Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A New Remote Sensing Images and Point-of-Interest Fused (RPF) Model for Sensing Urban Functional Regions

For urban planning and environmental monitoring, it is essential to understand the diversity and complexity of cities to identify urban functional regions accurately and widely. However, the existing methods developed in the literature for identifying urban functional regions have mainly been focused on single remote sensing image data or social sensing data. The multi-dimensional information which was attained from various data source and could reflect the attribute or function about the urban functional regions that could be lost in some extent. To sense urban functional regions comprehensively and accurately, we developed a multi-mode framework through the integration of spatial geographic characteristics of remote sensing images and the functional distribution characteristics of social sensing data of Point-of-Interest (POI). In this proposed framework, a deep multi-scale neural network was developed first for the functional recognition of remote sensing images in urban areas, which explored the geographic feature information implicated in remote sensing. Second, the POI function distribution was analyzed in different functional areas of the city, then the potential relationship between POI data categories and urban region functions was explored based on the distance metric. A new RPF module is further deployed to fuse the two characteristics in different dimensions and improve the identification performance of urban region functions. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method can efficiently achieve the accuracy of 82.14% in the recognition of functional regions. It showed the great usability of the proposed framework in the identification of urban functional regions and the potential to be applied in a wide range of areas.
Water Identification from High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images Based on Multidimensional Densely Connected Convolutional Neural Networks

The accurate acquisition of water information from remote sensing images has become important in water resources monitoring and protections, and flooding disaster assessment. However, there are significant limitations in the traditionally used index for water body identification. In this study, we have proposed a deep convolutional neural network (CNN), based on the multidimensional densely connected convolutional neural network (DenseNet), for identifying water in the Poyang Lake area. The results from DenseNet were compared with the classical convolutional neural networks (CNNs): ResNet, VGG, SegNet and DeepLab v3+, and also compared with the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). Results have indicated that CNNs are superior to the water index method. Among the five CNNs, the proposed DenseNet requires the shortest training time for model convergence, besides DeepLab v3+. The identification accuracies are evaluated through several error metrics. It is shown that the DenseNet performs much better than the other CNNs and the NDWI method considering the precision of identification results; among those, the NDWI performance is by far the poorest. It is suggested that the DenseNet is much better in distinguishing water from clouds and mountain shadows than other CNNs.
The Impact of Pan-Sharpening and Spectral Resolution on Vineyard Segmentation through Machine Learning

Precision viticulture benefits from the accurate detection of vineyard vegetation from remote sensing, without a priori knowledge of vine locations. Vineyard detection enables efficient, and potentially automated, derivation of spatial measures such as length and area of crop, and hence required volumes of water, fertilizer, and other resources. Machine learning techniques have provided significant advancements in recent years in the areas of image segmentation, classification, and object detection, with neural networks shown to perform well in the detection of vineyards and other crops. However, what has not been extensively quantitatively examined is the extent to which the initial choice of input imagery impacts detection/segmentation accuracy. Here, we use a standard deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect and segment vineyards across Australia using DigitalGlobe Worldview-2 images at ∼50 cm (panchromatic) and ∼2 m (multispectral) spatial resolution. A quantitative assessment of the variation in model performance with input parameters during model training is presented from a remote sensing perspective, with combinations of panchromatic, multispectral, pan-sharpened multispectral, and the spectral Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) considered. The impact of image acquisition parameters—namely, the off-nadir angle and solar elevation angle—on the quality of pan-sharpening is also assessed. The results are synthesised into a ‘recipe’ for optimising the accuracy of vineyard segmentation, which can provide a guide to others aiming to implement or improve automated crop detection and classification.
One year outcomes of wet age-related macular degeneration treatment with aflibercept in therapeutic program

Background: The article discusses the effectiveness of aflibercept treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, carried out in routine clinical practice for at least 12 months as part of the treatment program. Material and Methods: Ninety-four patients (95 eyes) with a median age of 79.0 years participated in the non-randomized, retrospective, observational, single-center study. Women accounted for 59.6% of the study group. Forty-four (46.3%) eyes were treatment-naïve, and 51 (53.7%) eyes continued previous treatment. The naïve eyes were treated according to the VIEW protocol, and eyes continuing therapy were treated using a pro re nata regimen. The median duration of participation in the study was 13.4 months (IQR=13.1–13.6 months). Results: The mean change in best corrected visual acuity was 8.41 ETDRS letters (standard deviation [SD]=13.76 letters) when considering all study participants, 9.36 letters (SD=10.88 letters) for treatment-naïve eyes, and 7.59 letters (SD=15.90 letters) for those continuing treatment. There was no significant difference between treatment-naïve eyes and those continuing treatment (p=0.523). The median central retinal thickness was significantly reduced from 302.0 μm to 238.0 μm (IQR=203.5–268.0 μm; p<0.001). The median number of aflibercept injections was 8.0 (IQR=7.0–9.0). Conclusion: The regular treatment of patients with aflibercept in daily practice and according to the VIEW protocol produces results that are comparable to those of randomized clinical trials. Regular aflibercept therapy allows for a significant improvement in functional and morphological parameters regardless of the stage of the disease, both in treatment-naïve eyes and in eyes continuing treatment.
Inversion and Validation of Improved Marine Gravity Field Recovery in South China Sea by Incorporating HY-2A Altimeter Waveform Data

HaiYang-2A (HY-2A, where ‘Haiyang’ means ‘Ocean’ in Chinese) has provided reliable sea surface height observations for gravity with uniform ocean data coverage on a global scale for more than 8 years, particularly with denser across track sampling during the geodetic mission since March 2016. This paper aims at modeling and evaluating the regional marine gravity field at 1′×1′ resolution by incorporating HY-2A altimeter waveform data from 7 complete 168-day cycles in the geodetic mission phase. Initial evaluation indicates that, firstly, the measurements in the geodetic mission stay at a consistent accuracy level with observations at the start-of-life stage according to statistics of discrepancies at crossover points cycle by cycle. Secondly, range precision improvement can be achieved using a two-pass weighted least-squares retracker. Thirdly, a downsampling procedure combined with a low-pass filter is designed for HY-2A 20 Hz data to obtain 5 Hz measurements with enhanced precision. We calculate the 1′×1′ marine gravity field model over the South China Sea area by using the EGM2008 model as a reference field with the remove/restore method. The verifications with published models and shipborne gravimetric data show that HY-2A GM data is capable of improving marine gravity field modeling. Results show slightly higher accuracy than other models with similar input datasets but not including HY-2A. The accuracy is also compared with the latest DTU17 and SIO V27.1 model.
Consideration of race/ethnicity in adolescent substance abuse treatment outcome studies

Consideration of Race/Ethnicity in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies by Marilyn J. Strada Dr. Bradley Donohue, Thesis Committee Chair Associate Professor o f Psychology University o f Nevada, Las Vegas Substance use among youth continues to be a major concern in the United States. Several treatments have been developed for youth, but their external validity racially/ethnically diverse populations have not been evaluated for use in ethnic populations. The purpose o f this paper was to examine the extent to which adolescent substance use treatment outcome studies have considered race/ethnicity-related factors in the design, implementation, and evaluation o f treatments to determine degree of generalizability in racially/ethnically diverse populations. The findings underscored (1) discrepancies between treatment needs o f racially/ethnically diverse youth and substances targeted in treatment, (2) the urgent need to focus on culturally sensitive recruitment strategies to increase participation of ethnic youth in treatment research, and (3) consideration o f race/ethnicity in adolescent substance abuse treatment research has not changed significantly over the past three decades, with most studies providing limited information to answer the question of With whom are the treatments efficacious?
Validation of ASTER Emissivity Retrieval Using the Mako Airborne TIR Imaging Spectrometer at the Algodones Dune Field in Southern California, USA

Validation of emissivity (ε) retrievals from spaceborne thermal infrared (TIR) sensors typically requires spatial extrapolations over several orders of magnitude for a comparison between centimeter-scale laboratory ε measurements and the common decameter and lower resolution of spaceborne TIR data. In the case of NASA’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) temperature and ε separation algorithm (TES), this extrapolation becomes especially challenging because TES was originally designed for the geologic surface of Earth, which is typically heterogeneous even at centimeter and decameter scales. Here, we used the airborne TIR hyperspectral Mako sensor with its 2.2 m/pixel resolution, to bridge this scaling issue and robustly link between ASTER TES 90 m/pixel emissivity retrievals and laboratory ε measurements from the Algodones dune field in southern California, USA. The experimental setup included: (i) Laboratory XRD, grain size, and TIR spectral measurements; (ii) radiosonde launches at the time of the two Mako overpasses for atmospheric corrections; (iii) ground-based thermal measurements for calibration, and (iv) analyses of ASTER day and night ε retrievals from 21 different acquisitions. We show that while cavity radiation leads to a 2% to 4% decrease in the effective emissivity contrast of fully resolved scene elements (e.g., slipface slopes and interdune flats), spectral variability of the site when imaged at 90 m/pixel is below 1%, because at this scale the dune field becomes an effectively homogeneous mixture of the different dune elements. We also found that adsorption of atmospheric moisture to grain surfaces during the predawn hours increased the effective ε of the dune surface by up to 0.04. The accuracy of ASTER’s daytime emissivity retrievals using each of the three available atmospheric correction protocols was better than 0.01 and within the target performance of ASTER’s standard emissivity product. Nighttime emissivity retrievals had lower precision (<0.03) likely due to residual atmospheric effects. The water vapor scaling (WVS) atmospheric correction protocol was required to obtain accurate (<0.01) nighttime ASTER emissivity retrievals.
Using NDVI to Differentiate Wheat Genotypes Productivity Under Dryland and Irrigated Conditions

Crop breeders are looking for tools to facilitate the screening of genotypes in field trials. Remote sensing-based indices such as normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) are sensitive to biomass and nitrogen (N) variability in crop canopies. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine if proximal sensor-based NDVI readings can differentiate the yield of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes and (ii) to determine if NDVI readings can be used to classify wheat genotypes into grain yield productivity classes. This study was conducted in northeastern Colorado in 2010 and 2011. The NDVI readings were acquired weekly from March to June, during 2010 and 2011. The correlation between NDVI and grain yield was determined using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient (r). The k-means clustering method was used to classify mean NDVI and mean grain yield into three classes. The overall accuracy between NDVI and yield classes was reported. The findings of this study show that, under dryland conditions, there is a reliable correlation between grain yield and NDVI at the early growing season, at the anthesis growth stage, and the mid-grain filling growth stage, as well as a poor association under irrigated conditions. Our results suggest that when the sensor is not saturated, i.e., NDVI < 0.9, NDVI could assess grain yield with fair accuracy. This study demonstrated the potential of using NDVI readings as a tool to differentiate and identify superior wheat genotypes.
Growth performance, survival rate, flesh, and proximate composition of sex-grouped triploid and diploid Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

This study aimed to compare the growth performance, survival rate, flesh, and proximate composition of sex-grouped triploid and diploid Nile tilapia. The triploid population was obtained through heat shock at 41 oC for 4 min, 4 min after fertilization. Before sexing, 50 fish were reared in aquaria at a density of 1 fish L$^{-1}$ for 2 months. After sexing, both triploid and diploid fish were grouped into all-male, all-female, and mixed-sex groups and reared in hapas at a density of 10 fish m$^{-2}$ for 4 months. Each group was replicated three times. The highest body weight, body length, and growth rate were observed in all-male triploids, while the lowest of those parameters were obtained in all-female diploids. The highest survival rate was achieved in both all-male and mixed-sex triploids, and it did not significantly differ from the mixed-sex diploid P > 0.05 . The triploid fish had a higher edible carcass percentage than diploids. Proximate analysis indicated that the crude protein content of triploids was higher than that of diploids, while the crude lipid and ash contents were lower than those of diploids P < 0.05 . Triploid Nile tilapia had the best growth performances, including flesh quantity and quality, compared to diploids.
A Glimpse of Freedom: Allied Occupation and Political Resistance in East Germany

This paper exploits the idiosyncratic line of contact separating Allied and Soviet troops within East Germany at the end of WWII to study political resistance in a non-democracy. When Nazi Germany surrendered, 40 percent of what would become the authoritarian German Democratic Republic was initially under Allied control but was ceded to Soviet control less than two months later. Brief Allied exposure increased protests during the major 1953 uprising. We use novel data on the appointment of local mayors and a retrospective survey to argue that even a “glimpse of freedom” can foster civilian opposition to dictatorship. (JEL D72, D74, N44, P16)
Financial Performance of Internet Gambling Stocks: Empirical Evidence from the UK

The purpose of this study is to examine the financial performance of an online gambling portfolio. The performance of the online gambling portfolio is compared to both the market and a socially responsible portfolio. Additionally, the financial performance is examined during the Great Recession, a period which includes significant financial instability. Financial performance measures designed for periods of negative average returns are utilized. Unconditional and conditional financial performance measures indicate that the online gaming portfolio underperforms the market portfolio. Additionally, the results indicate that relative to the socially responsible portfolio, the online gambling portfolio underperforms as well. Moreover, the results of the modified Sharpe ratios indicate a significant difference compared to the traditional measures. The rankings of all three portfolios changes significantly, with the online gambling portfolio performing the worst out of the three. Finally, the Jobson and Korkie tests showed no significant difference between the traditional performance measures, but this result could be due to the lack of power of the test. This empirical investigation provides insight into the financial performance of online gambling stocks in the UK. JEL Codes: G00, G11, G15, G19.
Household Dietary Adequacy and Individual Nutrition Status: Relationships and Seasonal Effects in a Sahelian Community in Chad

A survey was conducted in a local area in the Sahelian zone of Chad to assess the relationship between household food consumption and individual nutrition status in two different seasons. Eighty households were surveyed during the non-harvest and harvest seasons. Household consumption was measured by weighing food items over two consecutive days. The intake of energy, protein, and iron was adequate. The median intake of vitamin A was low, particularly in the non-harvest season, 48% of FAO/WHO/UNU recommendations. Seasonal differences were detected only for vitamin A and iron. The mean child weight-for-height Z score and mean adult body mass index were lower at the harvest season (p< .05). Household vitamin A adequacy was a significant predictor of child weight for height and adult body mass index at the harvest season, even when energy adequacy was controlled for. This study shows that the weak relationship between household dietary intake and individual nutrition status changed with the seasons, and that both provided complementary information on household nutrition. It is suggested that where household energy supply is not limiting, monitoring the consumption of major sources of vitamin A may help to identify malnourished households.
For better or for worse mental health? The role of social networks for exogamous older couples

Objectives: This study tests whether being in an exogamous union, in which one of the partners is an immigrant and the other native, affects an older individual’s social networks, and whether the association between exogamy and mental health operates through social networks. We hypothesize that immigrants gain social capital through their native spouse, and thus have better mental health than endogamous immigrants. In contrast, the kin network of exogamous natives is not expanded through their spouse, and we therefore expect their mental health to be lower compared to endogamous natives. Methods: We use longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study on 6,664 couples, 516 of which are exogamous (7.7%). We estimate linear correlated random effects regression models to account for observed characteristics and unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity. Results: Exogamous immigrants have larger social networks due to the expansion of their kin network, while exogamous natives have smaller social networks than endogamous natives. We find that exogamous native women exhibit significantly worse mental health than any other group. Social networks influence mental health but contribute little to these observed differences. Discussion: Observed differences in mental health between exogamous and endogamous unions can mostly be explained by observed and unobserved characteristics attached to individuals who form exogamous unions. The mental health disadvantage of exogamous native women requires
TRUST AND REPUTATION SYSTEMS IN TWO ONLINE AUCTION AND SHOPPING WEBSITES FROM ROMANIA AND THE NETHERLANDS

Online customer-to-customer auction websites are characterised by information asymmetry. The use of a positive or a negative reputation system in such a medium indicates the level of generalized trust of the residents of that country. In this sense, we want to underline the connection between the level of generalized trust in Romania and the Netherlands and the way the two most popular auction web-sites in these countries function as found in the online participatory observation conducted. Based on a background of low generalized trust in Romania, individuals who interact on auction websites require a type of assurance such as public reputation while in the Netherlands, based on a higher level of generalized trust, transactions from customer – to customer auction websites take place in the absence of such assurances.
Serum Ferritin in Newly Detected Diabetes and Prediabetes

Background: Changes in serum ferritin or iron stores may be associated with abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT). Objective: To see serum ferritin and HbA1c in newly detected prediabetes and diabetes. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study over 200 participants categorized by American Diabetes Association (ADA) 2013 criteria were measured for serum ferritin by using N Latex ferritin and HbA1c by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: AGT had significantly higher age (41.43±1.16 vs. 34.65±1.26, mean ±SEM; p<0.001) and body mass index (BMI, 26.02±0.40 vs. 24.01±0.36 kg/m2; p<0.001) with more frequent family history of diabetes than normal glucose tolerance (NGT, 55.9% vs. 22.5%, p<0.001). Mean and median ferritin were increased in subgroups of AGT [NGT: 88.25±9.2 and 55.54; impaired fasting glucose (IFG): 92.04±12.55 and 102.95, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT): 104.81±13.82 and 88.92; IFG-IGT: 94.37±11.15 and 112.13; NGT but HbA1c 5.7-6.4%: 110.47±15.50 and 103.10; diabetes mellitus (DM): 133.20±12.52 and 121. 37μgm/L respectively; p=0.068]. All subgroups of AGT had HbA1c ≥ 5.7% while that for NGT was < 5.7%. Males had higher ferritin than females [(130.38±11.81 vs. 86.71±5.16 μgm/L, p=0.001); for NGT: 126.55±19.02 vs. 64.57± 7.70 μgm/L, p=0.001, IFG-IGT: 116.10±1.26 vs. 90.02±13.03 μgm/L, p= 0.077 and DM: 158.40±25.08 vs. 112.85±8.84 μgm/L, p=0.099]. Ferritin was higher in hypertensive than that in normotensive (111.89±10.98 vs. 96.23±6.53 μgm/L, p=0.058) as well as in obese AGT than that of obese NGT (118.41±10.25 vs. 76.08±10.47 μgm/L, p=0.009) but not in other weight categories. Both systolic and diastolic BP significantly correlated with ferritin in AGT (r=0.176, p=0.065 and r=0.180, p=0.059 respectively) but not in NGT (r=0.061, p=0.570 and r=0.021, p=0.842 respectively). Conclusions: Serum ferritin level is higher in AGT especially if obese as well as in hypertension.