Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Independent estimates of carbon stocks in croplands: 1 UAV-LiDAR and machine learning vs. eddy covariance

19 Understanding sequestration of organic carbon (C) in agroecosystems is of primary importance 20 for greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting in managed ecosystems, reducing the environmental footprint 21 of land use, and inform crediting programs. However, a broader application of precise C accounting 22 is currently constrained by a limited number of direct flux measurements. Aside well-studied 23 ecosystems via the eddy covariance technique (EC), many still bear significant uncertainty. In this 24 study, we propose and evaluate a method for estimating accumulated C stocks in agricultural sites, 25 by assessing the plant aboveground carbon (AGC) throughout the growing season using mobile 26 platforms and machine learning (ML) regression methods. Then, we benchmark these estimates 27 with CO 2 fluxes derived from the eddy covariance method from the ICOS DK-Vng site in Denmark. 28 We utilized a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor onboard an unstaffed aerial vehicle 29 (UAV) to derive the structural characteristics of crops, and we conducted in parallel destructive 30 field-based measurements of AGC. Then, we designed a ML pipeline to provide estimates of AGC 31 as a supervised regression problem, using the LiDAR-derived point cloud data to extract predictive 32 features and the AGC labels as ground-truth target values. The best performing ML model attained 33 predictions of R 2 = 0.71 and R 2 = 0.93 at spatial resolutions of 1 m 2 and 2 m 2 , respectively. The 34 C content in the aboveground plant components was assessed via laboratory analysis (46.6 ± 35 0.3% of C-to-biomass in barley and 47.7 ± 0.3% in wheat), while the belowground components 36 (root allocation and rhizodeposition) were estimated based on a phenology-dependent allometric 37 ratio. The cumulative value of C uptake along the growing season (i.e. NPP) was compared with 38 the difference of C predictions between every two UAV-LiDAR survey dates, finding an optimal 39 disagreement between methods below ± 10% in two different cereal crops. Various experimental 40 set-ups are evaluated as well as the sources of uncertainty resulting from the sampling design.
Prevalence of trichomoniasis infection among adults in Nigerian community settings

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) is a sexually transmitted pathogen. The study was conducted to determine its prevalence among 300 adult patients in 4 public health facilities in the Nsukka District of Enugu State, Nigeria. Method: The researchers collected high vagina swabs and urine samples were collected from 150 men and 150 women, respectively. The specimens were scrutinized for color, odor of discharge and urine, and motile trichomoniasis. Results: The prevalence of the TV was 45.0% (135/300) with women showing the highest prevalence (63.7%). Among the patients attending the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Medical Center, the prevalence was the highest at 31.9%. TV infection was more common among older adults aged 38 to 47 years (39.3%), married adults (76.3%), and those with secondary education (68.9%). Urogenital analysis reported that males with pains during urination were 51.0% and males with penile tingling were 12.2%. The highest vaginal Hydrogen ion concentration level of 6.8 was observed in women aged 38 to 47 years. Additionally, the results reported that Vaginal candidiasis, Bacterial vaginosis, and Herpes simplex virus type 2 antibodies were not independently associated with TV infection. In the unadjusted analysis, the odds of TV infection were higher in men (8.1), while Chlamydia trachomatis infection was higher in women (8.8). Among the adults diagnosed with herpes simplex virus type 2 antibodies, the odds of TV infection were 3.9 for both men and women. Men with penile human papillomavirus infection had lower odds of TV infection (1.9), while women with vaginal human papillomavirus infection had higher odds of TV infection (2.2). Conclusion: The prevalence of TV infection is high among sexually active adults in the Nigerian community. It is therefore crucial to implement the increased public health actions such as regular and early diagnosis to reduce its prevalence.
Financial decisions as determinants of ownership structure Evidence from Spanish family controlled firms

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyse how financial decisions influence corporate ownership structure of Spanish family and non-family controlled firms. Design/methodology/approach – The authors derived two models in line with financial theory, which have then been estimated by using a sample of Spanish companies. Panel data methodology and estimation by the generalized method of moments allow the unobservable heterogeneity to be eliminated and the endogeneity problem controlled. Findings – The main findings are as follows. First, increases in debt lead outside owners and managers to limit the risk they bear by reducing their holdings. Such reductions are also found in family controlled firms. Second, both outside owners and managers are encouraged to increase their stakes in the firm in view of higher dividends. This reaction is also observed in family controlled firms, and it is even stronger in the managers of family controlled firms. Third, outside owners in non-family firms increase their holdings when a new investment project is undertaken, whereas the reaction of family controlled firms is the opposite. The expected positive effect of investment on insider ownership is only observed in family controlled firms. Practical implications – When analysing the determinants of corporate ownership structure, the analysis should be controlled for family ownership. Originality/value – Overall, this paper contributes to the strand of literature on the determinants of corporate ownership structure in two ways: first, by focusing on the role played by financial decisions; and second, by accounting for family control.
Shell Model Applications in Nuclear Astrophysics

In recent years, shell model studies have significantly contributed in improving the nuclear input, required in simulations of the dynamics of astrophysical objects and their associated nucleosynthesis. This review highlights a few examples such as electron capture rates and neutrino-nucleus cross sections, important for the evolution and nucleosynthesis of supernovae. For simulations of rapid neutron-capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis, shell model studies have contributed to an improved understanding of half lives of neutron-rich nuclei with magic neutron numbers and of the nuclear level densities and γ-strength functions that are both relevant for neutron capture rates.
Computer ScieTCe Department TECHNICAL

The following problem is considered: given a linked list of length n , compute the distance from each element of the hnked list to the end of the hst. The problem has two standard deterministic algorithms: a linear time serial algorithm, and an 0(log n) time parallel algorithm using n processors. We present new deterministic parallel algorithms for the problem. Our strongest results are: 1
Lock-In Agreements in Venture Capital-Backed UK Ipos

This paper examines the impact of venture-capital backing of UK companies issuing shares at flotation on the characteristics of the lock-in agreements entered into by the existing shareholders, and on the abnormal returns realised around the expiry of the directors' lock-in agreements.The study examines the lock-in agreements of a sample of 186 UK IPOs issued during 1992-98. 103 of these companies had venture-capital backing at the IPO.The sample is also broken down into firms classified by industrial sector: of 103 VC backed companies 48 are high-tech, and among the 83 firms without VC backing 33 are high-tech.We find that lock-in agreements in the UK show much more variety in terms of the contractual detail than US agreements.Lock-in periods are particularly long for venture-backed high-tech companies.By contrast, for firms not in the high-tech sector, venture-capital backing appears to reduce the directors' lock-in periods.This suggests that for UK IPOs venture-capital backing does not serve as a substitute for lock-in agreements.Examining the proportion of locked-in directors' shares, we find it to be significantly higher in VC-backed firms as compared to firms without VC backing in the sample of firms not classified as high tech.This suggests that for firms likely to face only moderate information asymmetries (i.e. those not in high-tech industries), venture-capital backing of the IPO is not used as a substitute for, but rather as a complement to, lock-in agreements.The higher proportion of locked-in directors' shares among VC-backed companies (not in the high-tech sector) may be because the underwriters of VC-backed IPOs expect heavy sales by the VCs in the period after the IPO and decide to lock in the directors' shares and in order to limit the downward pressure of the VC's disposals on stock prices.Alternatively, if VCs do not sell out completely in the IPO, as reported by Barry et al. 1990, they may seek to align the directors' interests with their own by locking the directors in.We also examine the share-price performance of IPOs with and without VC backing around the time of the expiry of the lock-in agreements, and find that the CAARs for the VC-backed stocks are lower for most of the short windows around the expiry date, both for the sample as a whole and separately for each industry sector.For the sample of 28 VC-backed stocks, the CAARs are statistically significantly less than zero at the 1% level for the narrow one-to three-day windows around the expiry date.For the VC-backed stocks, the CAARs range from -1.2% to -1.6% (and even to -2% for the 11-day window, but this result is not statistically significant), while the corresponding CAARs for the stocks without VC backing range only from -0.2% to -0.8.
Action video game players display increased resting state functional connectivity in the striatum and the decreased functional connectivity in the hippocampus

Habitual action video game playing is associated with both increased grey matter and activity in the striatum and decreased grey matter in the hippocampus. To further investigate this relationship, we tested differences in resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) between action video games players (actionVGPs) compared to non-video game players (NVGPs) using the hippocampus, the caudate nucleus and the nucleus accumbens as regions of interest. Seventeen actionVGPs and 16 NVGPs were scanned using fMRI to measure rsFC. Results show that when compared to NVGPs, actionVGPs have increased rsFC between the nucleus accumbens and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and between the caudate nucleus and the precentral gyrus. ActionVGPs also displayed decreased rsFC between the hippocampus and the superior temporal gyrus and between the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area. Together, these results support the previously observed relationship between frequent action video game playing and higher grey matter and activity in the reward circuit and lower grey matter within the hippocampus.
BLOWFLY FLIGHT AND OPTIC FLOW

The motion of the thorax of the blowfly Calliphora vicina is measured during cruising flight inside a cage of 40×40×40 cm. Sensor coils mounted on the thorax pick up externally generated magnetic fields, and yield measurements of position and orientation of the thorax with a resolution of 1 ms, 0.3°, and 1 mm. Flight velocities inside the cage are up to 1.2 m/s, accelerations are up to 1 g (≈10 m/s) vertically and 2 g horizontally. During flight, blowflies perform a series of short (~20-30 ms) saccade-like turns at a rate of about 10 per second. The saccades consist of a succession of rotations around all axes, occurring in a fixed order. First, a roll is started. Second, the rolled thorax pitches (pulling the nose up) and yaws, which results in a turn relative to the outside world. Finally, the thorax rolls back to a level position. Saccades have yaw amplitudes of up to 90°, but 90% is smaller than 50°. Maximum angular velocities are 2000 °/s, maximum accelerations 10 °/s. The latter correspond to torques consistent with the maximal force (2⋅10 N) that can be generated by the flight motor as inferred from the maximal linear acceleration. Furthermore, the sequence of energy investment in consecutive rotations around different axes appears to be optimized during a saccade.
Gentrification and Inequality in Brooklyn: The New Kids on the Block

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Gentrification, Segregation, and Negotiation in the City Chapter 3 The Neighborhood of Greenpoint Chapter 4 Neighborhood Demographics and Change Chapter 5 Gentrification in Everyday Life Chapter 6 Gentrification and Local Schools: Women Shape the Urban Landscape Chapter 7 Soccer Moms in the City Chapter 8 Views of Manhattan for Sale: Rezoning for Residential Development on the East River Chapter 9 Conclusions: What it Means for the Future of the City
MIT Open Access

SUMMARY We have developed a physiologically based mathematical model, with parameters derived from published experimental data, to simulate the regulatory effects of the leptin pathway on murine energy homeostasis. Model outcomes are consistent with data reported in the literature and reproduce key characteristics of the energy regulatory system, including compensatory responses that counteract changes in body weight and the failure of this ability when the leptin pathway is disrupted. Our model revealed the possibility of multiple steady states for body weight. It also provided a uniﬁed theoretical framework for two historically antagonistic hypotheses regarding body weight regulation (‘‘set-point’’ versus ‘‘settling point’’). Finally, our model has iden-tiﬁed potential avenues for future investigations.
Mitigation of gastrointestinal graft versus host disease with tocilizumab prophylaxis is accompanied by preservation of microbial diversity and attenuation of enterococcal domination

Mitigation of gastrointestinal graft versus host disease with tocilizumab prophylaxis is accompanied by preservation of microbial diversity and attenuation of enterococcal domination. S.C. designed the study, enrolled patients on the trial, provided clinical care of patients in the study, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. A.S. and D.E. provided statistical analysis. K.M. and L.S. assisted in the acquisition of data. S.A. , W.L. , P.N. H. , M.H. , N.N. S. , L.R. , and J.H. J. enrolled patients on the trial, provided clinical care of patients, and edited the paper. A.C. , N.W. , G.A. , T.F. , J.U. P. and M.vdB performed microbiome computational analyses and edited the paper. W.R. D. designed the study, provided clinical care, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. *A.S. and A.C. contributed equally to this study; #J.U. P. and W.R. D. contributed equally to this study.
A New Conceptualization and Measurement of Corporate Identity: Evidence from the UK Food and Beverage Industry

This study extends the conceptualization of corporate identity (CI), and develops a valid and reliable scale for the concept via multistage research design. After detailed literature review, key elements of CI in practice are clarified using 20 semi-structured interviews with senior managers in leading UK companies, followed by an online survey among senior managers in the UK food and beverage sector. Five dimensions of CI are identified following two-step structural equation modelling: consistent image, top management behavioral leadership, employee identification, mission and values dissemination, and founder transformational leadership. The scale is examined for nomological validity with an outcome variable, namely corporate social responsibility. The contribution is novel, as for the first time CI is empirically validated as a second-order hierarchical construct. The resultant scale guides practitioners to specify priorities when developing CI, acts as a tool to assess the effectiveness of activities over time, and enables corrective action where needed.
Toxicity of U.S. Waterway Sediments with Particular Reference to the New York Harbor Area

A study was conducted in the midto late-1970s on the toxicity of elutriate test mixtures of water and sediment from U.S. harbors and waterways to grass shrimp or daphnia. While for many waterway sediments, 20 to 30% mortality was found after 96-h exposure, those of the New York harbor area showed somewhat greater toxicity. The specific cause of the mortalities was not investigated at that time. It is known that the sediments contained a wide variety of chemical contaminants which, if available to the organisms, could be toxic to them. More than 30 chemical parameters, including heavy metals and chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, were measured in the sediments; of the parameters measured, only ammonia was released in sufficient amounts to potentially cause acute lethality in the test waters associated with the sediments. Recent review of the data showed that there is a relationship between the concentration of ammonia in the sediment/water mixtures (elutriates) test and the mortality of grass shrimp in the tests. Furthermore, the concentrations that appeared to cause about 50% mortality of the grass shrimp in the 96-h exposure were about the level of 96-h LC50 to grass shrimp for ammonia.
Algebraic Invariants for Inferring 4-leaf Semi-directed Phylogenetic networks

A core goal of phylogenomics is to determine the evolutionary history of a set of species from biological sequence data. Phylogenetic networks are able to describe more complex evolutionary phenomena than phylogenetic trees but are more difficult to accurately reconstruct. Recently, there has been growing interest in developing methods to infer semi-directed phylogenetic networks. As computing such networks can be computationally intensive, one approach to building such networks is to puzzle together smaller networks. Thus, it is essential to have robust methods for inferring semi-directed phylogenetic networks on small numbers of taxa. In this paper, we investigate an algebraic method for performing phylogenetic network inference from nucleotide sequence data on 4-leaved semi-directed phylogenetic networks by analysing the distribution of leaf-pattern probabilities. On simulated data, we found that we can correctly identify with high accuracy semi-directed networks as sequences approach 10Mbp in length, and that we are able to use our approach to identify tree-like evolution and determine the underlying tree. We also applied our approach to published transcriptome data from swordtail fish to compare its performance with a pseudolikelihood method for inferring semi-directed networks.
Drug-induced liver injury associated with liraglutide use: a systematic review of detection, severity, causality assessment, and clinical outcomes

Background and Aim: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) remains the most important etiology of acute liver failure in the United States. It often presents a diagnostic conundrum due to the lack of a specific biomarker or diagnostic modality. Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist, has recently gained clinical importance for its anti-obesity and anti-diabetic effects. While a constellation of adverse events has been reported, the published data on its hepatotoxic potential remains limited. We hereby delineate a rare case of liraglutide-associated DILI. Furthermore, a systematic review of MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Scopus
Near-Optimal Provable Uniform Convergence in Offline Policy Evaluation for Reinforcement Learning

The problem of Offline Policy Evaluation (OPE) in Reinforcement Learning (RL) is a critical step towards applying RL in real life applications. Existing work on OPE mostly focus on evaluating a fixed target policy π, which does not provide useful bounds for offline policy learning as π will then be datadependent. We address this problem by simultaneously evaluating all policies in a policy class Π — uniform convergence in OPE — and obtain nearly optimal error bounds for a number of global / local policy classes. Our results imply that the model-based planning achieves an optimal episode complexity of Õ(H/dm ) in identifying an -optimal policy under the time-inhomogeneous episodic MDP model (H is the planning horizon, dm is a quantity that reflects the exploration of the logging policy μ). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the optimal rate is shown to be possible for the offline RL setting and the paper is the first that systematically investigates the uniform convergence in OPE.
Large-Scale 3D Shape Retrieval from ShapeNet Core55

With the advent of commodity 3D capturing devices and better 3D modeling tools, 3D shape content is becoming increasingly prevalent. Therefore, the need for shape retrieval algorithms to handle large-scale shape repositories is more and more important. This track provides a benchmark to evaluate large-scale 3D shape retrieval based on the ShapeNet dataset. It is a continuation of the SHREC 2016 large-scale shape retrieval challenge with a goal of measuring progress with recent developments in deep learning methods for shape retrieval. We use ShapeNet Core55, which provides more than 50 thousands models over 55 common categories in total for training and evaluating several algorithms. Eight participating teams have submitted a variety of retrieval methods which were evaluated on several standard information retrieval performance metrics. The approaches vary in terms of the 3D representation, using multi-view projections, point sets, volumetric grids, or traditional 3D shape descriptors. Overall performance on the shape retrieval task has improved significantly compared to the iteration of this competition in SHREC 2016. We release all data, results, and evaluation code for the benefit of the community and to catalyze future research into large-scale 3D shape retrieval (website: https://www.shapenet.org/shrec17).
The handbook of political change in Eastern Europe

Contents: Preface 1. The Diversity of Political Regimes Sten Berglund and Joakim Ekman 2. The Resilience of History Sten Berglund, Joakim Ekman, Terje Knutsen and Frank Aarebrot 3. Full and Partial Cleavages Kevin Deegan-Krause 4. Estonia Mikko Lagerspetz and Henri Vogt 5. Latvia Daunis Auers 6. Lithuania Kjetil Duvold and Mindaugas Jurkynas 7. Poland Ben Stanley 8. The Czech Republic Zdenka Mansfeldova 9. Slovakia Kevin Deegan-Krause 10. Hungary Gabor Toka and Sebastian Popa 11. Slovenia Drago Zajc 12. Romania William Crowther and Oana-Valentina Suciu 13. Bulgaria Georgi Karasimeonov and Milen Lyubenov 14. Croatia Andrija Henjak, Nenad Zakosek and Goran Cular 15. Bosnia Timothy Donais 16. Serbia Bojan Todosijevic 17. Montenegro Jan O. Haukaas 18. Macedonia Robert Hislope 19. Albania Arba Murati 20. Ukraine Oleh Protsyk 21. Moldova William Crowther 22. Georgia Christoffer Berglund 23. Concluding Remarks Sten Berglund, Kevin Deegan-Krause and Joakim Ekman Index