Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Impact of Climate Evolution and Land Use Changes on Water Yield in the Ebro Basin

In this study the climatic and hydrological trends across 88 sub-basins of the Ebro River basin were analyzed for the period 1950–2006. A new database of climate information and river flows for the entire basin facilitated a spatially distributed assessment of climate-runoff relationships. It constitutes the first assessment of water yield evolution across the whole Ebro basin, a very representative example of large Mediterranean rivers. The results revealed a marked decrease in river discharges in most of the sub-basins. Moreover, a number of changes in the seasonality of the river regime was found, resulting from dam regulation and a decrease in snowpack in the headwaters. Significant and positive trends in temperature were observed across most of the basin, whereas most of the precipitation series showed negative coefficients, although the decrease in magnitude was low. The time evolution of the residuals from empirical models that relate climate and runoff in each sub-basin provided evidence that climate alone does not explain the observed decrease in river discharge. Thus, changes in water yield are associated with an increase in evapotranspiration rates in natural vegetation, growth of which has expanded as a consequence of land abandonment in areas where agricultural activities and livestock pressure have decreased. In the lowlands of the basin the decrease in water yield has been exacerbated by increased water consumption for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses. Climate projections for the end of the 21st century suggest a reduced capacity for runoff generation because of increasing temperature and less precipitation. Thus, the maintenance of water supply under conditions of increasing demand presents a challenging issue requiring appropriate coordination amongst politicians and managers.
Teacher Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices Decision Making.

The reasons teachers give for their assessment and grading practices and the factors that influence these practices were studied. Of 200 elementary and secondary mathematics and English teachers who volunteered to participate, researchers selected 60 teachers as representing maximum variation and then interviewed 24. Interview transcripts were coded for analysis. The data analysis resulted in a tentative model that explains how and why teachers decide to use specific assessment and grading practices. Six themes were identified in the model: (1) teacher beliefs and values; (2) classroom realities; (3) external factors; (4) teacher decision making rationale; (5) assessment practices; and (6) grading practices. The main tenet of the model holds that there was tension between teachers' internal beliefs and values and the realities of the classroom and other external factors imposed on them. The most salient internal factor was the teacher's philosophy of teaching and learning. The major external factors were identified as mandated statewide learning factors and high stakes tests, district grading polices, and parents. Results show that teachers are constantly striving to reach a reasonable balance between their beliefs about education and learning and the realities of the classroom environment and external context. Contains 14 references. ) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUC IONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Ailed t tk ea I TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Teacher Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices Decision Making James H. McMillan Suzanne Nash Virginia Commonwealth University Paper presented at the 2000 NCME Annual Meeting, April 27, New Orleans. Funds to support this research were provided by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, Virginia Commonwealth University. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Tourism governance in OECD countries

Effective governance practices must reflect the changing business and policy environment, and the evolving roles and competencies of government tourism organisations. Developments in the macropolicy environment favour a more collaborative approach, encouraging policy development in conjunction with the tourism industry, as well as an emphasis on regional or local level decision-making. Developing a multi-actor system that includes public-private partnerships and greater horizontal and vertical co-ordination of relevant government bodies requires consideration of the accepted elements of good governance, both at the central and sub-national levels. Governance can also be improved through both institutional and human capacity building, ensuring institutions have well-defined objectives and clear mandates, and effective leadership and political support. Mechanisms to improve co-ordination between central and sub-national governments include development of tourism strategies, use of contracts and creation of joint committees. At an industry level, governments are encouraging the development of a single peak tourism industry association to facilitate more co-ordinated industry representation. Mechanisms to manage the interface with industry include the establishment of representative associations and Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) that provide a forum for co-operation and policy debate.
Recognising Walkers Using Moving Light

In this paper, we present an algorithm to recognise walking people using moving light displays (MLDs). The algorithm adopted is based upon extracting the spatio-temporal trajectories of diierent joints of a subject. Features are then extracted using 2-dimensional fast Fourier transform and fed into a backpropagation neural network for classiication.
An introduction to mesh quality

The issue of mesh quality for unstructured triangular and tetrahedral meshes is considered. The theoretical background to finite element methods is used to understand the basis of present-day geometrical mesh quality indicators. Simple tetrahedral mesh quality measures using both geometrical and solution information are described. Some of the issues in mesh quality for unstructured tetrahedral meshes are illustrated by means of simple examples. These examples illustrate that the use of geometrical mesh quality measures alone may give misleading information and that mesh quality for problems modelling complex flows depends on the numerical error, the norm used to measure the error and the relationship between these quantities and the shape of the elements.
Cell assembly patterns of embryonic mouse cerebellar cells on carbohydrate-derivatized polylysine culture substrata

Four carbohydrate derivatives of poly-D-lysine have been synthesized and assayed as substrates for the tissue culture of embryonic mouse cerebellar cells. On poly-beta-(D-glucopyranosyl)-poly-D-lysine and on poly-beta-(N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl)-poly-D-lysine, dissociated cerebellar cells formed a monolayer. On poly-beta-(D-galactopyranosyl)- poly-D-lysine, cellular aggregates were formed and cables of processes were extended between the aggregates. On poly-beta-(L-fucosyl)-poly-D- lysine, cerebellar cells failed to attach and died within 24 h. On poly- (N-acetyl)-poly-D-lysine, cell attachment was identical to that on poly- D-lysine. At low concentrations of underivatized poly-D-lysine (0.5-2.0 microgram/ml) dissociated embryonic cerebellar cells formed cellular aggregates, whereas at higher concentrations of poly-D-lysine monolayering was extensive.
Robust methods for hand gesture spotting and recognition using Hidden Markov Models and Conditional Random Fields

This paper proposes an automatic method that handles hand gesture spotting and recognition simultaneously. To spot meaningful gestures of numbers (0–9) accurately, a stochastic method for designing a non-gesture model with Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) versus Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) is proposed without training data. The non-gesture model provides a confidence measure that is used as an adaptive threshold to find the start and the end point of meaningful gestures, which are embedded in the input video stream. To reduce the states number of the non-gesture model with HMMs, similar probability distributions states are merged based on relative entropy measure. Additionally, the weights of self-transition feature functions are increased for short gesture to further improve the accuracy of gesture spotting and recognition with CRFs. Experimental results show that; the proposed method can successfully spot and recognize meaningful gestures with 93.31% and 90.49% reliability for HMMs and CRFs respectively. In addition, the model inference by HMMs are faster and the saving time is 66.42% using relative entropy. The reliability of CRFs method is improved from 86.12% to 90.49% using short gesture detector.
Geographic Differences in Genetic Susceptibility to IgA Nephropathy: GWAS Replication Study and Geospatial Risk Analysis

IgA nephropathy (IgAN), major cause of kidney failure worldwide, is common in Asians, moderately prevalent in Europeans, and rare in Africans. It is not known if these differences represent variation in genes, environment, or ascertainment. In a recent GWAS, we localized five IgAN susceptibility loci on Chr.6p21 (HLA-DQB1/DRB1, PSMB9/TAP1, and DPA1/DPB2 loci), Chr.1q32 (CFHR3/R1 locus), and Chr.22q12 (HORMAD2 locus). These IgAN loci are associated with risk of other immune-mediated disorders such as type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or inflammatory bowel disease. We tested association of these loci in eight new independent cohorts of Asian, European, and African-American ancestry (N = 4,789), followed by meta-analysis with risk-score modeling in 12 cohorts (N = 10,755) and geospatial analysis in 85 world populations. Four susceptibility loci robustly replicated and all five loci were genome-wide significant in the combined cohort (P = 5×10−32–3×10−10), with heterogeneity detected only at the PSMB9/TAP1 locus (I2 = 0.60). Conditional analyses identified two new independent risk alleles within the HLA-DQB1/DRB1 locus, defining multiple risk and protective haplotypes within this interval. We also detected a significant genetic interaction, whereby the odds ratio for the HORMAD2 protective allele was reversed in homozygotes for a CFHR3/R1 deletion (P = 2.5×10−4). A seven–SNP genetic risk score, which explained 4.7% of overall IgAN risk, increased sharply with Eastward and Northward distance from Africa (r = 0.30, P = 3×10−128). This model paralleled the known East–West gradient in disease risk. Moreover, the prediction of a South–North axis was confirmed by registry data showing that the prevalence of IgAN–attributable kidney failure is increased in Northern Europe, similar to multiple sclerosis and type I diabetes. Variation at IgAN susceptibility loci correlates with differences in disease prevalence among world populations. These findings inform genetic, biological, and epidemiological investigations of IgAN and permit cross-comparison with other complex traits that share genetic risk loci and geographic patterns with IgAN.
Progress toward optimal nonblocking multipoint virtual circuit switching networks

Over the last several years a variety of multipoint virtual circuit switching systems have been proposed for use in Asynchronous Transfer Mode ATM networks The inherent exibility of ATM networking and the desire to apply this technology to a wide range of di erent applications makes it impractical to rely on statistical tra c models when engineering a system This motivates a renewed interest in networks which are nonblocking with respect to requests to create or modify multipoint virtual circuits While the various multipoint switching system architectures can all be con gured to achieve nonblocking operation for most the cost of the nonblocking con guration quickly becomes prohibitive We examine the complexity characteristics of a variety of mul tipoint switch architectures taking into account the switching network the memory required for routing multipoint virtual circuits and the e ort required to create or modify a virtual circuit In particular we show that a very simple architecture based on the concept of cell recycling can be con gured to be nonblocking with optimal complexity in all three dimensions This architecture exempli es a class of networks which we refer to as reroutably nonblocking
Contribution of the myosin VI tail domain to processive stepping and intramolecular tension sensing

Myosin VI is proposed to act as both a molecular transporter and as an anchor in vivo. A portion of the molecule C-terminal to the canonical lever arm, termed the medial tail (MT), has been proposed to act as either a lever arm extension or as a dimerization motif. We describe constructs in which the MT is interrupted by a glycine-rich molecular swivel. Disruption of the MT results in decreased processive run lengths measured using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy and a decreased step size under applied load as measured in an optical trap. We used single-molecule gold nanoparticle tracking and optical trapping to examine the mechanism of coordination between the heads of dimeric myosin VI. We detect two rate-limiting kinetic processes at low (< 200 micromolar) ATP concentrations. Our data can be explained by a model in which intramolecular tension greatly increases the affinity of the lead head for ADP, likely by slowing ADP release from the lead head. This mechanism likely increases both the motor’s processivity and its ability to act as an anchor under physiological conditions.
A hybrid network for maritime on-board communications

Current maritime on-board communications have to be enhanced for safety and security, where ubiquitous technologies can help, together with providing comfort and convenience to the crew and passengers. Employing wireless sensor networks on board is one recent practice of implementing ubiquitous technology for ships, where further study is needed because of the connectivity challenges. Meanwhile, it is important for an on-board communication system to be reliable and flexible for handling emergency situations. In this paper, we propose a solution of employing ubiquitous technology on ships in a way that both connectivity and emergency handling are examined. Two key aspects of this proposal are: 1) combine different on-board communication networks into a hybrid system, enabling the cooperation between them, 2) smoothly integrate these networks with a consideration of backward compatibility, ease of deployment and connection to shore via Internet. Simulations are used to support our choice between the separate networks and a hybrid one from comparing mainly the communication performance, and a combined integration approach is selected based on comprehensive analysis.
Approximation Algorithms for Mobile Data Caching in Small Cell Networks

Small cells constitute a promising solution for managing the mobile data growth that has overwhelmed network operators. Local caching of popular content items at the small cell base stations (SBSs) has been proposed to decrease the costly transmissions from the macrocell base stations without requiring high capacity backhaul links for connecting the SBSs with the core network. However, the caching policy design is a challenging problem especially if one considers realistic parameters such as the bandwidth capacity constraints of the SBSs that can be reached in congested urban areas. We consider such a scenario and formulate the joint routing and caching problem aiming to maximize the fraction of content requests served locally by the deployed SBSs. This is an NP-hard problem and, hence, we cannot obtain an optimal solution. Thus, we present a novel reduction to a variant of the facility location problem, which allows us to exploit the rich literature of it, to establish algorithms with approximation guarantees for our problem. Although the reduction does not ensure tight enough bounds in general, extensive numerical results reveal a near-optimal performance that is even up to 38% better compared to conventional caching schemes using realistic system settings.
Vertical Corner Feature Based Precise Vehicle Localization Using 3D LIDAR in Urban Area

Tall buildings are concentrated in urban areas. The outer walls of buildings are vertically erected to the ground and almost flat. Therefore, the vertical corners that meet the vertical planes are present everywhere in urban areas. These corners act as convenient landmarks, which can be extracted by using the light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor. A vertical corner feature based precise vehicle localization method is proposed in this paper and implemented using 3D LIDAR (Velodyne HDL-32E). The vehicle motion is predicted by accumulating the pose increment output from the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm based on the geometric relations between the scan data of the 3D LIDAR. The vertical corner is extracted using the proposed corner extraction method. The vehicle position is then corrected by matching the prebuilt corner map with the extracted corner. The experiment was carried out in the Gangnam area of Seoul, South Korea. In the experimental results, the maximum horizontal position error is about 0.46 m and the 2D Root Mean Square (RMS) horizontal error is about 0.138 m.
On the premises and prospects of timing speculation

Timing speculation (TS), being able to detect and correct circuit timing errors at runtime, is a promising alternative solution to mitigate the ever-increasing variation effects in nanometer circuits. The potential energy-efficiency improvement, however, is limited by the circuit “timing wall”, a critical operating point caused by conventional circuit optimization techniques (e.g., gate sizing). With a given circuit netlist, we study the bound of the potential benefits provided by TS techniques in this work, which facilitate designers to decide whether it worths the effort to implement a timing-speculative circuit. Experimental results on benchmark circuits demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
A strategy-proof test of portfolio returns

Traditional methods for analyzing portfolio returns often rely on multifactor risk assessment, and tests of significance are typically based on variants of the t-test. This approach has serious limitations when analyzing the returns from dynamically traded portfolios that include derivative positions, because standard tests of significance can be 'gamed' using options trading strategies. To deal with this problem we propose a test that assumes nothing about the structure of returns except that they form a martingale difference. Although the test is conservative and corrects for unrealized tail risk, the loss in power is small at high levels of significance.
Fragile blockwise image authentication thwarting vector quantization attack

In this paper, the development of effective blockwise image authentication techniques, thwarting vector quantization attacks, is addressed. We present a critical attack localization uncertainty problem with the recent hierarchical watermarking algorithm. Addressing it and shortcomings of other existing techniques, we propose the use of a randomly-variable block size and a chain with multiple links for embedding several signature copies per block in arbitrarily distant blocks. These proposed schemes devise a novel fragile blockwise image authentication algorithm with improved security and attack localization.
Robust optimal control of linear discrete-time systems using primal-dual interior-point methods

This paper describes how to efficiently solve a robust optimal control problem using recently developed primal-dual interior-point methods. Among potential applications are model predictive control. The optimization problem considered consists of a worst case quadratic performance criterion over a finite set of linear discrete-time models subject to inequality constraints on the states and control signals. The scheme has been prototyped in Matlab. To give a rough idea of the efficiency obtained, it is possible to solve problems with more than 1000 variables and 5000 constraints in a few minutes on a workstation.
Mining Context-Aware User Requirements from Crowd Contributed Mobile Data

Internetware is required to respond quickly to emergent user requirements or requirements changes by providing application upgrade or making context-aware recommendations. As user requirements in Internet computing environment are often changing fast and new requirements emerge more and more in a creative way, traditional requirements engineering approaches based on requirements elicitation and analysis cannot ensure the quick response of Internetware. In this paper, we propose an approach for mining context-aware user requirements from crowd contributed mobile data. The approach captures behavior records contributed by a crowd of mobile users and automatically mines context-aware user behavior patterns (i.e., when, where and under what conditions users require a specific service) from them using Apriori-M algorithm. Based on the mined user behaviors, emergent requirements or requirements changes can be inferred from the mined user behavior patterns and solutions that satisfy the requirements can be recommended to users. To evaluate the proposed approach, we conduct an experimental study and show the effectiveness of the requirements mining approach.
Palmprint image enhancement using phase congruency

This paper proposes the use of the phase congruency to enhance the palmprint image used for palmprint identification. By using phase congruency, the palmprint lines which act like the edges in the palmprint image are detected. The resulting phase image is shown as the enhanced palmprint image. Comparing with the previous palmprint enhancement method that uses the phase symmetry proposed by Kovesi et al. (1997), the proposed method is significantly less sensitive to the textures which are not the palmprint lines in the palmprint image.
AIS Electronic

Do countries with higher IT spending have higher life expectancy? Recent policy debate on healthcare in the United States has focused on the role of IT in reducing costs and improving healthcare access and quality. An implicit assumption in this debate has been that greater infusion of IT into healthcare will lead to better health outcomes. We investigate the validity of this assumption by examining the extent to which higher IT expenditures at the country level are associated with higher life expectancy, a key measure of healthcare outcomes. Drawing on the information systems and supply chain management literature, we theorize three mechanisms to explain why IT may be associated with healthcare outcomes at the country level: information integration, workflow coordination, and collaborative planning. We then conduct an empirical analysis relating IT investments with life expectancy and find that higher IT investments at the country level are positively associated with higher life expectancy. We discuss implications of the findings for further research and policy