Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vegetation burning in the year 2000: Global burned area estimates from SPOT VEGETATION data

[1] The scientific community interested in atmospheric chemistry, gas emissions from vegetation fires, and carbon cycling is currently demanding information on the extent and timing of biomass burning at the global scale. In fact, the area and type of vegetation that is burned on a monthly or annual basis are two of the parameters that provide the greatest uncertainty in the calculation of gas and aerosol emissions and burned biomass. To address this need, an inventory of burned areas at monthly time periods for the year 2000 at a resolution of 1 km2 has been produced using satellite data and has been made freely available to the scientific community. In this paper, estimates of burned area and number of burn scars for four broad vegetation classes and reported at the country level for the year 2000 are presented using data taken from the inventory. Over 3.5 million km2 of burned areas were detected in the year 2000, of which approximately 80% occurred in areas described as woodlands and shrublands. Approximately 17% of the burned area occurred in grasslands and croplands, the remaining 3% occurred in forests. Almost 600,000 separate burn scars were detected. Descriptions of vegetation burning activity are given for ten regions. Finally, monthly burned area estimates are presented for the Central African Republic to illustrate the usefulness of these data for understanding, monitoring and managing vegetation burning activities.
Distributed Interpolatory Algorithms for Set Membership Estimation

This paper addresses the distributed estimation problem in a set membership framework. The agents of a network collect measurements which are affected by bounded errors, thus implying that the unknown parameters to be estimated belong to a suitable feasible set. Two distributed algorithms are considered, based on projections of the estimate of each agent onto its local feasible set. The main contribution of the paper is to show that such algorithms are asymptotic interpolatory estimators, i.e., they converge to an element of the global feasible set, under the assumption that the feasible set associated to each measurement is convex. The proposed techniques are demonstrated on a distributed linear regression estimation problem.
A review of Instruments Created to Assess Affect in Mathematics

In this article, the author provides a discussion of instruments created to help researchers assess affect in mathematics. Published literature was the source of data for the review. The first conclusion is that individuals in educational psychology and mathematics education have helped affect instruments evolve from fairly rudimentary instruments to far more sophisticated instruments used in the assessment of affect in mathematics. As an example, many of the early instruments were used to assess only one component of affect. More recent instruments have been created to allow researchers to investigate multiple facets of affect simultaneously. The second conclusion is that additional needs exist for researchers and educators to accurately assess and fully realize the value of affect in mathematics.
The dangers and limitations of equality agendas as means for tackling old-age prejudice

ABSTRACT This paper presents a critique of both the concept of age equality and of the limited scope it offers as a means for challenging old-age prejudice. The equality constructs that feature in anti-ageism initiatives and in current discourses on intergenerational equity have proved susceptible to political and ideological manipulation, which has led to the illegitimate dissociation of ageism from older age and promoted damaging notions of age equivalence. The consequence has been that old-age prejudice has been de-prioritised, and older people have been de-legitimised socially and as a welfare constituency. The corrective is best sought outside the confines of age equality frameworks, although legal remedies may play a useful role if human dignity is incorporated as an equality criterion. This paper also assesses other approaches to tackling old-age prejudice that avoid the constraints of equality constructs and engage more firmly with its roots. The notion of the ‘third age’ with new social roles merits reconsideration as an affordable alternative to current policies of work obligation and pension retrenchment. Radical interventions in the labour market in favour of older people may also be needed. Age activism and advocacy will increasingly influence policy on prejudice and well-being in older age, but changed emphases are needed, as from defensive strategies and the ideologies of generational interdependence and solidarity, towards the promotion of organisational, financial and social autonomy in older age.
"Learning Arc": The process of resolving concerns through student-student discourse

In reformed classrooms that utilize student-student interactions, a student's concerns can often be resolved through student-student discourse with minimal to no direct input from the instructor. To gain insight into such interactions, we used video data from a Florida International University reformed introductory physics classroom. We micro-analyzed a segment in which the discourse between a group of students leads to the resolution of a concern. In this study, we identified a pattern of discourse which we are calling a "Learning Arc. " In this paper, we present the "Learning Arc" as a 3-stage process by which students use discourse as a means to achieve a consensus that resolves a concern.
Developing a Questionnaire and Evaluation Methods for a High School Rocket Program

Ibrahim H. Yeter is currently a PhD candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction program at the College of Education, and at the same time, he is pursuing his Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech University. He is highly interested in conducting research within the Engineering Education framework. Mr. Yeter plans to graduate in December 2016 with both degrees and is looking forward to securing a teaching position within a research university and continuing his in-depth research on Engineering Education.
AKARI view of star formation in NGC 1313

Context. In the southwest region of NGC 1313, patchy star-forming regions are found. In the neighborhood, is a giant supershell with a diameter of 3.2 kpc. However, the direct association between star-forming regions and the giant supershell is still unclear. Aims. We investigate the relation between the surface densities of the gas (Σgas) and star formation rate (ΣSFR) within the disk of NGC 1313 to obtain the spatial distribution of the star formation efficiency (SFE). Methods. NGC 1313 was observed with the Infrared Camera (IRC) and Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) onboard AKARI in ten bands at 3.2, 4.1, 7, 11, 15, 24, 65, 90, 140, and 160 μm. With these AKARI ten-band images, we spectrally decomposed the stellar and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) components in addition to the cold (∼20 K) and warm (∼60 K) dust emission components. The cold and warm dust components were converted into the gas mass and the SFR. Results. The SFE shows high values in the regions around the giant supershell, with the highest SFE in the galaxy in the southern spiral arm region. A similar trend can be seen in the spatial distribution of the PAH abundance relative to big grains. We find a powerlaw dependence of the star formation rate per unit area on the column density ΣSFR proportional to ΣN gas. From a region-by-region analysis, the power-law index N for the northern spiral arm is found to be N 2.0, which is observed on typical spiral arms, whereas those for the southern spiral arm and giant supershell regions have an index of N ∼ 1.6. Conclusions. The PAH abundance and the SFE show anomalously high values in regions around the giant supershell. The enhanced PAH abundance can be caused by shattering of big grains through slow shocks (40 km s−1). The power-law index N = 1.62 ± 0.06 obtained in the giant supershell region can be accounted for by the star formation scenario with collect-and-collapse in the expanding giant supershell. These pieces of evidence strongly indicate that the giant supershell has triggered the star formation and enhanced the SFE.
Frequency-Controlled Current-Fed Resonant Converter with No Input Ripple Current

This paper studies a frequency-controlled current-fed resonant circuit. The adopted direct current (DC)-to-DC converter contains two boost circuits and a resonant circuit on the primary side. First, two boost circuits are connected in parallel to achieve voltage step-up and reduce input ripple current by using interleaved pulse-width modulation. Therefore, the size and current rating of boost inductors are decreased in the proposed converter. Second, the boost voltage is connected to the resonant circuit to realize the mechanism of the zero-voltage switching of all active switches and zero-current switching of all diodes. Two boost circuits and a resonant circuit use the same power devices in order to lessen the switch counts. The voltage doubler topology is adopted on the secondary side (high-voltage side). Therefore, the voltage rating of diodes on the high-voltage side is clamped at output voltage. The feasibility of the studied circuit is confirmed by the experimental tests with a 1 kW prototype circuit.
Attitudes Towards Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Latin America

In this paper we analyze the factors that explain attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in 23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Analyses of IPVAW in LAC are relatively scarce although there is growing concern about this problem in the region. We aim to assess the effect of individual and country characteristics using data from common sources for all countries. This work contributes to the sparse literature dealing with methods that attempt to assess the effect of macro variables. We perform a two-step procedure. We first estimate a logit model at the individual level, we calculate a measure of relative approval of IPVAW at country level and we use this measure as a dependent variable to estimate the effect of macro variables. Our study finds that most LAC patterns at individual level are similar to the international ones: approval of IPVAW is higher among women, people in rural areas, people in a disadvantaged socio-economic situation and individuals with some particular cultural characteristics. Unlikely international evidence, attitudes do not differ between ages. Our findings at country level show that approval of IPVAW increases with poverty, fertility rate and equal gender outcomes. It decreases with internet access and, with a lesser degree of robustness, with the time elapsed since the enactment of women’s suffrage. The most novel contribution of our work is the study of the variables at country level.
FACTORS INFLUENCING IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLANS IN STATE CORPORATIONS IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA COCONUT DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, MOMBASA

This study sought to investigate the factors influencing implementation of strategic plans in state corporations in Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design. All 30 employees at KCDA participated in the study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. The researcher used both open ended and structured questionnaires. Quantitative data was analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science version 23.0 (SPSS). From the study findings, it was concluded that organizational culture, structure, strategic leadership, and financial resources affected implementation of strategic plans in state corporations. Culturally, poor internationalization of mission and strategic content, lack of participation in making of rules and regulations, lack of operational manuals, insensitive employee development policies, and highly structured downward communication effected employees’ mobilization to executing strategic plans. It was recommended that the incoming state corporation structures take note of cultural dynamics so that an absolutely new slate of practices is enacted. The internal culture that did not support ultimate realization of objectives should be avoided by first ensuring that all employees were well inducted into their roles and space in service delivery. Further, it was the recommendation of this study that experts were involved in regular reviews of adopted organizational structures. This was so the case to avoid monotony in job design and bureaucracies which barricaded goal realization. In addition to experts, the organizations should have had internal research and development units to constantly and consistently align their strategic outlooks to structural flexibility. On leadership, it was recommended that top managers undergo executive capacity building sessions to realize that their corporate objectives are easily attained through team work and not through strict supervision and instructions. Organization leadership should be converted from a barrier to an enabler by encouraging teamwork and winning support from all the staffers concerned. Key terms: organizational culture, corporate leadership, financial resources, strategic plans
Medical reverse engineering applications and methods

Understanding, controlling and manipulation of patient data as well as shape, geometry and structure of the biomedical objects are important for developing Biomedical Engineering (BME) applications. Medical Reverse Engineering (MRE) is aimed to use the Reverse Engineering (RE) technology to reconstruct 3D models of the anatomical structures and biomedical objects for design and manufacturing of medical products as well as BME research and development. This paper presents the state of the art applications and methods about MRE. Different concepts and methodologies are provided to understand fundamentally the MRE processes and workflow. The key MRE applications are presented, including personalised implants for bone reconstruction, dental implants and simulations, surgical tools, medical training, vision science and optometry, orthopedics, ergonomics, orthosis, prosthesis, and tissue engineering. The current challenges as well as the hardware and software for MRE application development and research are discussed.
Comparisons of Modeling Approaches for Evaluating the LongitudinalAssociation in a Clustered Healthcare Intervention Study

This paper addresses methodology issues related to evidence-based healthcare research, specifically when evaluating and analyzing the hospital practice environments (HPE) impacts on the patient health outcomes are conducted in longitudinal intervention survey studies. HPE include the spatially clustered hospital characteristics, including practice environment scale (PES) measures, hospital facilities, nursing staffing and nursing attributes. The longitudinal associations between HPE and patient smoking cessation counseling (SCC) activities, and patient heart failure (HF) outcomes are examined. Various longitudinal and hierarchical modeling are compared including linear mixed models with restricted maximum likelihood estimation, generalized estimating equations with quasi-likelihood estimation, hierarchical linear regression models with nonparametric generalized least squares estimations, and repeated ANOVA. Moreover, both pre-modeling including the items/dimension reduction issues for longitudinal item-response hospital survey data and post-modeling (the mediation analysis) are discussed and conducted. Results show some methodology and solution differences when including the spatial or temporal correlations of HPE simultaneously for examining the longitudinal effects of HPE on HF core outcome measures adjusted or potentially mediated by SCC and nurse staffing environmental variables. This may have implications and potential impact for healthcare decision-making. Patients can benefit from these research findings.
WIDEBAND OR MULTIBAND COMPLEX IMPEDANCE MATCHING USING MICROSTRIP NONUNIFORM TRANSMISSION LINES

A novel method is introduced to synthesize microstrip Nonuniform Transmission Lines (NTLs) for matching between two arbitrary complex frequency dependent impedances in a wideband or multi-band frequency range. First, stripwidth or the characteristic impedance function of the microstrip NTL is expanded in a truncated Fourier series. Then, the optimum values of the coefficients of the series are obtained through an optimization approach. The usefulness of the proposed method is verified using some examples.
When product development performance makes a difference: A statistical analysis in the electronics industry

Abstract Throughout the pages of JPIM and other publications, researchers and practitioners devote considerable effort to identifying the dimensions of new-product development (NPD) performance that relate most closely to business success. Although we may hope to unveil a set of universal truths about the relationship between NPD performance and business success, the relevant NPD performance measures appear to depend on the industry in which a firm competes. In fact, Christian Terwiesch, Christoph Loch, and Martin Niederkofler suggest that the overall relevance of NPD performance to business success depends on the firm's competitive market environment. In a study of 86 business units operating in 12 different electronics industries worldwide, they develop a market contingency framework for understanding the impact of NPD performance on a firm's profitability. Their study uses data from the “Excellence in Electronics” project, a joint research effort by Stanford University, the University of Augsburg, and McKinsey & Co. They describe market context in terms of three dimensions: market share, market growth, and external stability—that is, the average product life cycle duration in the market. Looking at all 86 business units in the study, they find that industry membership accounts for 23% of the variance in profits, with 18 percent of the variance determined by industry profitability and 5% by the three dimensions of market context. For the firms in the study, development performance has the most significant effect in slow-growth markets and in markets with long product life cycles. In these stable industries, low development intensity, product line freshness, and technical product performance increase profitability. The results indicate that NPD performance plays a much more important role for explaining the profitability of dominant firms than that of the low-market-share firms in the study. NPD performance explains 30% of the profitability variance among the high-market-share business units in the study, but none of the variance for the low-market-share business units. Although the profitability of the smaller firms in the study is driven primarily by the industry environment, these firms can compete on the basis of superior technical performance. The CEO of a worldwide leading car manufacturer, after being asked for his technical vision for the next decade: “Money, Money, and again Money. ”
Numerical validation of a κ-ω-κθ-ωθ heat transfer turbulence model for heavy liquid metals

The correct prediction of heat transfer in turbulent flows is relevant in almost all industrial applications but many of the heat transfer models available in literature are validated only for ordinary fluids with Pr ≃ 1. In commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics codes only turbulence models with a constant turbulent Prandtl number of 0.85 — 0.9 are usually implemented but in heavy liquid metals with low Prandtl numbers it is well known that these models fail to reproduce correlations based on experimental data. In these fluids heat transfer is mainly due to molecular diffusion and the time scales of temperature and velocity fields are rather different, so simple turbulence models based on similarity between temperature and velocity cannot reproduce experimental correlations. In order to reproduce experimental results and Direct Numerical Simulation data obtained for fluids with Pr ≃ 0.025 we introduce a κ-ε-κθ-εθ turbulence model. This model, however, shows some numerical instabilities mainly due to the strong coupling between κ and ε on the walls. In order to fix this problem we reformulate the model into a new four parameter κ-ω-κθ-ωθ where the dissipation rate on the wall is completely independent on the fluctuations. The model improves numerical stability and convergence. Numerical simulations in plane and channel geometries are reported and compared with experimental, Direct Numerical Simulation results and with results obtained with the κ-ε formulation, in order to show the model capabilities and validate the improved κ-ω model.
Gateways to Hawai‘i: Genetic Population Structure of the Tropical Sea Cucumber Holothuria atra

Holothuria atra is one of the most common and widest ranging tropical, coral reef sea cucumbers in the world, and here we examine population genetic structure based on mitochondrial COI to aid in determining the appropriate scale for coral reef management. Based on SAMOVA, AMOVA and BARRIER analyses, we show that despite its large range, H. atra has hierarchical, fine-scale population structure driven primarily by between-archipelago barriers, but with significant differences between sites within an archipelago as well. Migrate analyses along with haplotype networks and patterns of haplotype diversity suggest that Hawai‘i and Kingman reef are important centers of the genetic diversity in the region rather than an evolutionary dead-end for migrants from the Indo-Pacific. Finally we show that for H. atra Kingman Reef is the most likely stepping stone between Hawai‘i and the rest of the Pacific, not Japan or Johnston Atoll as previously presumed. Based on our data, Johnston Atoll can instead be seen as an outpost of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands rather than a gateway to the Hawaiian Archipelago.
Once Poor, Always Poor? Do Initial Conditions Matter? Evidence from the ECHP

The paper analyzes the effects of individual and household characteristics on current poverty status, while controlling for initial conditions, past poverty status and unobserved heterogeneity in 14 European Countries for the period 1994-2000, using the European Community Household Panel. The distinction between true state dependence and individual heterogeneity has very important policy implications, since if the former is the main cause of poverty it is of paramount importance to break the "vicious circle" of poverty using income-supporting social policies, whereas if it is the latter anti-poverty policies should focus primarily on education, training, development of personal skills and other labour market oriented policies. The empirical results are similar in qualitative but rather different in quantitative terms across EU countries. State dependence remains significant in all specifications, even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity or when removing possible endogeneity bias.
CHAPTER VI INTEGRATION OF INDIAN STOCK MARKETS WITH MAJOR WORLD STOCK MARKETS

Over the past few years, financial markets have become increasingly global. This process began with the relaxation of controls on capital movements in 1960's and was followed, especially during the past two decades by the formal relaxation of exchange controls. This has been further enhanced by the major advancements in technology and the development of financial techniques and hedging instruments that facilitate domestic and cross-border trading in marketable financial instruments. Financial integration in the context of India’s financial liberalization is important because the country has become a crucial player in the world economy with its phased liberalization and financial reform programme since 1990. However, only with an empirical analysis, we would be able to evaluate exactly the effect of these financial liberalization processes on integration of domestic stock market with global stock markets. Thus, this chapter mainly focused on the integration of the stock market of India with the developed countries stock markets, namely, US, UK, Australia, France, Germany and Japan, especially after the initiation of economic and financial reforms.