Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine forests of the Colorado Front Range, and recommendations for ecological restoration and fuels management

At the request of The Nature Conservancy and the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership, the authors of this article are developing brief summaries of the current state of our scientific understanding of historical fire regimes in the forested landscapes of Colorado's Front Range. The area of interest extends from EI Paso and Teller Counties, near Pikes Peak, to Larimer County and the Colorado-Wyoming border. This article focuses on forests in which ponderosa pine is a dominant or co-dominant species. A subsequent article will deal with forests of lodgepole pine, spruce, and fir. M. Kaufmann and T. Veblen have conducted extensive studies of ponderosa pine forest ecology in the southern Front Range (mainly the Cheesman Reservoir area) and the northern Front Range (mainly in and around Boulder County), respectively. This research has led to substantial agreement about the historical role of fire in shaping these forests, and we emphasize these points of agreement in this article, in the section entitled "Things We Know with Relatively High Confidence. " Some disagreements and uncertainties also have arisen, and we identify these.
Proteomics and Cholesterol in Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis is increasing worldwide. ASDs are characterized by impaired social function, stereotyped behaviors/interests and communication deficits. ASD causes are poorly understood and treatments are largely limited to behavioral interventions once problems have developed and been detected. Here we discuss the potential use of mass spectrometry and proteomics in early diagnosis of ASD. The potential link between at least some subtypes of ASD, the cholesterol system and proteins that interact with cholesterol is also discussed.
Genomic Selection for Predicting Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in a Wheat Breeding Program

Genomic selection (GS) is a breeding method that uses marker–trait models to predict unobserved phenotypes. This study developed GS models for predicting traits associated with resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). We used genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) to identify 5054 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which were then treated as predictor variables in GS analysis. We compared how the prediction accuracy of the genomic‐estimated breeding values (GEBVs) was affected by (i) five genotypic imputation methods (random forest imputation [RFI], expectation maximization imputation [EMI], k‐nearest neighbor imputation [kNNI], singular value decomposition imputation [SVDI], and the mean imputation [MNI]); (ii) three statistical models (ridge‐regression best linear unbiased predictor [RR‐BLUP], least absolute shrinkage and operator selector [LASSO], and elastic net); (iii) marker density (p = 500, 1500, 3000, and 4500 SNPs); (iv) training population (TP) size (nTP = 96, 144, 192, and 218); (v) marker‐based and pedigree‐based relationship matrices; and (vi) control for relatedness in TPs and validation populations (VPs). No discernable differences in prediction accuracy were observed among imputation methods. The RR‐BLUP outperformed other models in nearly all scenarios. Accuracies decreased substantially when marker number decreased to 3000 or 1500 SNPs, depending on the trait; when sample size of the training set was less than 192; when using pedigree‐based instead of marker‐based matrix; or when no control for relatedness was implemented. Overall, moderate to high prediction accuracies were observed in this study, suggesting that GS is a very promising breeding strategy for FHB resistance in wheat.
Establishment of a single national selection index for Canada

Ten years ago, in 1991, the first selection index formula was introduced for genetically ranking dairy bulls and cows in Canada. This Lifetime Profit Index (LPI) followed the introduction of a BLUP Animal Model for estimating genetic evaluations for males and females in all Canadian dairy cattle breeds for both production and conformation traits. The combination of these two historical genetic evaluation improvements has significantly contributed to the increased rate of annual genetic progress achieved during the past decade (7).
Stability and control of planar compass gait walking with series-elastic ankle actuation

Passive dynamic walking models are capable of capturing basic properties of walking behaviours and can generate stable human-like walking without any actuation on inclined surfaces. The passive compass gait model is among the simplest of such models, consisting of a planar point mass and two stick legs. A number of different actuation methods have been proposed both for this model and its more complex extensions to eliminate the need for a sloped ground, balancing collision losses using gravitational potential energy. In this study, we introduce and investigate an extended model with series-elastic actuation at the ankle towards a similar goal, realizing stable walking on level ground. Our model seeks to capture the basic structure of how humans utilize toe push-off prior to leg liftoff, and is intended to eventually be used for controlling the ankle joint in a lower-body robotic orthosis. We derive hybrid equations of motion for this model, and show numerically through Poincaré analysis that it can achieve asymptotically stable walking on level ground for certain choices of system parameters. We then study the bifurcation regimes of period doubling with this model, leading up to chaotic walking patterns. Finally, we show that feedback control on the initial extension of the series ankle spring can be used to improve and extend system stability.
Minimum Hellinger Distance Estimation of a Univariate GARCH Process

In this paper, we determine the Minimum Hellinger Distance estimator of a stationary GARCH process. We construct an estimator of the parameters based on the minimum Hellinger distance method. Under conditions which ensure the $\phi$-mixing of the GARCH process, we establish the almost sure convergence and the asymptotic normality of the estimator.
Building a Scalable Web Tracking Detection System: Implementation and the Empirical Study

Web tracking is widely used as a means to track user’s behavior on websites. While web tracking provides new opportunities of e-commerce, it also includes certain risks such as privacy infringement. Therefore, analyzing such risks in the wild Internet is meaningful to make the user’s privacy transparent. This work aims to understand how the web tracking has been adopted to prominent websites. We also aim to understand their resilience to the ad-blocking techniques. Web tracking-enabled websites collect the information called the web browser fingerprints, which can be used to identify users. We develop a scalable system that can detect fingerprinting by using both dynamic and static analyses. If a tracking site makes use of many and strong fingerprints, the site is likely resilient to the ad-blocking techniques. We also analyze the connectivity of the third-party tracking sites, which are linked from multiple websites. The link analysis allows us to extract the group of associated tracking sites and understand how influential these sites are. Based on the analyses of 100,000 websites, we quantify the potential risks of the web tracking-enabled websites. We reveal that there are 226 websites that adopt fingerprints that cannot be detected with the most of off-the-shelf anti-tracking tools. We also reveal that a major, resilient third-party tracking site is linked to 50.0 % of the top-100,000 popular websites. key words: web tracking, web browser fingerprint
Energy Efficient and Cost Effective Cloud Broker Framework for Cloud Datacenters

- Using a single Cloud datacenter in cloud network can have several disadvantages for users, from excess energy consumption to loss of users' satisfaction of service and price of provided services. The Cloud broker as an intermediary between users and datacenters can play a key role to enhance users' satisfaction and reducing energy consumption of datacenters that are located geographically in different areas. In this study we have attempted to provide an algorithm that assigns datacenter to users through rating various datacenters. This algorithm has been implemented by Cloudsim and will result in high levels of user satisfaction, cost-effectiveness and optimizing energy consumption. In this paper we show that this algorithm can save 70% of energy consumption and 7% of cost saving to users are in sample simulation space.
A Framework for Analysis of Case Studies of Reading Lessons.

This paper focuses on the development and study of a framework to provide direction and guidance for practicing teachers in using a web-based case studies program for professional development in early reading; the program is called Case Studies Reading Lessons (CSRL). The framework directs and guides teachers’ analysis of reading instruction by focusing their attention to three critical dimensions of the process of teaching; in theory, analysis of a wide variety of reading lessons, using this framework, should contribute to teachers’ expertise. We report on a study of the Thinking Questions, which scaffold teachers’ analysis of the reading lessons, to determine the extent to which their responses meet theoretical expectations. Results suggest that teachers’ ratings of lessons tap their overall expertise in analysis of reading instruction, such that the three dimensions and features that represent these do not constitute separate factors. However, performance on the Thinking Questions differentiated more and less experienced teachers. As expected, less experienced teachers wrote longer and more specific comments about the instruction than more experienced teachers, who tended to highlight effective principles. The results suggest that an analytic framework of the kind used in CSRL holds promise as an effective component of a case-based professional development program. However, they also point to the need for further study of the framework and its influence on teachers’ own teaching practices.
A comparative analysis of VIKOR method and its variants

Article history: Received February 25, 2016 Received in revised format: March 28, 2016 Accepted May 19, 2016 Available online May 24 2016 The VIKOR (Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje which means multicriteria optimization and compromise solution, in Serbian) method has already become a quite popular multi-criteria decision making tool for its computational simplicity and solution accuracy. This method focuses on selecting and ranking from a set of feasible alternatives, and determines compromise solution for a problem with conflicting criteria to help the decision maker in reaching a final course of action. It determines the compromise ranking list based on the particular measure of closeness to the ideal solution. Depending upon the type of decision problem and necessity of the decision maker, apart from VIKOR method, different variants of it, like comprehensive VIKOR, fuzzy VIKOR, regret theory-based VIKOR, modified VIKOR and interval VIKOR methods have also been subsequently developed. In this paper, the ranking performance of original VIKOR method and its five variants is analyzed based on two demonstrative examples. It is observed that interval VIKOR method performs unsatisfactorily and when the information in a decision problem is imprecise, fuzzy VIKOR method should always be preferred. But, for any decision problem, original VIKOR is the best method for solution without unnecessarily complicating the related mathematical computations. Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 6 © 201
Original Article Upgrade in Gleason score between biopsy and radical prostatectomy pathology indicates poor outcomes in prostate cancer

Gleason score (GS) plays an important role in determining the biology of prostate cancer but prognostic information is scanty. A total of 966 patients with paired biopsy and radical prostatectomy histology were enrolled from 8 academic hospitals in China from January 2005 to March 2013, with median follow-up of 53 months. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate models were generated to compare the GS upgrade to those in whom the Gleason score remains the same on the risk of postoperative biochemical recurrence/progression and death. Overall, 331 patients (34.26%) experienced a GS upgrade post Radical Prostatectomy (RP). We found that patients with upgraded GS experienced a significantly higher rate of biochemical recurrence/clinical progression/death/cancerspecific mortality compared to those with concordant GS (P<0.001). According to the biopsy GS, patients were divided into 3 groups (biopsy GS≤6, GS=7, and GS≥8), patients with upgraded GS suffered a significantly higher biochemical recurrence (P<0.005) than those with concordant GS in the 3 groups. In multivariate models, a change in GS was an independent predictor of biochemical recurrence (2.01 (1.45-2.80), P<0.001), progression (1.77 (1.062.96), P=0.003) and death (1.83 (0.83-4.04), P=0.036) in the preoperative setting only. Patients experiencing an upgrade in their GS between biopsy and post RP exhibited significantly more aggressive pathological features than corresponding concordant tumors, and a higher risk of biochemical recurrence/progression and death post RP.
Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.15.6-Based Coexisting Mobile WBANs With Prioritized Traffic and Dynamic Interference

Intelligent wireless body area networks (WBANs) have entered into an incredible explosive popularization stage. WBAN technologies facilitate real-time and reliable health monitoring in e-healthcare and creative applications in other fields. However, due to the limited space and medical resources, deeply deployed WBANs are suffering severe interference problems. The interference affects the reliability and timeliness of data transmissions, and the impacts of interference become more serious in mobile WBANs because of the uncertainty of human movement. In this paper, we analyze the dynamic interference taking human mobility into consideration. The dynamic interference is investigated in different situations for WBANs coexistence. To guarantee the performance of different traffic types, a health critical index is proposed to ensure the transmission privilege of emergency data for intra- and inter-WBANs. Furthermore, the performance of the target WBAN, i.e., normalized throughput and average access delay, under different interference intensity are evaluated using a developed three-dimensional Markov chain model. Extensive numerical results show that the interference generated by mobile neighbor WBANs results in 70% throughput decrease for general medical data and doubles the packet delay experienced by the target WBAN for emergency data compared with single WBAN. The evaluation results greatly benefit the network design and management as well as the interference mitigation protocols design.
Re-description and molecular systematics of Paraschistura delvarii ( Teleostei : Nemacheilidae )

Paraschistura delvarii Mousavi-Sabet & Eagderi, 2015 was originally described based on six specimens collected from the Mond River drainage of the Persian Gulf basin. However, based on examination of types and newly collected materials, it is clear that P. delvarii was mis-described. Here we re-describe P. delvarii based on correct morphological characters and molecular data set and provide its distinguishing characters with the sympatric loaches, P. naumanni, P. nielseni and Oxynoemacheilus persa.
Closed-form Green's functions for general sources and stratified media

The closed-form Green's functions of the vector and scalar potentials in the spatial domain are presented for the sources of horizontal electric, magnetic, and vertical electric, magnetic dipoles embedded in general, multilayer, planar media. First, the spectral domain Green's functions in an arbitrary layer are derived analytically from the Green's functions in the source layer by using a recursive algorithm. Then, the spatial domain Green's functions are obtained by adding the contributions of the direct terms, surface waves, and complex images approximated by the Generalized Pencil of Functions Method (GPOF). In the derivations, the main emphasis is to put these closed-form representations in a suitable form for the solution of the mixed potential integral equation (MPIE) by the method of moments in a general three-dimensional geometry. The contributions of this paper are: 1) providing the complete set of closed-form Green's functions in spectral and spatial domains for general stratified media; 2) using the GPOF method, which is more robust and less noise sensitive, in the derivation of the closed-form spatial domain Green's functions; and 3) casting the closed-form Green's functions in a form to provide efficient applications of the method of moments. >
Loss of economic value from coral bleaching in S.E. Asia

In 2010, a rise in sea water temperatures off Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia resulted in substantial coral bleaching. An ecological and economic survey was undertaken to determine the extent of this bleaching and also the economic implications, particularly for scuba divers. As part of the survey, a choice experiment was undertaken to determine the loss in non-market economic value (in terms of consumer surplus) to divers from the coral bleaching. In this paper, we present the results of this analysis, and implications for ongoing monitoring and management of the reefs. We estimate the loss in economic value due to the 2010 coral bleaching event to be on the order of $50m to $80m.
The Impact of Enterprises Systems on Sales Performance: A Study of Erp System Implementations in Polish Smes

Received: 13 January 2014 Abstract Accepted: 20 April 2014 While having been the object of numerous studies, the link between ERP implementation and SMEs performance still requires understanding. This paper documents the effect of investments in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems on a firm’s sales performance and profitability measure such as return on sales (ROS). The models are based on a sample of 240 during time of defined activities in the sales process realized during the each month by 40 knowledge workers in each of 5 Polish SMEs announcements of ERP implementations. Our analysis of the financial benefits of these implementations yields mixed results. Our results are encouraging that we find the business activity that can persistent evidence of sales performance associated with ERP investments. This should help alleviate the companies that some have expressed about the viability of ERP given the highly publicized implementation problems at some firms.
Numerical investigation of split form nodal discontinuous Galerkin schemes for the implicit LES of a turbulent channel flow

Gassner et al. (Split form nodal discontinuous Galerkin schemes with summation - by - parts property for the compressible Euler equations. Journal of Computational Physics, 327:3966, Dec. 2016) proposed a promising alternative stabilization technique for the discontinuous Galerkin scheme, which relies on the reformulation of the non-linear advection terms into split forms. It has been observed, that these split forms can stabilize the inviscid Taylor Green Vortex with high-order approximations, which are unstable with over-integration. In this paper, we apply different split form discontinous Galerkin schemes for the implicit large eddy simulation of a fully developed turbulent channel flow and investigate their robustness and accuracy for wall-bounded flows. Furthermore, we compare these results to implicit large eddy simulation with over-integrated high-order approximations in terms of statistical values and turbulence spectra. Finally, we show that the use of high-order split form discontinuous Galerkin scheme can significantly improve the results in comparison to low-order discretizations.
A New Approach to the Optimization of the CVRP through Genetic Algorithms

This paper presents a new approach to the analysis of complex distribution problems under capacity constraints. These problems are known in the literature as CVRPs (Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problems). The procedure introduced in this paper optimizes a transformed variant of a CVRP. It starts generating feasible clusters and codifies their ordering. In the next stage the procedure feeds this information into a genetic algorithm for its optimization. This makes the algorithm independent of the constraints and improves its performance. Van Breedam problems have been used to test this technique. While the results obtained are similar to those in other works, the processing times are longer.
Efficacy of Phoenix dactylifera L. (Date Palm) Creams on Healthy Skin

The date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L. Arecaceae) is used in most of the countries of the world and is an essential part of the diet, especially in many Arabian countries. Phoenix dactylifera L. fruits are a rich source of sugars (glucose and fructose), vitamins (A, C, and B complex), fibers, minerals, and phenolic compounds having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study is designed to explore the Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit for skin care. A single-blinded, placebo control trial was conducted, including 11 healthy female volunteers after their informed consent. The efficacy of the Phoenix dactylifera L. extract (4%) was evaluated in cream form after one, two, three, four, six, and eight weeks of treatment compared with the baseline. Prior to the study, the composition of the extract was analyzed to understand the underlying mechanisms by which the extract affects skin. Treating facial skin with the Phoenix dactylifera L. extract significantly improved all parameters investigated, such as skin elasticity, pigmentation, redness, brightness, and hydration and led to the improvement of the facial skin. There were no adverse reactions noted during the course of the patch test, demonstrating that the extract could be safe to apply on the skin. The Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit extract serves as a skin care ingredient that significantly improves characteristics important for perception of skin ageing and health. The efficacy of the treatment is possibly due to a combination of numerous active substances found in the Phoenix dactylifera L. extract.