Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urban forest management in New England: Towards a contemporary understanding of tree wardens in Massachusetts communities

Abstract In the New England states, tree wardens are local officials responsible for the preservation, maintenance and stewardship of municipal public trees. This study explores the emerging professional challenges, duties and responsibilities of tree wardens, from the subject’s point of view, by conducting in-person, semi-structured qualitative research interviews with 50 tree wardens throughout Massachusetts. Many of the findings corroborate previous literature, including that tree wardens are typically housed in a municipal department (often public works or highway), that tree wardens routinely interact with a wide variety of local organisations (representatives from other municipal departments, community volunteer associations) and that as community size increases, tree wardens typically have access to a greater pool of resources to carry out urban forest management. A newer finding is that the subject of urban forest health arose as a topic of great importance for tree wardens, as nearly all interviewees (n = 49) indicated that they monitor for urban forest pests and that they would like further continuing education concerning this subject.
Towards a Vygotskyan Cognitive Robotics: The role of Language a

Cognitive Robotics can be defined as the study of cognitive phenomena by their modeling in physical artifacts such as robots. This is a very lively and fascinating field which has already given fundamental contributions to our understanding of natural cognition. Nonetheless, robotics has to date addressed mainly very basic, low­level cognitive phenomena like sensory­motor coordination, perception, and navigation, and it is not clear how the current approach might scale up to explain high­level human cognition. In this paper we argue that a promising way to do that is to merge current ideas and methods of 'embodied cognition' with the Russian tradition of theoretical psychology which views language not only as a communication system but also as a cognitive tool, that is by developing a Vygotskyan Cognitive Robotics. We substantiate this idea by discussing several domains in which language can improve basic cognitive abilities and permit the development of high­level cognition: learning, categorization, abstraction, memory, voluntary control, and mental life.
A pr 2 00 6 Symbolic Computation of Variational Symmetries in Optimal Control ∗

We use a computer algebra system to compute, in an efficient way, optimal control variational symmetries up to a gauge term. The symmetries are then used to obtain families of Noether’s first integrals, possibly in the presence of nonconservative external forces. As an application, we obtain eight independent first integrals for the sub-Riemannian nilpotent problem (2, 3, 5, 8). Mathematics Subject Classification 2000: 49K15; 49-04; 49S05.
Estimation and Uncertainty of Recent Carbon Accumulation and Vertical Accretion in Drained and Undrained Forested Peatlands of the Southeastern USA

The purpose of this study was to determine how drainage impacts carbon densities and recent rates (past 50 years) of vertical accretion and carbon accumulation in southeastern forested peatlands. We compared these parameters in drained maple‐gum (MAPL), Atlantic white cedar (CDR), and pocosin (POC) communities in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDS) of Virginia/North Carolina and in an intact (undrained) CDR swamp in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (AR) of North Carolina. Peat cores were analyzed for bulk density, percent organic carbon, and 137Cs and 210Pb. An uncertainty analysis of both 137Cs and 210Pb approaches was used to constrain error at least partially related to mobility of both radioisotopes. GDS peats had lower porosities (89.6% (SD = 1.71) versus 95.3% (0.18)) and higher carbon densities (0.082 (0.021) versus 0.037 (0.009) g C cm−3) than AR. Vertical accretion rates (0.10–0.56 cm yr−1) were used to estimate a time period of ~84–362 years for reestablishment of peat lost during the 2011 Lateral West fire at the GDS. Carbon accumulation rates ranged from 51 to 389 g C m−2 yr−1 for all sites. In the drained (GDS) versus intact (AR) CDR sites, carbon accumulation rates were similar with 137Cs (87GDS versus 92AR g C m−2 yr−1) and somewhat less at the GDS than AR as determined with 210Pb (111GDS versus 159AR g C m−2 yr−1). Heightened productivity and high polyphenol content of peat may be responsible for similar rates of carbon accumulation in both drained and intact CDR peatlands.
Pedestrian Safety -- Fundamental to a Walkable City

In this paper, we present a method to identify urban areas with a higher likelihood of pedestrian safety related events. Pedestrian safety related events are pedestrian-vehicle interactions that result in fatalities, injuries, accidents without injury, or near–misses between pedestrians and vehicles. To develop a solution to this problem of identifying likely event locations, we assemble data, primarily from the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, that include safety reports from a ﬁve year period, geographic information for these events, citizen survey of pedestrian reported concerns, non-emergency requests for service for any cause in the city, property values and public transportation accessibility. We augment the data from Cincinnati with walkability scores obtained from public sources. From this assembled data set we complete both supervised learning and unsupervised learning. The supervised learning, two-part regression, identiﬁes speciﬁc areas within the city that have the highest potential for safety improvement. It is these regions that are recommended to be prioritized for resource allocation and remedial action. The unsupervised learning, k-means cluster, is conducted to augment the overall understanding of how diﬀerent neighborhoods present diﬀering opportunities for improvement with regard to walkability and consequently pedestrian safety.
Comprehensive assessment of 11 de novo HiFi assemblers on complex eukaryotic genomes and metagenomes.

Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) HiFi sequencing technology generates long reads (>10 kbp) with very high accuracy (<0.01% sequencing error). Although several de novo assembly tools are available for HiFi reads, there are no comprehensive studies on the evaluation of these assemblers. We evaluated the performance of 11 de novo HiFi assemblers on (1) real data for three eukaryotic genomes; (2) 34 synthetic data sets with different ploidy, sequencing coverage levels, heterozygosity rates, and sequencing error rates; (3) one real metagenomic data set; and (4) five synthetic metagenomic data sets with different composition abundance and heterozygosity rates. The 11 assemblers were evaluated using quality assessment tool (QUAST) and benchmarking universal single-copy ortholog (BUSCO). We also used several additional criteria, namely, completion rate, single-copy completion rate, duplicated completion rate, average proportion of largest category, average distance difference, quality value, run-time, and memory utilization. Results show that hifiasm and hifiasm-meta should be the first choice for assembling eukaryotic genomes and metagenomes with HiFi data. We performed a comprehensive benchmarking study of commonly used assemblers on complex eukaryotic genomes and metagenomes. Our study will help the research community to choose the most appropriate assembler for their data and identify possible improvements in assembly algorithms.
The impact of mega-sport events on host residents’ quality of life

This thesis analyzes the impact of mega-sport events on host residents’ quality of life. The data was longitudinally collected over three waves within the context of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. The empirical findings indicate that hosting per se does not lead to changes in quality of life. However, contextual factors, event atmosphere and team identification, had a significant influence on residents’ quality of life, the second mediated by national identity. Managerial implications for event organizers and sport federations, amongst others are formulated.
Consumer Perceptions and Acceptability of Egg Powder as a Preservation Technique for Rural Household Food Security in Impendle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract The acceptability of egg powder to rural house-holds was investigated. A survey was conducted using 120 community members to assess egg utilisation. Sixty three of the survey participants evaluated the sensoryacceptability of a scrambled commercial egg powder compared to a fresh scrambled egg and also participated in acomplementary Focus Group Discussion. Egg-laying chickens were owned by 88% households. All the householdmembers consumed and valued eggs for their nutritional benefits, although, culture made egg consumption limitedfor girls and young women. Households largely used commercial eggs due to a limited availability of home-producedeggs, which were significantly lost through deterioration. Sensory analysis indicated that the egg powder was significantly (p<0.05) less acceptable relative to fresh egg due to its bad aroma, therefore it should be improved.However, the consumer panel reflected interest to explore the processing of egg powder indicating a potential forimproving rural household food security.
Diagnosing Polyomavirus Nephropathy without a Biopsy: Validation of the Urinary PyV-Haufen-Test in a Proof-of-Concept Study including Uromodulin Knock-out-Mice.

BACKGROUND Polyomavirus nephropathy (PyVN) leads to kidney transplant dysfunction and loss. Since a definitive diagnosis requires an invasive kidney biopsy, a timely diagnosis is often hampered. In this clinical dilemma the PyV-haufen-test, centering around the detection of three-dimensional PyV aggregates in the urine, might provide crucial diagnostic information. METHODS A multistep experimental design. Hypothesis: PyV-haufen form within the kidneys under high concentrations of uromodulin, a kidney specific protein; PyV-haufen are kidney-specific-disease-markers. RESULTS Investigative step A showed colocalization of uromodulin with aggregated PyV (i) in ten kidneys with PyVN by immunohistochemistry, (ii) in urine samples containing PyV-haufen by electron microscopy/immunogold labeling (n = 3), and (iii) in urine samples containing PyV-haufen by immunoprecipitation assays (n = 4). Investigative step B: In in-vitro experiments only high uromodulin concentrations of ≥ 1.25 mg/mL aggregated PyV, as is expected to occur within injured nephrons. In contrast, in voided urine samples (n = 59) uromodulin concentrations were below aggregation concentrations (1.2 -19.6 µg/mL). Investigative step C: 0/11 (0%) uromodulin KO-/- mice with histologic signs of PyVN showed urinary PyV-haufen shedding compared to 10/14 (71%) WT+/+ mice. CONCLUSION PyV-haufen form within kidneys under high uromodulin concentrations. Thus, PyV-haufen detected in the urine are specific biomarkers for intra-renal disease, i.e. definitive PyVN.
PRODUCTIVITY OF FORWARDERS IN SOUTH ITALY

Abstract: Thirty-five percent of timber production in Italy comes from terrain which is classified as having a very steep slope. Forests in Southern Italy are mainly located in steeply sloping mountainous areas where ground-based wood extraction is still the most common harvesting technique employed. The forest cover of Calabria, a region of Southern Italy particularly rich in forests, is equal to 31.8%. In particular, sixty percent of beyond 600.000 hectares of Calabrian forest surface are situated in lands with classes of slope between 20 and 60%. The low level of mechanization of forest utilization in Calabria is due to the site features of the forests, the characteristics of the forest property and the small dimensions of many forest enterprises. Indeed, the most widespread work methods envisage, on one the hand, the use of chainsaws for timber cutting operations and on the other hand the use of animals or tractors equipped with winches for gathering and yarding. Animals were commonly used in the past to extract timber to roadside. This option may still be suitable in small scale forestry or in environmentally sensitive forests areas. In Calabrian forestry, the most widely used means of timber yarding is the tractor with a utilization of 87%, similar to other regions in the South Italy. Fortunately today a possible innovative alternative to these systems of extraction is represented from forwarder. These specialized forwarding machines are the most common extraction system in Europe. Forwarders are common machines in the cut to length system. Similar to harvesters, forwarders can be fitted with tracks or chains and can remove on average 9-12 tones per journey. The research presented aimed at improving the technical knowledge concerning the use of this machinery in Southern Italy and how advisable its extension to other areas would be. A time and motion study showed that the productivity of forwarder tested was satisfactory although there are a number of organizational aspects that could be improved in order to fully exploit their potential.
Method comparison and overview of refractive measurements in children: implications for myopia management

Objective This study investigated the agreement between objective wavefront-based refraction and subjective refraction in myopic children. It also assessed the impact of cyclopentolate and refraction levels on the agreement. Methods A total of 84 eyes of myopic children aged 6–13 years were included in the analysis. Non-cycloplegic and cycloplegic objective wavefront-based refraction were determined and cycloplegic subjective refraction was performed for each participant. The data were converted into spherical equivalent, J0 and J45, and Bland-Altman plots were used to analyse the agreement between methods. Results Linear functions were used to determine the dependency between the central myopic refractive error and the difference between the method of refraction (=bias). The influence of central myopia was not clinically relevant when analysing the agreement between wavefront results with and without cyclopentolate (comparison 1). The bias for wavefront-based minus subjective spherical equivalent refraction (comparison 2) was ≤−0.50 D (95% limits of agreement −0.010 D to −1.00 D) for myopia of −4.55 D and higher when cycloplegia was used (p<0.05). When no cyclopentolate was used for the wavefront-based refraction (comparison 3), the bias of −0.50 D (95% limits of agreement −0.020 D to −0.97 D) was already reached at a myopic error of −2.97 D. Both astigmatic components showed no clinically relevant bias. Conclusion The spherical equivalent, measured without cycloplegic agents, led to more myopic measurements when wavefront-based refraction was used. The observed bias increased with the amount of myopic refractive error for comparisons 2 and 3, which needs to be considered when interpreting wavefront-refraction data. Trial registration number NCT05288335.
Seasonal and ENSO Influences on the Stable Isotopic Composition of Galápagos Precipitation

The origin of stable isotopic variability in precipitation over time and space is critical to the interpretation of stable isotope‐based paleoclimate proxies. In the eastern equatorial Pacific, modern stable isotope measurements in precipitation (δ18Op and δDp) are sparse and largely unevaluated in the literature, although insights from such analyses would benefit the interpretations of several regional isotope‐based paleoclimate records. Here we present a new 3.5 year record of daily‐resolved δ18Op and δDp from Santa Cruz, Galápagos. With a prior 13 year record of monthly δ18Op and δDp from the island, these new data reveal controls on the stable isotopic composition of regional precipitation on event to interannual time scales. Overall, we find Galápagos δ18Op is significantly correlated with precipitation amount on daily and monthly time scales. The majority of Galápagos rain events are drizzle, or garúa, derived from local marine boundary layer vapor, with corresponding high δ18Op values due to the local source and increased evaporation and equilibration of smaller drops with boundary layer vapor. On monthly time scales, only precipitation in very strong, warm season El Niño months has substantially lower δ18Op values, as the sea surface temperature threshold for deep convection (28°C) is only surpassed at these times. The 2015/2016 El Niño event did not produce strong precipitation or δ18Op anomalies due to the short period of warm SST anomalies, which did not extend into the peak of the warm season. Eastern Pacific proxy isotope records may be biased toward periods of high rainfall during strong to very strong El Niño events.
Meiotic prophase length modulates Tel1-dependent DNA double-strand break interference

During meiosis, genetic recombination is initiated by the formation of many DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) catalysed by the evolutionarily conserved topoisomerase-like enzyme, Spo11, in preferred genomic sites known as hotspots. DSB formation activates the Tel1/ATM DNA damage responsive (DDR) kinase, locally inhibiting Spo11 activity in adjacent hotspots via a process known as DSB interference. Intriguingly, in S. cerevisiae, over short genomic distances (<15 kb), Spo11 activity displays characteristics of concerted activity or clustering, wherein the frequency of DSB formation in adjacent hotspots is greater than expected by chance. We have proposed that clustering is caused by a limited number of sub-chromosomal domains becoming primed for DSB formation. Here, we provide evidence that DSB clustering is abolished when meiotic prophase timing is extended via deletion of the NDT80 transcription factor. We propose that extension of meiotic prophase enables most cells, and therefore most chromosomal domains within them, to reach an equilibrium state of similar Spo11-DSB potential, reducing the impact that priming has on estimates of coincident DSB formation. Consistent with this view, when Tel1 is absent but Ndt80 is present and thus cells are able to rapidly exit meiotic prophase, genome-wide maps of Spo11-DSB formation are skewed towards pericentromeric regions and regions that load pro-DSB factors early—revealing regions of preferential priming—but this effect is abolished when NDT80 is deleted. Our work highlights how the stochastic nature of Spo11-DSB formation in individual cells within the limited temporal window of meiotic prophase can cause localised DSB clustering—a phenomenon that is exacerbated in tel1Δ cells due to the dual roles that Tel1 has in DSB interference and meiotic prophase checkpoint control.
THE STRESS FIELD OF THE NORTH WEST SHELF AND WELLBORE STABILITY

Boreholes drilled in the search for hydrocarbons in the Barrow-Dampier Sub-Basin (North West Shelf, Australia) commonly exhibit an elliptical cross-section believed to be due to stress-induced wellbore failure known as borehole breakout. The azimuths of the long axes of 138 discrete breakouts identified in nine different wells in the Barrow-Dampier show a consistent 010°−030°N trend implying that maximum horizontal compressive stress is oriented 100°−12G°N. The orientation of horizontal stress determined in this study (and that from the Timor Sea area which is rotated some 50°−60° with respect to the Barrow-Dampier) is consistent with that derived from theoretical modelling of the stress within the Indo-Australian plate based on the plate tectonic forces acting on its boundaries. The rotation of the horizontal stress orientations along the North West Shelf, between the Barrow-Dampier and the Timor Sea, is a reflection of the present-day complex plate convergence system at the north-eastern boundary of the Indo-Australian Plate. Vertical stress magnitudes, Sv, in the Barrow-Dampier were determined from density and sonic log data. Minimum and maximum horizontal stress magnitudes, Shmin and Shmax, were determined from mini-hydraulic fracture (or modified leak-off) test results. These data suggest that the fault condition of the Wanaea/Cossack area is on the boundary between normal faulting (extension) and strike-slip, i.e. Sv ≈ Shmax > Shmin. However, in other parts of the Barrow-Dampier the evidence suggests a strike-slip fault condition, i.e. Shmax > Sv > Shmin. Given the orientation of the stress field and the fault condition, inferences can be drawn regarding the stability of horizontal wells. Furthermore, experience from vertical wells can be utilized to determine the upper and lower bounds to the mud-weight envelope as functions of deviation and wellbore orientation. Since a horizontal well will see Sv and a horizontal stress, stress anisotropy around a wellbore in the Wanaea/Cossack area (and hence wellbore instability) will be minimized by drilling in the Shmin direction i.e. 010°–030°N.
Latino Asian and Black segregation in multi-ethnic metro areas: findings from the 1990 census.

The aim of this paper is to examine the changes between 1980 and 1990 in residential segregation among Latinos Asians and blacks in metropolitan areas. Of particular interest are the changes in multiethnic metropolitan areas. The residential segregation patterns of each of the 3 ethnic groups are described for 37 metropolitan areas across the US. An index of dissimilarity was constructed for each ethnic group; blacks wee found to be the most racially segregated. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the impacts of multiethnic metropolitan context on black segregation scores. The argument is that the extent of residential segregation was influenced by region economic base of the metropolitan area age of the area size of the area and economic status of a group. The results of the regression analyses showed that among multiethnic mostly white Latinos and mostly white asian areas the effects were in the expected direction but only white Latinos showed significance. The interpretation is that multiethnic areas are associated with lower black segregation. Significant independent effects were indicated for age of area and black percentage of the metropolitan area population. In the segregation change between the 1980 and 1990 model black segregation declines were significantly greater in multiethnic areas and in areas with mostly white Latinos. The relative rate of black to white growth was significant but the high relative rate of Latino growth to black growth was significant and contributed to greater declines in black segregation. The Northeast Midwest and West showed significant increases in black segregation compared with the South; increases were also evident in government areas or areas with a high percentage of blacks. Declines were evident in new construction areas. Significantly higher Latino segregation was found in multiethnic areas in large areas in the Northeast and Midwest and in retirement and durable goods manufacturing areas. A high rate of Latino growth relative to white growth significantly increased segregation and a high rate of Asian relative to Latino growth reduced Latino levels.
The Importance of Ocean Dynamical Feedback for Understanding the Impact of Mid–High-Latitude Warming on Tropical Precipitation Change

AbstractIt has been shown that asymmetric warming between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere extratropics induces a meridional displacement of tropical precipitation. This shift is believed to be due to the extra energy transported from the differentially heated hemisphere through changes in the Hadley circulation. Generally, the column-integrated energy flux in the mean meridional overturning circulation follows the direction of the upper, relatively dry branch, and tropical precipitation tends to be intensified in the hemisphere with greater warming. This framework was originally applied to simulations that did not include ocean dynamical feedback, but was recently extended to take the ocean heat transport change into account. In the current study, an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model applied with a regional nudging technique is used to investigate the impact of extratropical warming on tropical precipitation change under realistic future climate projections. It is shown that warming at latit.