Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMPACT OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN CROPS AND LIVESTOCK ON WORLD FOOD TRADE PATTERNS

World food trade patterns have changed in the last 40 years with the share of world trade comprised of bulk commodities falling, and the share of world food trade comprised of processed commodities rising. These changes have been driven by a combination of supply and demand forces. On the demand side, world demand for livestock products and more highly processed food products has been rising more rapidly than that for bulk products. This increasing demand can either be met from domestic production or from foreign production in the latter case resulting in increased international trade. The extent to which the increased demand can be met from domestic production depends importantly on the rate of productivity growth in the various components of the farm and food sector. This is why the relative rates of productivity growth in crops and livestock is also believed to be an important factor in determining the changing composition of trade. This study seeks to understand to what extent productivity growth in crops and livestock has affected world food trade patterns. We do so by first estimating total factor productivity growth in crops and livestock over the past four decades. The results show that productivity growth in crops has been larger in developed countries. However, non-ruminant productivity growth in developing countries has been larger. By incorporating these estimates into a back-casting exercise with the GTAP general equilibrium model, we hope to understand how these differential productivity growth rates have influenced the composition of world food trade.
Forecasting Automation: an Emerging Branch of Forecasting Engineering

Principles of the framework called time series forecasting automation are presented. It is required in processing massive temporal data sets and creating completely user-oriented forecasting software where manual data analysis and a user's decision-making is either impractical or unde- sirable. Its distinct features are local extrapolation models, their active training, criterion of model performance assessment used in adding new examples to the model training set and in deciding on which one of a group of competing models consistent with the common training set performs best. A generalized algorithm for local model tuning on massive data series that can be run without human intervention is presented.
Data-driven estimation of the background to charged Higgs boson searches using hadronically-decaying τ final states in ATLAS The ATLAS Collaboration

The experimental observation of charged Higgs bosons, H±, which are theoretically predicted by many non-minimal Higgs scenarios, would indicate new physics beyond the Standard Model. In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, for example, the dominant production mode at the LHC for these Higgs bosons, when mH+ < mt, takes place in tt events via the top-quark decay t → Hb with H → τν dominating for most values of tan β. Two channels with a hadronically decaying τ coming from the charged Higgs boson are studied. The delivery of the first 37 pb−1 of √ s = 7 TeV collision data allows many significant backgrounds to be estimated with data-driven methods, which represent the primary focus of this note and a crucial step towards ATLAS searches for the charged Higgs boson.
Automating Node Pruning for LiDAR-Based Topometric Maps in the Context of Teach-and-Repeat

Maps are a vital component in autonomous mobile systems. However, they can be computationally expensive to build, particularly in the case of globally-consistent ones. To circumvent this issue, topometric approaches have been proposed, especially in the context of the Teach and Repeat paradigm. These topometric maps are graphs, where nodes are local maps and edges are the known transform between these nodes. When building these topometric maps, one important question is how far apart should these local maps be collected in the environment. On one hand, a densely sampled topometric map will be more robust, but at the cost of an increased database size. On the other hand, fewer local maps mean a more efficient topometric map. Traditional approaches record these local maps at a fixed, regular intervals. In this paper, we propose an offline algorithm that automatically prunes nodes in a way that offers some empirical guarantees on localization errors. In particular, our approach is based on first collecting a densely sampled topometric map, then finding a minimal subset of nodes using a cost-based approach via Dijkstra's Algorithm. Offline experiments on three datasets confirmed the ability of our approach to minimize the size of topometric maps, and showed that the size of the map will vary given a certain demanded localization error tolerance and environment complexity.
The Design of Real-Time Warning System in Future Internet Environment

Due to the rapid development of Internet, there are extensive amount of applications that require fast and stable network communication. However, the infrastructure of Internet is limited by TCP/IP protocol. The Future Internet has become a hot network research topic, such as GENI project in U.S. and FIRST project in Korea. Most of these projects adopt OpenFlow framework in their network environment. Because OpenFlow allow researchers to design and develop innovative protocols, it can be applied in different situations for constructing desired network environments. In this paper, we will introduce how to build Future Internet testbed with OpenFlow. We also research and design real-time warning system over this testbed. This system could be applied to earthquake early warning for Taiwan Central Weather Bureau in the future.
The Multiphase Absorption Systems toward PG 1206+459

A high-resolution (R = 30,000) ultraviolet spectrum is presented, which covers Lyα and many low-, intermediate-, and high-ionization transitions in the three Mg II-selected absorption systems toward the quasar PG 1206+459. Three systems (A, B, and C), which are clustered within 1500 km s-1 at z ~ 0.93, were originally identified in a spectrum obtained with the High Resolution Spectrograph (HIRES) on the Keck I Telescope. A WIYN (Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO) Gunn i-band image of the quasar field and spectroscopy of two galaxy candidates are presented. A multiphase medium is seen in all three systems, consistent with smaller, denser clouds producing low-ionization transitions (Mg II, Fe II, and Si II) and larger, diffuse, photoionized clouds giving rise to higher ionization transitions (C IV, N V, and/or O VI). (1) System A, a multicloud, weak Mg II absorber at z = 0.9254, requires a supersolar metallicity in both low- and high-ionization phases, unless an α-group enhancement is included. The low-ionization absorption is produced in clouds with sizes of 10-70 pc, which are surrounded in velocity space by broader, high-ionization components. With the unusually complex velocity structure resolved in the N V profiles, this system is unlikely to represent a traditional galaxy disk/corona. The most likely candidate host galaxy is a ~2L*, apparently warped, spiral at an impact parameter of 43 h-1 kpc. (2) System B, at z = 0.9276, has the strongest Mg II absorption and has an approximately solar metallicity in the low-ionization phase. The smooth, broad high-ionization profiles may indicate a coronal structure similar to that of the Milky Way. The redshift of an L* galaxy (z = 0.9289), at an impact parameter of 38 h-1 kpc, is consistent with the redshift of this system. (3) System C, at z = 0.9342, has a single component in Mg II, separated from the other two systems by ~+1000 km s-1. The Lyα profile is not aligned with the Mg II, requiring an additional velocity component offset by -40 km s-1. System C lacks the small, low-ionization cloud characteristic of an isolated single-cloud, weak Mg II absorber. Its absorption properties are similar to the "satellite clouds" of classic strong Mg II absorbers, so this could be a high-velocity cloud in the galaxy group responsible for the systems, possibly related to a 0.2L* galaxy at an impact parameter of 43 h-1 kpc.
Interpersonal Contact, Stereotype Acceptance, Gender Role Beliefs, Causal Attribution, and Religiosity as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals

18 COPYRIGHT 2019 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 24, NO. 1/ISSN 2325-7342) Previous research has found that transgender individuals often experience prejudice and discrimination on the basis of their gender identity (Grant et al., 2011; James, et al., 2016; Whittle, Turner, & Al-Alami, 2007). A relatively limited but growing body of research has suggested several predictors for transgender attitudes, or “transphobia,” including beliefs about gender, interpersonal contact, religiosity, and attribution of transgender identity (Claman, 2008; Nagoshi et al., 2008; Norton & Herek, 2012; Tee & Hegarty, 2006). However, much of this research has examined prejudice toward the general LGBTQ (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community rather than attitudes specifically directed toward transgender individuals. Although there is evidence that attitudes toward these groups share predictors (e.g., Nagoshi et al., 2008; Worthen, 2012), gender identity is a separate construct from sexual orientation and should be examined as such (American Psychological Association, 2014). The present study aimed to further explore the predictors of attitudes toward transgender individuals in a sample of undergraduates. Much of traditional psychological research has assumed two discrete categories of sex and gender: male and female. This gender distinction resulted in a binary understanding of gender and led to numerous studies that focused on gender differences between men and women (Hyde, Bigler, Joel,
Perceptual influence of elementary three-dimensional geometry: (1) objectness

Commonly complex cognitive concepts cannot consistently be connected to simple features of the world. Geometrical shape parameters and (e.g., edge features, compactness, color) may play a role for defining individual objects, but might be too variable to allow for concept formation. Earlier works had suggested that the formation of object concepts is strongly influenced by the division of our world along convex to concave surface transitions. In this first paper in a sequence of two we address this issue using abstract 3D geometrical structures (polycubes). In a first experiment, we let our subjects manipulate and compare polycubes with different compactness and different concavity/convexity asking which of them they would perceive as “an object. ” Both parameters (compactness and concavity/convexity) are not correlated in these stimuli. Nonetheless, we find that subjects with clear prevalence choose compact and convex ones. We continue to ask how strongly this influences the way we construct objects. Thus, in a second experiment we let humans combine polycubes to form an object. Also here we find that they prefer compact and convex configurations. This suggests that this simple geometric feature may underlie our cognitive understanding of objectness not only with respect to perception but also by influencing how we build our world.
Mobile Learning in Organizations: Lessons Learned from Two Case Studies

M-learning has been tested and investigated in the last decade in different levels of education, from K12 to higher education. However, academic studies reporting concrete m-learning experiences in the corporate environment are still rare. Considering this gap of knowledge, this paper analyzes two cases of corporate m-learning using COMTEXT® a Mobile Virtual Learning Environment-MVLE, developed by the authors. It discusses the different elements involved in m-learning practices in organizations, including: 1 ergonomic, technological and pedagogical affordances; 2 limitations of mobile and wireless technology use in corporate m-learning; 3 methodologies and learning tools that can be applied; 4 the intricacies between the different types of mobility involved in m-learning activities in a corporate environment.
The Impact of External Quality Assurance of Costs Estimates on Cost Overruns: Empirical Evidence from the Norwegian Road Sector

Cost overruns in transport infrastructure projects are prevalent and have been well documented in the literature; see, for instance, Flyvbjerg et al. (2003), Odeck (2004 and 2014) and Cantarelli et al. (2010). Governments may therefore exert efforts to reduce overruns by implementing strategies such as quality assurance of cost estimates, whereby external consultants are engaged to assure the accuracy of estimates. However, the literature has to a lesser extent provided evidence on what governments do to combat overruns and whether those efforts work in practice. This paper provides such evidence for the case of Norway, where the government implemented a quality assurance regime for cost estimates above 500 million NOK in the early 2000. Apart from explaining the Norwegian quality assurance regime, the paper uses statistical inferences to compare the magnitudes of cost overruns in the pre-and post- quality assurance periods. The statistically significant derived results are as follows: (i) quality assurance has led to a reduction in cost overruns; (ii) quality assurance has not, however, led to improved accuracy of the estimates provided by the authorities – rather, it has led to systematic overestimation by the authorities; and (iii) external consultants are more accurate than the authorities. We conclude that the quality assurance regime is achieving the objectives of reducing cost overruns and that similar regimes should be considered for smaller projects where overruns have been shown to be very large.
Hardware and software support for fine-grained memory access control and encapsulation in C++

Object-oriented programming (OOP) encapsulates object implementations with access specifiers like public and private. Compilers can verify that code adheres to specifiers, but verification can be broken in languages like C++ by unchecked pointers. Thus, C++ programmers are taught that "private is not secure. " The lack of isolation between objects frustrates memory protection in OOP code. We propose hardware and software support to confine memory accesses in fine-grained memory regions that isolate within and between objects so that C++ programs can enforce encapsulation and prevent pointer-based exploits. Such support makes private secure. Although we target C++, our approach handles generic techniques like inheritance, polymorphism, dynamic dispatch, dynamic binding, and encapsulation.
Ace: a language for parallel programming with customizable protocols

Customizing the protocols that manage accesses to different data structures within an application can improve the performance of software shared-memory programs substantially. Existing systems for using customizable protocols are hard to use directly because the mechanisms they provide for manipulating protocols are low-level ones. This article is an in-depth study of the issues involved in providing language support for application-specific protocols. We describe the design and implementation of a new language for parallel programming, Ace, that integrates support for customizable protocols with minimal extensions to C. Ace applications are developed using a shared-memory model with a default sequentially consistent protocol. Performance can then be optimized, with minor modifications to the application, by experimenting with different protocol libraries. The design of Ace was driven by a detailed study of the use of customizable protocols. We delineate the issues that arise when programming with customizable protocols and present novel abstractions that allow for their easy use. We describe the design and implementation of a runtime system and compiler for Ace nd discuss compiler optimizations that improve the performance of such software shared-memory systems. We study the communication patterns of a set of benchmark applications and consider the use of customizable protocols to optimize their performance. We evaluate the performance of our system through experiments on a Thinking Machine CM-5 and a Cray T3E. We also present measurements that demonstrate that Ace has good performance compared to that of a modern distributed shared-memory system.
Dynamic Word Embeddings via Skip-Gram Filtering

We present a probabilistic language model for time-stamped text data which tracks the semantic evolution of individual words over time. The model represents words and contexts by latent trajectories in an embedding space. At each moment in time, the embedding vectors are inferred from a probabilistic version of word2vec (Mikolov et al., 2013b). These embedding vectors are connected in time through a latent diffusion process. We describe two scalable variational inference algorithms—skip-gram smoothing and skip-gram ﬁltering—that allow us to train the model jointly over all times; thus learning on all data while simultaneously allowing word and context vectors to drift. Experimental results on three different corpora demonstrate that our dynamic model infers word embedding trajectories that are more interpretable and lead to higher predictive likelihoods than competing methods that are based on static models trained separately on time slices.
Informing Consent for the Publication of Case Material

In this article, the authors examine the ethical issues involved in the use of case studies by health professionals when presenting research, specifically focusing on how informed consent is obtained from or, rather, negotiated with the client. It is argued that collecting personal information for the purposes of healing is not the same as collecting it for the purposes of research and, therefore, that informed and voluntary consent for this use is essential. The theoretical principles covering ethics in research are discussed in relation to the use of case studies in publications, based on international codes and declarations, on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and framed in a relational paradigm. Practical considerations and recommendations for those writing for journals and, specifically, this journal, are presented and promoted. Waitara I tēnei tuhinga ka arotakehia e ngā kaituhi ngā take matatika o te whakamahi a ngā ngaio hauora i ngā tauria whaiaro i roto i ā rātou mahi rangahau. Ko te kīi, he rerekā anō te kaupapa kohi korero whaiaro hai whai oranga ki tērā o te kohikohi korero hai mahi rangahau. Nā tēnei, me mātua whakatau korero mātau, whai whakaaetanga hoki ēnei momo mahi. Ka matapakihia nga mātāpono haukoti i te matatika rangahau ki te whakaurunga o ngā tauira whaiaro ki ngā tuhinga whakaputa, e ai ki ngā tohu me ngā whakahau o te ao me tā Te Tiriti o Waitangi: ka horaina, ka tautokohia ngā whakatauhanga whakaaro me ngā whakaritenga mā te hunga e tuhi ana mō ngā huataka, tohutika ki tēnei huataka.
An empirical investigation in quantifying inconsistency and incompleteness of UML designs

The UML is becoming the de-facto notation for software engineering projects. It is a common hypothesis that incompleteness and inconsistency allowed by UML are a source for problems in the software development process. However, it appears that many adequate software systems are built with the use of UML. This raises the question as to what degree inconsistency and incompleteness in UML designs impact software engineering projects. For instance, are there typically many or few inconsistencies in a design? Which type of inconsistency occurs most often? Do the types of inconsistencies that are present in a design change in the course of the design process? If so, how? To investigate these questions, we have developed a number of techniques for analyzing UML designs. In this paper, we present the results of our study on inconsistency and incompleteness in large industrial systems.
When Will There Be Gift Exchange? Addressing the Lab-Field Debate with Laboratory Gift Exchange Experiments

Gift exchange experiments have demonstrated that norms can affect labor market outcomes and provided an explanation for involuntary unemployment. However, conflicting results from laboratory and field experiments have questioned the relevance of gift exchange and helped spark an ongoing debate about the relative merits of the lab and field. This paper uses laboratory experiments to identify three parameters that affect the likelihood workers engage in gift exchange, helping to reconcile results across lab and field experiments. Gift exchange is more prevalent when workers are rich relative to the firm, worker effort is efficient, or workers have a restricted action space.
A new co-saliency model via pairwise constraint graph matching

In this paper, we propose a new co-saliency model to extract co-saliency maps from a pair of images. Rather than using unary constraint matching, we use pairwise constraint graph matching to obtain more accurate co-saliency map. In our method, the co-saliency map consists of two terms, i.e., the single image saliency map and the multiple image saliency map. The single image saliency map is obtained by traditional saliency detection method. The multiple image saliency map is extracted by matching the similar regions among the images, which is casted as pairwise constraint graph matching problem. The dynamic programming method is used to solve the matching problem. We test the proposed co-saliency model on co-saliency dataset. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed co-saliency model.
Comparing the efficacy of agri‐environment schemes to enhance bumble bee abundance and diversity on arable field margins

1. Declines in abundance and diversity of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) in Europe have been linked to agricultural intensification and the resulting loss of suitable foraging and nesting habitats. Environmental Stewardship (ES) is a new scheme in England offering the opportunity to restore habitats of value for these important pollinators to agricultural land. Scientific evaluation of the options prescribed within the scheme is essential to ensure that their objectives are met and that the benefits can be realized by the full bumble bee species assemblage. 2. We compared the efficacy of different ES options for field margins on arable land in enhancing the abundance and diversity of flowering resources and foraging bumble bees. Our study was conducted over 3 years using a multisite experiment. 3. Overall, uncropped margins sown with mixtures containing nectar and pollen-producing plants were more effective in providing bumble bee forage than margins sown with a grass mix, allowed to regenerate naturally or managed as conservation headlands. 4. A mixture of agricultural legumes established quickly and attracted on average the highest total abundance and diversity of bumble bees, including the rare long-tongued species Bombus ruderatus and Bombus muscorum. However, marked differences were observed between species and sexes in their responses to field margin management over time. 5. A diverse mixture of native wildflowers attracted more of the shorter-tongued Bombus spp. and provided greater continuity of forage resources, especially early in the season. Allowing Cirsium spp. to flower on such margins also increased their attractiveness to male bumble bees. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that the legume-based 'pollen and nectar flower mix', as prescribed under Entry Level Stewardship in England, can quickly provide a highly attractive forage resource for bumble bees, but that issues of seasonal flowering phenology and longevity of the mixture need to be addressed. Establishment of 'floristically enhanced margins' under Higher Level Stewardship will be important to provide diverse perennial communities of forage plants and to support a greater range of Bombus spp. and other pollinators. The population-level responses of bumble bees to introduced seed mixtures and other agri-environment options require further study in order to maximize the benefits of such schemes in intensively farmed landscapes. © 2006 The Authors.