions characterized by long-term trends, seasonal fluctuations, and responses to weather anomalies. This study investigates the potential of neural networks in capturing vegetation state responses, including extreme behavior driven by atmospheric conditions. While machine learning methods, particularly neural networks, have significantly advanced in modeling nonlinear dynamics, it has become standard practice to approach the problem using recurrent architectures capable of capturing nonlinear effects and accommodating both long 5 and short-term memory. We compare four recurrence-based learning models, which differ in their training and architecture: 1) recurrent neural networks (RNNs), 2) long short-term memory-based networks (LSTMs), 3) gated recurrent unit-based networks (GRUs), and 4) echo state networks (ESNs). While our results show minimal quantitative differences in their performances, ESNs exhibit slightly superior results across various metrics. Overall, we show that recurrent network architectures prove generally suitable for vegetation state prediction yet exhibit limitations under extreme conditions. This study highlights 10 the potential of recurrent network architectures for vegetation state prediction, emphasizing the need for further research to address limitations in modeling extreme conditions within ecosystem dynamics.
Total quality management in higher education : is it working? why or why not?

Figures Preface Toward an Understanding of Total Quality Management and Its Contribution and Relevance to Higher Education by Ronald R. Sims and Serbrenia J. Sims Higher Education in TQM: Taking Lessons from Government and Business Ventures by Lois A. Waters Total Quality in Higher Education: Opportunities and Obstacles by Gary Bonvillian and Terry L. Dennis Impediments to Overcome if Academia is Going to Successfully Embrace Total Quality Management by Walter J. Wheatley The Campus Administrative Improvement Program by Annie B. Woolridge Quality in Higher Education: A Case Study of the Road to Total Quality Service at the Houston Community College System by Marcia Edwards Hardney A Rose by Any Other Name: Applying TQM to Higher Education by Suzette M. Jelinek, Ralph S. Foster, Jr., and William I. Sauser, Jr. How to Improve Student Outcomes in Higher Education by Applying TQM Tools by Serbrenia J. Sims Engaging Faculty in Continuous Improvement and Change Initiatives by Susan West Engelkemeyer Process Improvement at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota: A Case Study by Donald R. Bell Dedication to Kaizen: Empowerment in an Organization Behavior Classroom in Toyota Motor Manufacturing by Kenneth L. Murrell, William J. Easdale, and Lap T. Ton Bibliography Index
Chronic epididymo-orchitis and scrotal ulcers

Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) still presents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Genitourinary TB constitutes about 20% of the extrapulmonary cases in regions where TB is endemic. Tuberculous infection of epididymis and testis is difficult to differentiate clinically from pyogenic infection, tumour or infarction. High-resolution sonography is currently the best readily available technique for imaging the scrotum and its contents, and accurate differentiation is important for proper diagnosis and treatment. The authors are presenting a unique case of chronic epididymo-orchitis with scrotal ulcers.
Crohn’s disease after gastric bypass surgery

Bariatric surgery for the treatment of severe obesity has increased dramatically in recent years in the USA and parts of Western Europe. The most commonly used technique is the Roux-en Y gastric bypass (RYGBP). Several nutritional and gastrointestinal complications after bariatric surgery have been described during the last 10 years. The authors present two patients with diarrhoea and malnutrition; one after RYGBP and the other after jejunoileal bypass surgery. These patients were subsequently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
Maize Farmers’ Perception of Selected Agricultural Policies in Nigeria

This study examined the awareness and perception of agricultural policies by maize farmers in Oyo and Kaduna States of Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 424 respondents: 210 farmers from Oyo and 214 farmers from Kaduna, from whom data were collected using questionnaires administered through a phone poll. Mean, frequency and
Effect of Fertility Stress Mitigation on Cotton ( Gossypium barbadense L.) Yield and Nutrient Status under Calcareous Soil Conditions

: Calcareous soils are characterized with high pH and dominated CaCO which lead the plants to suffer 3 from low availability of macro and micro-nutrients and cause problems more serious than their deficiencies. Increasing availability of these nutrients is one of the important objectives in plant nutrition to mitigate nutrient stress in such problem soils. Therefore, two field trials were conducted in the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018 to study the interactions between composted sludge, N and P fertilizers in order mitigate the fertility stress on nutrients particularly phosphorus as the availability of this nutrient tends to be restricted on such calcareous soils. The experiment included 32 treatments which were the combinations of three compost rates i.e.; 0, 5, 10 and 15 m fd as well as 4 additional phosphatic fertilizer rates 0, 15.5, 22.75 and 31 kg P O fd as well as two 3 1
Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL): Generation Z's Dilemma on Impulsive Buying and Overconsumption Intention

This study explores the relationship on impulsive buying and the overconsumption tendency of Z Generations on how their intentions to use the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) services provide by FinTech, e-commerce or an OTA (Online Travel Agents). The emergence of e-wallet and e-money becomes a significant factor that people nowadays have to shift it is payment methods. Not only the changes in payment methods, but these things also followed by how easy it people nowadays to find and buy everything online through a smartphone. However, this kind of disruption makes people more consumptive, especially when it comes to Z Generations, whose being called “The Future Digital Natives”[1]. However, mostly Z Generations are fresh graduates, college students, or even high school students who do not have any fixed income yet. This kind of situation is read by FinTech company or e-commerce as an excellent opportunity to increase their purchase behaviour through BNPL services, which somehow are needed by Z Generations as solutions to fulfil their needs.
Relationship Between Motivation and Commitment on Job Performance among Employees in Higher Education from Students’ Perspective

: The main purpose of this paper is to identify how motivation and commitment can influence job performance among employees through students’ perspective in public university. This study using a quantitative approach, a total of 210 questionnaires were distributed to students that involved final year degree and postgraduate students at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). Simple random sampling technique was applied in determining the sampling frame. The data obtained was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 for windows. The findings of this study by Pearson Correlations show that extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation and affective commitment have relationship between job performance. While, continuance commitment indicate that there will be no relationship between job performances. Based on the regression analysis, the results indicated intrinsic motivation as dominant factors towards job performance, followed by affective commitment and extrinsic motivation. However, continuance commitment as not really important factor in order to achieve job performance. Finally, some recommendation for future research was also discussed.
Improving rice for drought-prone upland environments 1

Drought is the main cause of yield instability in upland rice. But this general statement has to be put into perspective. Four different production systems of upland rice (shifting cultivation, integrated rice-based, perennial-based, and cash-based) are encountered in Asia. They correspond to three different agroecological zones with different risks of drought and sets of additional specific constraints. We define different breeding priorities for the different production systems and present the available germplasm in the light of improvement of resistance to water deficit. We discuss some important points for upland rice improvement, notably the strong G x E interactions and their implications for decentralization of breeding work, and the tradeoff between productivity and stability. More specifically, we present the current breeding strategy for drought resistance, highlighting the difficulties involved in establishing relevant drought conditions and choosing relevant selection criteria. We emphasize the use of molecular markers to improve selection efficiency. We chose to focus on improving individual traits rather than on performance under stress. We are developing near-isogenic lines by introgressing QTLs for structural root system and osmotic adjustment into elite backgrounds. This approach allows us to reconcile the need for rapid impact and the testing of physiological hypotheses on the value of the various traits. (Resume d'auteur)
Attitudes Of Women Towards Liberal Feminism And Women’s Rights Movements ; A Quantitative Analysis Of Young And Older Women In Pakistan

In Pakistan, women's equality coexists with widespread negativity toward feminism, the current uncertain state policy toward women, as well as the lack of inaction of legislation against discrimination and gender inequality. The present study explored the attitudes of young and older women towards liberal feminism and women's rights movements. For this purpose, a sample of 300 educated young (18-35 years), women in middle age within 36 to 55 yrs. , and older age women of 56 and above were selected from Lahore. Women of different age-group belonging to different economic statuses were selected. Items from ‘Attitudes towards Feminism and Women’s Movement Scale’ and ‘The Liberal Feminist Attitude and Ideology Scale’ were used to generate a questionnaire for data collection. Data analysis was done using a one-way analysis of variance on SPSS 16.0. Study results indicated that young women's attitudes are more positive towards women's rights movements and the goals of liberal feminism, while the older women's attitudes
scans of healthy elderly subjects. Foci of increased T2 signal intensity on brain MR

Foci of increased T2 signal intensity were found on brain MR scans in 16 (59%) of 27 healthy elderly volunteer subjects, ages 63 to 86 years old. These foci were not related to cognitive function or cerebrovascular risk factors; instead, they were highly correlated to age, being present in 11 of 11 subjects aged 75 years and over. Recently, white matter abnormalities have
Moderating Effect Of Financial Products Between Customer Commitment, Value Co-Creation, And Customer Loyalty Of Banks In Pakistan

The increasing wave of decline in financial institutions’ performance in recent years poses severe threats to the stability and survival of the financial sector and banks in particular. For stability and survival of the financial sector and customer loyalty, they need to guarantee financial products and services assurance to their customers. Therefore, to understand the diverse perspective of commercial banks, this study examines the effect of commitment and value co-creation on customer loyalty by moderating the role of financial products. The study framework was established from the social exchange theory. Data were collected from commercial banking customers in Pakistan. Out of 350 distributed questionnaires, 295 were returned. The convenient sampling technique was used. Hypotheses tests were performed on Smart PLS-SEM 3.0. Findings show a significant relationship between value co-creation, customer commitment, and customer loyalty. However, results indicate that financial products positively mediate the relationship
Quantitative analysis of rock stress heterogeneity: Implications for the seismogenesis of fluid-injection-induced seismicity

ABSTRACTWe compared elastic-rock heterogeneity measured by borehole logging to the occurrence of seismic events caused by hydraulic fracturing of the corresponding rock sections. Our observations made from two hydraulic fracturing case studies suggest that elastic-rock heterogeneity controls the occurrence of fluid-injection-induced seismicity. The seismic events occurred preferentially in rock sections characterized by low Poisson’s ratio and high Young’s modulus. Based on analytic solutions of stress fluctuations in elastically heterogeneous media in equilibrium to a homogeneous far-field stress, we quantified the relation between elastic-rock heterogeneity and stress changes leading to fracture opening and reactivation in two end member models of 1D and 3D heterogeneity. We found that significant fluctuations of rock stress originated from elastic rock heterogeneity. Moreover, we found that stress changes leading to fracture opening and reactivation in rocks undergo scale invariance spatial fluctuation.
TREATMENT AND RECOATING WITH POLYMERS: PHYSIOLOGICAL QUALITY AND RETENTION OF CHEMICAL PRODUCTS1

- The use of chemical seed treatment is an important tool in the protection of seedlings and has contributed to the increase of rice yield ( Oryza sativa L.). The objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological quality and quantify the retention of chemical products in rice seeds treated with insecticide and fungicide coated with polymers. Six seed treatments were used: control, phytosanitary treatment and phytosanitary treatment and coating with the polymers, Florite 1127 ® , GV5 ® Solid Resin, Polyseed CF ® and VermDynaseed ® . The physiological quality was evaluated by the test of germination and vigor by first count tests, germination speed index, shoot length, radicle length, seedling dry mass and sand emergence. To determine the retention of the active ingredients metalaxyl-M and thiamethoxam, an equipment called extractor was used. The experiment was organized in a completely randomized design (DIC) and the averages were separated by the Scott Knott test (p≤0.05). Seed treatment with the fungicide and insecticide, coated with the polymers, Florite 1127 ® , Solid Resin GV5 ® , Polyseed CF ® and VermDynaseed ® , did not affect the physiological quality of rice seeds. Solid Resin GV5 ® , Polyseed CF ® and VermDynaseed ® polymers were efficient at retaining thiamethoxam in the rice seeds, preventing some of the active ingredients of the insecticide from being leached through the sand columns immediately after the simulated pluvial precipitation.
Do Bonds Span Volatility Risk in the U.S. Treasury Market?: A Specification Test for Affine Term Structure Models, Working Paper 2006-15

We investigate whether bonds span the volatility risk in the U.S. Treasury market, as predicted by most ‘affine’ term structure models. To this end, we construct powerful and model-free empirical measures of the quadratic yield variation for a cross-section of fixed-maturity zero-coupon bonds (‘realized yield volatility’) through the use of high-frequency data. We find that the yield curve fails to span yield volatility, as the systematic volatility factors are largely unrelated to the crosssection of yields. We conclude that a broad class of affine diffusive, Gaussian-quadratic and affine jump-diffusive models is incapable of accommodating the observed yield volatility dynamics. An important implication is that the bond markets per se are incomplete and yield volatility risk cannot be hedged by taking positions solely in the Treasury bond market. We also advocate using the empirical realized yield volatility measures more broadly as a basis for specification testing and (parametric) model selection within the term structure literature.
Nutrient Management Practices in Mulching and Non-mulching Conditions of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) in Arghakhanchi District

: An experiment was conducted to assess the response of okra ( Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) to different sources of nutrients under mulched and non-mulched condition in Arghakhanchi, Nepal. The effect of three different sources of nutrient (Chemical Fertilizer, FYM, Poultry) and control with mulching and non-mulching condition were studied using two Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications each containing 8 plots. Hybrid variety of okra (Arka anamika) mostly used by farmers in Arghakhanchi was used as a test crop. Data were collected from five randomly selected plants from the central rows in each plot. The results revealed that those two factors significantly affected growth and yield parameters. As the data were analyzed, higher plant height at 30 DAS was found in Chemical fertilizer. Number of leaves, Fruit number, and plant diameter at initial observation were found higher in both Poultry Manure and Chemical fertilizer. However, at the later observations all the growth and yield were found higher in Poultry Manure (12.5t ha -1 ). Highest individual fruit weight was found 14.61 g and highest individual fruit length was found 14,35 cm. Poultry Manure has more nutrient content, rapid mineralization, optimum C/N ratio, growth promoting substances leading to better growth and yield. Poultry manure is a rich stable source of organic nitrogen, forms proper soil aggregates, conserves moisture and is in ha1rmony with the environment too. Mulching showed better results in germination, plant height, number of leaves and fruits, plant diameter and yield. This is because plastic mulches absorb comparatively large amount of the incoming radiation; raising temperature, also conserving moisture, reducing weed competition and providing favorable environment for microorganisms.
Preliminary description of new Tertiary mammals

THE explorations of the Yale College party in the Rocky Mountain region, during the past season, brought to light, in addition to the extinct Birds and Reptiles already described by the writer, many interesting species of new fo,! sil Mammals, and in the present communication a number of these from Wyoming Territory are briefly chamr.terized. Others will be noticed in the succeeding n umbers of this J onrnal, and it is intended, at an early day, to give a full description with illustrationH of all the new fossil vertebrates discovered by the two Yale expeditions of 1870 and 1871.
Aalborg Universitet Scalloped Implant-Abutment Connection Compared to Conventional Flat Implant-Abutment Connection

Objectives: The objective was to test the hypothesis of no difference in implant treatment outcome after installation of implants with a scalloped implant-abutment connection compared to a flat implant-abutment connection. Material and Methods: A MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase and Cochrane library search in combination with a hand-search of relevant journals was conducted. No language or year of publication restriction was applied. Results: The search provided 298 titles. Three studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The included studies were characterized by low or moderate risk of bias. Survival of suprastructures has never been compared within the same study. High implant survival rate was reported in all the included studies. Significantly more peri-implant marginal bone loss, higher probing depth score, bleeding score and gingival score was observed around implants with a scalloped implant-abutment connection. There were no significant differences between the two treatment modalities regarding professional or patient-reported outcome measures. Meta-analysis disclosed a mean difference of peri-implant marginal bone loss of 1.56 mm (confidence interval: 0.87 to 2.25), indicating significant more bone loss around implants with a scalloped implant-abutment connection. Conclusions: A scalloped implant-abutment connection seems to be associated with higher peri-implant marginal bone loss compared to a flat implant-abutment connection. Therefore, the hypothesis of the present systematic review must be rejected. However, further long-term randomized controlled trials assessing implant treatment outcome with the two treatment modalities are needed before definite conclusions can be provided about the beneficial use of implants with a scalloped implant-abutment connection on preservation of the peri-implant marginal bone level.
Quantification and interpretation of glacier elevation changes

Glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets constitute a large reservoir in the global hydrological cycle and provide a coupling between climate and sea-level. Observations of glacial change is important for constraining their contribution to sea-level fluctuations and to better understand the interactions between glaciers and climate. This thesis focuses on glacier observations through measurements of elevation change. The research in this thesis is oriented towards the methodological detection of elevation changes using remote sensing techniques. The quality of glacier elevation change measurements is dependent on controlling the potential errors and biases within the data. Therefore, one aspect is focused on a universal co-registration method for elevation products and further identification and correction of biases that remain, specifically in satellite stereo products. For glaciological studies, elevation changes require conversion into volume and mass changes. This is sometimes complicated when the data available is not spatially continuous and/or temporally consistent. Therefore, another aspect of this thesis explores methods for estimating regional glacier volume change. Specifically, Svalbard glacial contribution to sea-level has been estimated using regionalization techniques from scattered elevation measurements over roughly two time epochs. We observed that Svalbard glaciers over the past few decades have had a negative mass balance, contributing approximately 0.026 mm per year to the oceans. During the past few years, the sea-level contribution from Svalbard glaciers decreased slightly to 0.013 mm per year. Interpretations of elevation changes are convoluted by their dependence on climatic and dynamic forces operating on glacier systems. The last aspect of this thesis experiments with surface mass balance modelling for quantifying the climatic component of an elevation change. Combining this with observed elevation changes using theory of mass continuity can yield estimates of the calving flux of icebergs into the ocean. We observed on one particular fast flowing glacier in Svalbard that the average calving flux in the 1966-1990 epoch increased in the 1990-2007 epoch.
Lifestyle And Salary Recognition: Data Metric Analysis

This research was focused on topics based on the quality of working life and salary compensation in Colombia, which is divided into several subtopics to cover these topics. It turns out that in order to have a good quality of working life, several factors (social, psychological, physical, etc.) must be taken into account. When comparing these variables between cities, it was possible to appreciate that the difference in the quality of working life in each city is different due to informality, or other sources of employment that the inhabitants have, as in the case of the border city where informality is more important than specific jobs, which is why workers may not have permanent employees due to informal issues. In the same way, it was possible to show that the organizational problems faced by the vast majority of companies in the country directly affect the way and means with which the operators carry out their tasks.