Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating generative adversarial networks based image-level domain transfer for multi-source remote sensing image segmentation and object detection

ABSTRACT Appearances and qualities of remote sensing images are affected by different atmospheric conditions, quality of sensors, and radiometric calibrations. This heavily challenges the generalization ability of a deep learning or other machine learning model: the performance of a model pretrained on a source remote sensing data set can significantly decrease when applied to a different target data set. The popular generative adversarial networks (GANs) can realize style or appearance transfer between a source and target data sets, which may boost the performance of a deep learning model through generating new target images similar to source samples. In this study, we comprehensively evaluate the performance of GAN-based image-level transfer methods on convolutional neural network (CNN) based image processing models that are trained on one dataset and tested on another one. Firstly, we designed the framework for the evaluation process. The framework consists of two main parts, the GAN-based image-level domain adaptation, which transfers a target image to a new image with similar probability distribution of source image space, and the CNN-based image processing tasks, which are used to test the effects of GAN-based domain adaptation. Second, the domain adaptation is implemented with two mainstream GAN methods for style transfer, the CycleGAN and the AgGAN. The image processing contains two major tasks, segmentation and object detection. The former and the latter are designed based on the widely applied U-Net and Faster R-CNN, respectively. Finally, three experiments, associated with three datasets, are designed to cover different application cases, a change detection case where temporal data is collected from the same scene, a two-city case where images are collected from different regions and a two-sensor case where images are obtained from aerial and satellite platforms respectively. Results revealed that, the GAN-based image transfer can significantly boost the performance of the segmentation model in the change detection case, however, it did not surpass conventional methods; in the other two cases, the GAN-based methods obtained worse results. In object detection, almost all the methods failed to boost the performance of the Faster R-CNN and the GAN-based methods performed the worst.
Emotional Brand Attachment and Attitude toward Brand Extension

Abstract This study aims to investigate how emotional brand attachment contributes to attitude toward brand extension. Data were collected from 1236 users of Apple and Samsung Smartphones using structured questionnaire and analyzed by structural equation modeling using AMOS. First, emotional brand attachment significantly affects attitudinal loyalty, commitment, and customer satisfaction. These attitudes, in turn, have positive effects on attitude toward brand extension of which the impact of customer satisfaction on attitude toward the brand extension is noticeable. These effects, however, are different across different groups of customers (i.e. gender, marital status, and education).
Deriving topic-related and interaction features to predict top attractive reviews for a specific business entity

ABSTRACT As large volumes of online reviews are being generated, both online businesses and customers are confronted with big data challenges. Previous studies have developed various methods to predict the helpfulness of online reviews. These methods have disregarded the aspects of the business entities when dealing with datasets for prediction and evaluation and have not considered interactions between a review and the target business entity. In this paper, we propose a novel method to predict the top attractive reviews for a specific business entity. We also propose topic-related features to characterise the topics in a review and interaction features to reflect relationships between a review and the business entity it covers. Our empirical evaluation shows the utility of our proposed method and features.
Livelihood benefits and challenges of community reforestation in Timor Leste: implications for smallholder carbon forestry schemes

ABSTRACT This paper describes the emerging livelihood benefits and challenges of community reforestation in Timor-Leste and discusses implications for smallholder carbon forestry schemes. Social research was conducted in an upland area of central Timor Leste with farmers who have been planting trees since 2012 for soil stabilisation, timber, biodiversity enhancement and potential carbon income. A semi-structured survey of 40 tree planting households across six villages was conducted in 2017 to determine the perceived benefits and challenges of reforestation. Additional in-depth, qualitative interviews were conducted in 2018 with 5 village leaders, 8 project farmers and 10 non-project farmers to gain a deeper understanding of some of the issues raised in the survey. Farmers reported that the benefits of tree plantations were income from tree payments from an NGO; investment in children’s education; and improved biodiversity. The challenges to reforestation included livestock damage; lack of water; insects; weeds; and distance to the tree plantations. We conclude that community-based reforestation projects in Timor Leste have the potential to contribute to smallholders’ livelihoods through direct carbon payments and ecosystem services. However, household equity in terms of land ownership, labour, carbon income and social development need to be addressed.
Promoting Critical Consciousness in Undergraduate Social Work Classrooms

ABSTRACT Developing critical consciousness is key to social workers becoming competent practitioners, but due to its multifaceted nature, finding a single classroom strategy to effectively engage all students in this process is challenging. Problem-posing education is a method that encourages students to examine the sociopolitical, historical, and cultural causes of problems in their lives. It promotes critical questioning of the status quo, which stimulates the process of critical consciousness development. The author argues here that social work educators can maximize the engagement of undergraduate students in this complex process by utilizing Pitner & Sakamoto’s Critical Consciousness Conceptual Model to guide the implementation of problem-posing education.
Service Professionals and Managerial Control: Institutional, Employment, and Personal Segmentations

Abstract For service professionals, work is a central life interest, raising questions about the effectiveness of managerial controls. We examine reactions of professionals (676 physicians) to imposed managerial controls in the form of a time clock. The main contribution of this study is its demonstration that segmenting professionals can help unravel reactions to management controls. All professionals are sensitive to external control measures that threaten their organizational status, but the institutional working context (far more than individual-level employment arrangements or demographics) determines the extent of these reactions.
Using Interactive Learning Spaces for Global Diplomacy: Social Justice Collaboration between US and International Students

ABSTRACT Students from six countries collaborated on projects promoting social justice and aimed at international diplomacy. The collaboration included social work students in policy courses and international students in English courses. Students explored topics such as human trafficking and poverty. Students identified global strategies for addressing these social inequalities through Sen’s (2009) and Estes’ (2009) models of social justice. Additionally, faculty members used inquiry- and team-based learning to engage students in this educational process and their exploration of global social justice. The collaboration was possible because of learner engagement tools available in an Interactive Learning Space. This paper will outline the lessons learned from faculty members and students who participated in this international collaboration, as well as the impact of this collaboration on course outcomes.
Monitoring the financial evolution of Portuguese regional health administrations during adjustment that followed the European sovereign debt crisis

ABSTRACT This work aims analysing the performance of Portuguese health regional administrations by monitoring three financial variables during the adjustment that followed the European sovereign debt crisis based on analysis of variance ANOVA and multivariate cluster, HCA and discriminant, LDA analyses. The variables incomes and expenses show stable trends over the period with ANOVA results pointing to separation in four groups at the 5% significance level. A different picture is drawn from the variable of matured debt to suppliers that decreases continuously in the three different groups identified in the ANOVA and subsequently confirmed by HCA and LDA. Clear distinction between the health regions was attained through LDA with proposal of a new frame among health regional administrations with those of Algarve and Alentejo becoming aggregated. The high matured debt to suppliers in the region of Lisboa points to inefficient performance and future adjustment is suggested by subdivision in two regions with independent management and transferability of good practices namely those observed in the North region. Globally, stable levels of incomes and expenses are observed, pointing to maintenance or healthcare coverage to the Portuguese population under the severe recession context. Despite the effort to decrease matured debt to suppliers during the adjustment there is a recently threatening increasing tendency observed under the left socialist coalition government that should be closely assessed to avoid return to deranged management.
Colour blindness adversely impacts face recognition

ABSTRACT Whether colour information contributes to the process of face recognition remains controversial. We examine this question here by evaluating the face recognition performance of individuals who are colour blind. Specifically, we compared the performance profile of colour blind and matched control individuals on a colour face recognition task where shape information was progressively degraded. The colour blind participants performed significantly more poorly than controls on this task, as revealed through multiple dependent measures. There was, however, no difference between these two groups on a standardized grayscale control task of face recognition, ruling out a generic face recognition deficit. These results both uncover a face recognition deficit in colour blind individuals and provide evidence for the contribution of colour to everyday facial recognition.
The yield and survival of lucerne lines in the upper south-east of South Austrialia

Thirty lines of lucerne from regions with Mediterranean and temperate climates were grown on a degp and infertile sandy soil in the Upper South East of South Australia. One trial (A) was cut at the frequency usually recommended for lucerne, and the other (B) was cut twice as often. Both trials were sown in spring 1965 in drills 35 cm apart, and were maintained as pure lucerne stands. The yield of dry matter of the tops was measured in Trial A between November 1966 and November 1969, and in trial B for one year from November 1966. The row cover attained by the plants was measured in each year. In trial A, yields rose to maximum values in spring and declined during the summer months to minimal values in autumn. At most harvests there mere significant differences between lines. Mediterranean lines gave good yields in the early phase of the trial, and were the most productive lines through each late summer to winter period. Lines from cool temperate regions, e.g. Rhizoma, gave low initial yields and low winter yields, but gave largest yields in spring 1968. Two Portuguese lines consistently gave high yields : they were the only lines to produce significantly more total dry matter than Hunter River over three years. All lines adequately survived a very dry year (1967), and most plant losses occurred in the final year of the trial. In 1969, six Mediterranean lines showed poor survival, each had less than 50 per cent row cover. Dry matter yields were smaller in trial B. Lines from cool temperate regions maintained 80 per cent row cover throughout and gave the largest yields. Three Mediterranean lines were eliminated after two years of frequent cutting, and the row cover of five other lines was reduced to less than 50 per cent.
Accessibility Nuts and Bolts: A Case Study of How a Health Sciences Library Boosted Its LibGuide Accessibility Score from 60% to 96%

Abstract Dahlgren Memorial Library (DML) is the graduate health and life sciences library at Georgetown University Medical Center and serves a number of different patron populations. The library, 99% electronic, boasts a robust resources collection, which includes a subscription to LibGuides. Provided by Springshare, LibGuides can be used to create finding aids for subscribed resources. In order to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) policies DML began analyzing the accessibility of its LibGuides instance. To prepare, DML did standardization work, mitigating many accessibility issues. After, DML was able to focus on actual accessibility problems and improve its score. With the most urgent accessibility issues resolved, DML is now focused on developing guidelines for LibGuide authors to ensure that in the future, the guides remain accessible for most users.
Reconfigurable supply chain: the X-network

Research on supply chain (SC) digitalization, resilience, sustainability and leagility has remarkably progressed, most of it focused on the individual contributions of these four major frameworks. However, a lack of integration spanning these individual frameworks can be observed. In this conceptual paper, we hypothesize that reconfigurability can be considered such an integral perspective that consolidates the research in SC adaptation to ever changing environments. We theorize a new notion – a Reconfigurable SC or the X-network – that exhibits some crucial design and control characteristics for complex value-adding systems in highly vulnerable environments. We support our argumentation and conceptual viewpoints by a literature analysis along with tertiary studies to review and structure contextual factors of designing the X-networks. We propose respective frameworks and discuss the implementation principles and technologies at the macro and micro levels. Two novel concepts – dynamic SC meta-structures and dynamic autonomous services – are introduced. Distinctively, we go beyond the existing knowledge to predict proactively the future directions in the reconfigurable SCs. Our results can be of value for decision-makers to decipher chances and barriers in contemporary SC transformations.
Selection of biological control agents for bridal creeper: a retrospective review

We reviewed in retrospect the selection process of agents for the biological control of bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides) in Australia. Selection of agents was facilitated by first investing resources, mostly in South Africa, to clarify identification of the target weed, locate most suitable areas to search for natural enemies, make preliminary observations on phenology, host range and impact of natural enemies and experimentally demonstrate indirect impact of a foliage feeder on below-ground biomass of bridal creeper. Although only limited climate modelling was performed to predict abundance of prioritised agents in Australia, their widespread distribution in South Africa was a good indication that they were likely to establish. No attempts were made to predict possible levels of parasitism that could be encountered in Australia and no formal assessment was undertaken to decide in what order prioritised agents should be released. Three of the four agents prioritised have now been released in Australia. The rust fungus Puccinia myrsiphylli (Thum.) G. Winter and leafhopper Zygina sp. have widely established and have already demonstrated their capacity to reduce significantly density of bridal creeper populations. It is still too early to determine the contribution that the third agent released, the Crioceris sp. leaf beetle, will make to the program.
Brand Desire: Scale Development and Empirical Examination

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present research is to recommend & empirically validate the scale for brand desire and to understand its role in shaping purchase intention in a developing Asian country. A three-item scale for brand desire was validated through the utilization of focus group technique, exploratory factor analysis, and Lawse content validity ratio. Additionally, Brand “love-desire” framework is also proposed and empirically tested along with the testing of a possible alternative model which could emerge from the existing constructs.
From dynamics to stabilisation: Albert Ando and Franco Modigliani’s contributions to the theory of economic growth and fluctuations (1959–1970)1

Abstract Since the late 1950s Albert Ando and Franco Modigliani were engaged with the study of economic growth and fluctuations with the aim of providing microfoundations to a model capable of analysing growth and fluctuations jointly. It is argued that this research line continued through the 1960s and early 1970s with the construction of the Federal Reserve Board, MIT and University of Pennsylvania macroeconometric model. However, while in Ando and Modigliani’s earlier model dynamics and stability were conceived in terms of movements around a steady state equilibrium, with econometric models devoted to policy simulations and forecasting, the system’s stability or instability was identified with the time length of the adjustment process.
A note on the method of calculating digestibility coefficients of nutrients provided by single ingredients to feeds of aquatic animals

A commonly used equation for the calculation of the apparent digestibility coefficients of feedstuffs for fish and crustaceans is shown to be incorrect. The correct (but rarely used) equation is presented and contrasted with the previous equation. Data from a previously published trial is used to illustrate the differences between these equations. In many cases, the values obtained using the two equations is very similar. Larger differences are found, however, when the level and digestibility of the nutrient in the test ingredient are greatly different from those in the reference diet.
Effects of hydrological variation and planktivorous competition on macroinvertebrate community structure in experimental billabongs.

1. To study two factors which are predicted as causing changes to community structure in cut-off meanders (colloquially known in Australia as billabongs, a term of aboriginal origin), 16 experimental billabongs were constructed. These were designed to test two hypotheses: (a) that the structure of macrophyte and invertebrate communities within billabongs is altered by changing the pattern of flooding; and (b) that the presence of small planktivorous fish alters invertebrate community structure and diversity within billabongs. 2. An increase in the duration of flooding seems to favour animals better adapted to a greater availability of macrophyte habitat. Changing the seasonality of flooding resulted in prolonging of the time water was available over the summer months. 3. The presence of a planktivorous fish appears to affect macroinvertebrate communities through competition with other planktivores. Variable top-down pressure may create differing successional patterns and ultimately different communities at lower trophic levels.
Assessment of Stream Restoration: Sources of Variation in Macroinvertebrate Recovery throughout an 11‐Year Study of Coal Mine Drainage Treatment

Stream restoration researchers have a complex array of alternative assessment methodologies using macroinvertebrates. We examined sources of variation among three field sampling methods and five metrics in three networked streams impacted by a circumneutral coal mine discharge treated midway through an 11‐year study. Constructed wetlands captured the primary stressor, 700 kg iron/day. Before pollution abatement, copious iron hydroxide smothered downstream sites for decades. Two second‐order streams and one fourth‐order receiving stream, each with matching locations upstream and downstream, were monitored midsummer from 1994 to 2004. We compared taxa density (TD) (number/sample), abundance, expected taxa richness (ETR), U.S. regional pollution tolerance values (RTV), and community similarity (CS) indices from 3 to 11 replicate samples/site using grab samples (i.e. D‐nets, rock washes) and incubated leaf packs. Variation due to sampling method, metric, location, and year significantly influenced outcomes when analyzed using regression and analysis of variance. TD, RTV, and CS indicated biological recovery lagged 6 years behind chemical improvement; ETR and abundance showed more severe, persistent impairment in the two, highly impacted second‐order streams compared to the fourth‐order stream. Incubated leaf packs offered a preview of stream recovery in downstream sites, providing clean food (leaves) and substrate (mesh) and attracted more taxa and abundance than grab samples. In light of the worldwide distribution of coal mining often accompanied by metal hydroxide deposits into streams, we suggest restoration project managers use a variety of sampling methods, metrics, and models to evaluate remediation of physical as well as chemical impairment from mining.
Joint Learning of Degradation Assessment and RUL Prediction for Aeroengines via Dual-Task Deep LSTM Networks

Health assessment and prognostics are two key tasks within the prognostics and health management frame of equipment. However, existing works are performing these two tasks separately and hierarchically. In this paper, we design and establish dual-task deep long short-term memory networks for joint learning of degradation assessment and remaining useful life prediction of aeroengines. This enables a more robust and accurate assessment and prediction results making for the increment of operational reliability and safety as well as maintenance cost reduction. Meanwhile, the target label functions that match the network training are constructed in an adaptive way according to the health state of an individual aeroengine. Experiments on the popular C-MAPSS lifetime dataset of aeroengines are employed to verify the accuracy and effectiveness. The performance of our proposed work exhibits superiority over other state-of-the-art approaches and demonstrate its application potential.
Multimodal writing: the avant-garde assemblage and other minimal texts

ABSTRACT Taking multilingual, minimal urban texts as objects of its analysis, this paper suggests that language(s) (writing) need(s) to be examined as part of multimodal ensembles (Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold). I examine and draw parallels between greeting cards, advertisements, corporate signage and developments in twentieth century avant-garde art, when artists incorporated language (writing) into their assemblages. The data is then linked to the framework of metrolingualism (Otsuji, E., & Pennycook, A. (2010). Metrolingualism: Fixity, fluidity and language in flux. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7(3), 240–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710903414331).