Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Four Examples of Ecosystem Management Areas in Germany and Sweden

The loss of biodiversity is recognised as a tremendous threat to ecosystems, but its maintenance is challenging. One important issue is seen as decisive for its success: the integration of sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity that means to reconcile protective measures with different kinds of use. This study investigated management areas that explicitly emphasise this issue: UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserves that shall contribute to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use and an initiative from the Swedish government called Regional Landscape Strategies that aims to find a balance between sustainable use and conservation on a landscape level. In three MAB Reserves in Germany and one Swedish county testing Regional Landscape Strategies semistructured interviews were conducted. They aimed to detect the values and factors steering the decisions of biodiversity management and conservation as well as to identify obstacles for sustainable use, conservation and their integration in general. The interviews reveal that the connected terms and concepts can be interpreted in different ways and this exacerbates the work. Furthermore, the study detects some issues that can facilitate the integration of sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in the respective areas and discussed their applicability on a larger scale. Examples are the establishment of a kind of forum involving local affected stakeholders and the creation of a connection point mediating the different sectors within the administration. These aspects could help to design the management of biodiversity more sustainable if they would be part of the mainstream management practises. Regarding the state of biodiversity that shall be achieved or maintained it can be mentioned that different factors and values steer the decisions; intrinsic values are underlying, but further issues seem crucial: practicability of the respective land use, aesthetic values, a high resilience of the system as well as the near-natural states. Bachelor’s Thesis 2007 Supervisor Franziska Solbrig Monica Hammer
The role of individual variation in variationist corpus-based studies of priming

This paper addresses the relationship between individual variation and priming effects in variationist corpus-based linguistic studies. Over the past decade, researchers have argued for the consideration of hierarchical relationships in sociolinguistic data (Johnson 2009) and corpus linguistic data (Gries 2015). While much of the emphasis on hierarchical relationships has pertained to macro-level predictors such as sociolinguistic social factors that are properties of the groupings in the data, speaker for example, than any one observation in particular, failure to account for this grouping relationship can affect the accuracy of estimates of micro-level predictors. Using a corpus of educated spoken Portuguese from Fortaleza, Brazil, this study investigates priming effects in the reduction of para ‘to, for, in order to’ to p(r)a. In particular, this study finds that many speakers in the sample show no positive evidence for priming and, furthermore, that the importance of the previous occurrence predictor is overstated due to the wide individual differences in the present data set* .
Universum-based multiview matrix learning machine 1

In real-world applications, most data sets consist of few labeled instances and many unlabeled instances. For those data sets, labeled ones can provide useful discriminant information for training a learning machines while unlabeled ones only provide less information. Thus most traditional learning machines have no ability to process this kind of data sets. In order to process the small-size-labeled problems, previous scholars develop Universum learning which can generate additional unlabeled instances with some discriminant information so as to enhance useful information for training a feasible learning machine. Moreover, many learning machines have been developed to process matrix instances including images, video, etc. These matrix learning machines have better classification performances compared with the original vector-instance-based learning machines including support vector machine when they process matrix instances. After that, some scholars develop learning machines to process both matrix instances and smallsize-labeled data sets, for example, double-fold localized multiple matrix learning machine with Universum (UDLMMLM). While those learning machines have no ability to process multi-view data sets whose instances consist of multiple views and each view represents information for instances from a field. Thus, in this manuscript, we adopt UDLMMLM as a basic learning machine and extend its model to multi-view case. The new learning machine is named as Universum-based multi-view matrix learning machine (UMMLM). Experiments on some different kinds of data sets validate the effectiveness of UMMLM.
ROS mediated DNA damage and induction of apoptosis in cervical cancer cells by Heliotropium indicum L

© 2018 Subhabrata Paul and Rita Kundu. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License -NonCommercialShareAlikeUnported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). *Corresponding Author Rita Kundu, Centre of Advanced Study, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700019, West Bengal, India. E-mail: kundu_rita @ yahoo.co.in ROS mediated DNA damage and induction of apoptosis in cervical cancer cells by Heliotropium indicum L.
Competing magnetic orders in the superconducting state of Nd-doped CeRhIn 5 under pressure

Applied pressure drives the heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CeRhIn5 towards a quantum critical point that becomes hidden by a dome of unconventional superconductivity. Magnetic fields suppress this superconducting dome, unveiling the quantum phase transition of local character. Here, we show that 5% magnetic substitution at the Ce site in CeRhIn5, either by Nd or Gd, induces a zero-field magnetic instability inside the superconducting state. This magnetic state not only should have a different ordering vector than the high-field local-moment magnetic state, but it also competes with the latter, suggesting that a spin-density-wave phase is stabilized in zero field by Nd and Gd impurities – similarly to the case of Ce0.95Nd0. 05CoIn5. Supported by model calculations, we attribute this spin-density wave instability to a magnetic-impurity driven condensation of the spin excitons that form inside the unconventional superconducting state.
A Pragmatic Approach to the Selection of Appropriate Index Formulae

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has commenced work on redeveloping the computer system used for processing price indexes. This has acted as a catalyst for a review of current procedures in an endeavour to identify avenues for: i. reducing the complexity of the processing system, and ii. minimising the ongoing cost of maintaining viable indexes. This paper outlines briefly some of the issues relevant to the calculation of micro-indexes that have been considered to date.
Exploring the Behavior Repertoire of a Wireless Vibrationally Actuated Tensegrity Robot

ZONGLIANG (JERRY) JI Exploring the Behavior Repertoire of a Wireless Vibrationally Actuated Tensegrity Robot. Department of Computer Science, March, 2019. ADVISOR: John Rieffel Soft robotics is an emerging field of research due to its potential to explore and operate in unstructured, rugged, and dynamic environments. However, the properties that make soft robots compelling also make them difficult to robustly control. Here at Union, we developed the world’s first wireless soft tensegrity robot. The goal of my thesis is to explore effective and efficient methods to explore the diverse behavior our tensegrity robot. We will achieve that by applying state-of-art machine learning technique and a novelty search algorithm.
Paper Series Number 279 Competitive foreclosure

We present a model where oligopolistic firms producing substitutes compete for inputs in a decentralized market. Input suppliers are capacity constrained (or produce under exclusivity). Compared to a price-taking input market, the incentive to foreclose downstream competitors not only leads to higher input prices, but it also results in a higher aggregate amount of input acquired. This novel feature mitigates the output reducing effect of downstream market power and may even restore effi ciency in the unique (input) market clearing equilibrium. Other equilibria where firms endogenously coordinate on which suppliers to target result in excess input supply (involuntary unemployment, if input is labor) and even higher input prices. Our insights generalize to alternative vertical structures. JEL Codes: D43, L11, L13.
Enhanced Mutual Authenticated Key Agreement Protocol for Anonymous Roaming Service in Global Mobility Networks

With the rapid development of mobile intelligent terminals, users can enjoy ubiquitous life in global mobility networks (GLOMONET). It is essential to secure user information for providing secure roaming service in GLOMONET. Recently, Xu et al. proposed a mutual authentication and key agreement (MAKA) protocol as the basic security building block. The purpose of this paper is not only to show some security problems in Xu et al.’s MAKA protocol and but also proposes an enhanced MAKA protocol as a remedy protocol for Xu et al.’s MAKA protocol. The proposed protocol ensures higher security compared to the well-known authentication and key agreement protocols but has a bit computational overhead than them due to the security enhancements.
SELECTION FOR OVULATION RATE IN RABBITS : OOCYTE CONCENTRATIONS OF GLUTATHIONE AND ATP

The present study was designed to determine the concentrations of glutathione (GSH)and ATP in rabbit oocytes in a line of rabbits selected for ovulation rate (line OR) for ten generations, its unselected control line and a line selected for ovulation rate and litter size (line OR_LS) for ten generations. The relationship of GSH and ATP concentrations with ovulation rate was studied. GSH and ATP concentrations were used to assess oocyte quality. Atotal of 50does of the line OR, 41 does of the control line and 45 does of the line OR_LS were used. Ovulation was inducedby an intramuscular injection of 1mg of buserelin acetate and animals were slaughtered 16 hours thereafter. Oocytes were collected by flushing the oviducts.GSH concentration was determined by HPLC, while ATP concentration was determined by bioluminiscency. Ovulation rate was classified into three levels: low (10-13 corpora haemorragica), medium (14-18corpora haemorragica) and high (19-24 corpora haemorragica). Oocyte glutathione concentration was significantly lower in oocytes from females with high (9.1±0.3 pmol) and medium (9.6±0.1 pmol) ovulation rates than in oocytes from females with low ovulation rates (10.2±0.3 pmol). No significant differences were found for ATP concentration. No differences in the concentrations of GSH and ATP between the line selected for ovulation rate and the control line were found, but the line OR_LS had a higher concentration of GSH (around 0.7 pmol/oocyte more). It seems that high ovulation rates could be associated with poorer oocyte quality in comparison with low ovulation rates.
Global sea-level budget 1993-present Group , WCRP Global Sea Level Budget

Global mean sea level is an integral of changes occurring in the climate system in response to unforced climate variability as well as natural and anthropogenic forcing factors. Its temporal evolution allows changes (e.g., acceleration) to be detected in one or more components. Study of the sea-level budget provides constraints on missing or poorly known contributions, such as the unsurveyed deep ocean or the still uncertain land water component. In the context of the World Climate Research Programme Grand Challenge entitled “Regional Sea Level and Coastal Impacts”, an international effort involving the sea-level community worldwide has been recently initiated with the objective of assessing the various datasets used to estimate components of the sea-level budget during the altimetry era (1993 to present). These datasets are based on the combination of a broad range of space-based and in situ observations, model estimates, and algorithms. Evaluating their quality, quantifying uncertainties and identifying sources of discrepancies between component estimates is extremely useful for various applications in climate research. This effort involves several tens of scientists from about 50 research teams/institutions worldwide (www.wcrp-climate.org/grand-challenges/gc-sea-level, last access: 22 August 2018). The results presented in this paper are a synthesis of the first assessment performed during 2017– 2018. We present estimates of the altimetry-based global mean sea level (average rate of 3.1± 0.3 mm yr−1 and acceleration of 0.1 mm yr−2 over 1993–present), as well as of the different components of the sea-level budget (http://doi.org/10.17882/54854, last access: 22 August 2018). We further examine closure of the sea-level budget, comparing the observed global mean sea level with the sum of components. Ocean thermal expansion, glaciers, Greenland and Antarctica contribute 42 %, 21 %, 15 % and 8 % to the global mean sea level over the 1993–present period. We also study the sea-level budget over 2005–present, using GRACE-based ocean mass estimates instead of the sum of individual mass components. Our results demonstrate that the global mean sea level can be closed to within 0.3 mm yr−1 (1σ ). Substantial uncertainty remains for the land water storage component, as shown when examining individual mass contributions to sea level.
Modeling , Simulation and Determination of the State of Tension and Deformation of the Driver ’ s Spine

The objective is to determine when musculoskeletal pain and/or diseases occur in drivers running the car on different routes which leads to deformations due to friction an wear of the intervertebral disc. Determination made by analyzing the tension and strain of the spine using musculoskeletal modeling and FEM simulation. After simulating the driving conditions we obtained results that exceed values compared with data from the literature in the field due to friction and wear.
Flow Lognormality and Spatial Correlation in Crustal Reservoirs : III-- Natural Permeability Enhancement via Biot Fluid-Rock Coupling At All Scales

Fluid-rock mechanical interaction is important to crustal processes, yet little is known of the in situ physics. Typically fluid-rock interaction is expressed by folding fluid pressure into Hooke’s Law, through the concept of effective stress. As conceived, the effective stress relationship treats rock as a continuum with pore pressure smoothly distributed within the granular matrix without consideration of microscale rock evolution. Recent advances have revealed the inhomogeneity of crustal fluid-rock interaction over a wide range of length scales. Consideration of this inhomogeneity of rock properties leads to a natural permeability enhancement relationship that respects microscale evolution of the rock fabric. Our computation suggests that order of magnitude permeability stimulation in the vicinity of wellbores is a plausible target. An immediate application of such in situ permeability enhancement is to increase the ‘effective radius’ of the wellbore. Larger wellbore ‘effective radii’ increase heat recovery efficiency by reducing thermal gradient heat loss near EGS wellbores.
Inequality in Mexico: Labour markets and fiscal redistribution 1989–2014

Income inequality in Mexico increased between 1989 and 1994; between 1994 and 2006, inequality declined; and, between 2006 and 2014, inequality was again on the rise. We apply decomposition techniques to analyse the proximate determinants of labour income inequality and fiscal incidence analysis to estimate the first-order effects of taxes and social spending on the distribution of income. The key component that underlies the 'rise-decline-rise again' pattern was the evolution of returns to skills. In addition, while changes in fiscal policy in the 1990s were progressive and pro-poor, the redistributive effect has declined significantly since 2010, as transfers have become less progressive and net indirect taxes have increased.
Blind Estimation Schemes for Frequency Offset of OFDM Systems in Non-Gaussian Noise Environments

In this paper, the blind frequency offset estimation schemes robust to the non-Gaussian noise for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems are addressed. Based on the cyclic prefix structure and a maximum-likelihood (ML) estimation, the estimation schemes in non-Gaussian noise are proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed blind estimation schemes offer a robustness and a substantial performance improvement over the conventional blind estimation scheme in non-gaussian noise environments. Keywords-blind estimation; frequency offset; maximumlikelihood; non-Gaussian noise; OFDM.
The environmental Kuznets curve and CO 2 emissions in the USA Is the relationship between GDP and CO 2 emissions time varying ? Evidence across economic sectors

In this paper, we analyze the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve as reported by Kuznets (Am Econ Rev 5:1–28, 1955) by using the methodology proposed by Kejriwal and Perron (J Econ 146:59–73, 2008, J Bus Econ Stat 28:503–522, 2010) and applying Jaunky’s (Energy Policy 39(3):1228–1240, 2011) specification using quarterly data from 1973:1 to 2015:2. We also allow different behaviors across time and identify it by economic sectors. Our results show the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in the USA only when we allow for structural breaks. Interestingly, the industrial sector shows a different pattern than do other economic sectors; with the beginning of the economic crisis, it appears to have abandoned the objective of the environmental stabilization found until then.
Climate change impact on the Nemunas River basin hydrology in the 21 st century

Climate change is likely to alter the runoff regime and its origin in the Nemunas River basin. The changes in runoff volume, seasonality and flood regime might affect hydropower production management, the potential of a forthcoming nuclear power plant and the stability of ecosystems. The water balance model WatBal was used to estimate the changes in the Nemunas River basin hydrology during the periods 1981–2000 and 2081–2100. The monthly air temperature and precipitation projections for the 21st century were estimated using the CMIP 5 model outputs. The two most diverse representative concentration pathways, RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, were analysed in this study to evaluate the spectrum of probable changes in the Nemunas River basin hydrology. The results revealed that the hydrological response to climate change in the Nemunas River basin would be most likely related to the change in snow climate. The projected magnitude of runoff changes during winter and spring is comparable for both scenarios, but the most important distinction is the difference in the cold-season hydrological regime, and especially water supply during winter and spring. According to the climate change scenarios both rain-snow and only rain dominant hydrological regimes are probable in the Nemunas River basin at the end of the 21st century.
PHYTOREMEDIATION POTENTIAL OF CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS L. AND EFFECTS OF LEAD (Pb) TOXICITY ON ITS MORPHO-ANATOMICAL FEATURES

This research work was conducted to explore some morpho-anatomical features of periwinkle (Catharanthusroseus L.) that are affected by lead toxicity. Pb pollution is a common problem in Lahore and its surroundings. Untreated industrial waste is disposed in the rivers and canals which causes high levels of Pb in waters and soils in Pakistan. An economically and medicinally important plant species was exposed to different concentrations of Pb (NO3)2 and various morphoanatomical parameters were checked in order to observe the accumulation and the extent of toxicity of this heavy metal in treated plants. The parameters included root, shoot and leaf anatomies, chlorophyll estimation, and changes in structures of tissues. Atomic Absorption Spetroscopy was also done to observe the estimated amounts of metal accumulated in different tissues of treated plants. Results showed that the applications of higher concentrations of Pb caused reduction in sizes of cells, especially in the vascular tissues of roots and stems; this was an indication that Pb was accumulated in the treated plants. It was also observed that the accumulation of this metal was higher in roots than the aerial parts. Hence, the treated plant species appeared to be affected by exposure to higher concentrations of Pb without any considerable harm to its anatomy and physiology. Periwinkle, a medicinally and ornamentally important plant, can be a potential accumulator of Pb and can be used in excluding toxic metals from the contaminated soils although further research is required in this regard.
For Peer Review The Matroid Team Surviving Orienteers Problem and its Variants : Constrained Routing of Heterogeneous Teams with Risky Traversal

Consider deploying a team of robots in order to visit sites in a risky environment (i.e., where a robot might be lost during a traversal), subject to team-based operational constraints such as limits on team composition, traffic throughputs, and launch constraints. We formalize this problem using a graph to represent the environment, enforcing probabilistic survival constraints for each robot, and using a matroid (which generalizes linear independence to sets) to capture the teambased operational constraints. The resulting ``Matroid Team Surviving Orienteers'' (MTSO) problem has broad applications for robotics such as informative path planning, resource delivery, and search and rescue. We demonstrate that the objective for the MTSO problem has submodular structure, which leads us to develop two polynomial time algorithms which are guaranteed to find a solution with value within a constant factor of the optimum. The second of our algorithms is an extension of the accelerated continuous greedy algorithm, and can be applied to much broader classes of constraints while maintaining bounds on suboptimality. In addition to in-depth analysis, we demonstrate the efficiency of our approaches by applying them to a scenario where a team of robots must gather information while avoiding dangers in the Coral Triangle and characterize scaling and parameter selection using a synthetic dataset. http://mc.manuscriptcentral. com/ijrr International Journal of Robotics Research