Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stage level, volume, and time-frequency information content of Lake Tana using stochastic and wavelet analysis methods

Abstract. Lake Tana is the largest fresh water body situated in the north western highlands of Ethiopia. It serves for local transport, electric power generation, fishing, ecological restoration, recreational purposes, and dry season irrigation supply. Evidence show, the lake has dried at least once at about 15 000–17 000 BP (before present) due to a combination of high evaporation and low precipitation events. Past attempts to observe historical fluctuation of Lake Tana based on simplistic water balance approach of inflow, out-flow and storage have failed to capture well known events of drawdown and rise of the lake that have happened in the last 44 years. This study is aimed at simulating the lake level, specifically extreme events of the lake variation using stochastic approaches. Fourty-four years of daily, monthly and mean annual lake level data has showed a Gaussian variation with goodness of fit at 0.01 significant levels of the Konglomorov-Simrnov test. Three stochastic methods were employed, namely perturbations approach, Monte-Carlo methods and wavelet analysis, and the results were compared with the stage level measurements. The stochastic simulations predicted the lake stage level of the 1972, 1984 and 2002/2003 historical droughts 99% of the time. The information content (frequency) of fluctuation of Lake Tana for various periods was resolved using Wigner's Time-Frequency Decomposition method. The wavelet analysis agreed with the perturbations and Monte Carlo simulations resolving the time (1970s, 1980s and 2000s) in which low frequency and high spectral power fluctuation has occurred. In summary, the Monte-Carlo and perturbations methods have shown their superiority for risk analysis over deterministic methods while wavelet analysis has met reconstructing stage level historical record at multiple time scales. A further study is recommended on dynamic forecasting of the Lake Tana stage level using a combined approach of the perturbation and wavelet analysis methods.
Spaces of interaction

As the world becomes increasingly computationally enabled, so our view of human-computer interaction (HCI) needs to evolve. The proliferation of wireless connectivity and mobile devices in all their various forms moves people from being outside a computer and interacting with it to being inside an information space and moving through it. Sensors on the body, wearable computers, wireless sensor networks, increasingly believable virtual characters and speech-based systems are all contributing to new interactive environments. New forms of interaction such as gesture and touch are rapidly emerging and interactions involving emotion and a real sense of presence are beginning. These are the new spaces of interaction we need to understand, design and engineer. Most importantly these new forms of interaction are fundamentally embodied. Older views of a disembodied cognition need to be replaced with an understanding of how people with bodies live in and move through spaces of interaction.
A topography of dams in China : impacts to agriculture, labor, and migration

approved: _______________________________________________________________ Aaron T. Wolf Dams are often promoted as a tool to reduce poverty and spur economic development. Dam construction worldwide, and particularly in China, which has built nearly half the world’s large dams since 1949, remains contentious due to the potential for negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Despite numerous case studies, there is little systematic empirical evidence about either the contribution of dams to human development or their negative impacts to humans and the environment. Identifying the impact of dams also presents a methodological challenge because dam placement is likely endogenous to socioeconomic outcomes. The topographic suitability of a landscape for dam construction provides a source of exogenous variation in dam siting, which, building on the work of previous scholars, I exploit to identify the effect of large dams on agriculture, population change, and labor allocation. My results suggest that dams have decreased grain production in the counties where they were built and have drawn labor into non-agricultural fields. Dams appear to impact population subgroups in predictable ways and create identifiable winners and losers. Copyright by Eric Foster-Moore September 8, 2011 All Rights Reserved A Topography of Dams in China: Impacts to Agriculture, Labor, and Migration by Eric Foster-Moore
Can a Serious Game Attract Girls to Technology Professions

In many European countries, women are still underrepresented in technology careers. For example, in Germany women represent less than 10% of those in technical vocational training with many factors influencing their occupational pathways. Among the reasons why young women may choose to avoid technology careers are (a) their low confidence in their own technical abilities; (b) the absence of female role models; and (c) a lack of interest in technology professions in general. In order to address these issues in a way that has the potential to counteract such deficits, we developed a serious game in the form of a point-andclick adventure in which pupils between the ages of 12 and 16 can work on technical tasks embedded within the story of a game. These tasks were taken from the vocational curricula in the field of renewable energies in Germany. The digital game, developed for computer and touch-screen devices, introduces female role models and teaches technical knowledge and competencies in a gender-sensitive way. The tasks (or game quests) include special feedback strategies that allow players to experience success and mastery. Furthermore, the adventure underlines the social relevance of renewable energies, as “social relevance” is a factor that young women in particular tend to take into account when making decisions about their future occupational directions. This article describes the game-design process, introduces the digital game Serena Supergreen and the Broken Blade, and reports on the initial findings from the evaluation of the effects of the game on its young participants.
Foreign Trade and International Financial Flows: Implications for Economic Stability in the Selected ECOWAS Countries

T his study investigates the effects of extra-ECOWAS merchandise trade and investment flows on the transmission of business cycles in the selected ECOWAS between 1985 and 2014. The study finds that total trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) significantly influence the transmission of business cycles with elasticities of 1.1 and 0.7, respectively in the long run. There are little variations across the major trading partners and other measures of trade flows. Intra-industry trade flows with all partners, EU and USA influences the cross-country business cycles with elasticities of 1.0, 0.5 and 1.8, respectively. There is a weak evidence of trade and investment relationship with China transmitting business cycles in the long run, except in the case of total trade flows in the short run. Inter-industry trade flows also show weak tendencies of transmitting business cycles. This study recommends greater needs to encourage trade (particularly, intra-industry) and foreign investment with the major trading partners. This, however, requires investment in critical infrastructure and upgrade of domestic technology to be deeply involved in global values chains necessary for the transmission of the desired business cycles. In addition, there is a need to diversify the export base and increase domestic investment to compliment foreign investments in order to minimize undesired business cycles spillovers that can undermine ECOWAS stability.
Analysis of CCRC Data

This paper presents an approach to analyzing continuing care retirement community (CCRC) data, and demonstrates the methods using data from a large CCRC. It is assumed that residents make "transitions" among a number of "states" that represent the levels of care required by residents. There is randomness associated with both the transition times and the states entered at these times. The model is conveniently characterized in terms of "transition intensity functions", which represent the instantaneous rates of transition between pairs of states. Statistical methods for estimating these functions are discussed, and estimates are obtained from the data set. A simulation approach to determining probabilities and other interesting quantities based on the estimated intensity functions is also described and illustrated.
LSTM-Based Temperature Prediction for Hot-Axles of Locomotives

The reliability of locomotives plays a central role for the smooth operation of railway systems. Hot-axle failures are one of the most commonly found problems leading to locomotive accidents. Since the operating status of the locomotive axle bearings can be distinctly reflected by the axle temperatures, online temperature monitoring has become an essential way to detect hot-axle failures. In this work, we explore the feasibility of predict the hot-axle failures by identifying the temperature from predicted nominal values. We propose a data-driven approach based on the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to predict the sensor temperature for axle bearings. The effectiveness of the prediction model was validated with operation data collected from commercial locomotives. With a prediction accuracy is within a few percent, the proposed techniques can be used as a dynamic reference for hot-axle monitoring.
The Formation Mechanism of a Thick Cloud Band over the Northern Part of the Sea of Japan during Cold Air Outbreaks

During cold-air outbreaks in winter, a thick cloud band frequently appears over the northern Sea of Japan and produces localized heavy snowfall in the western coastal region of Hokkaido Island, northern part of Japan. The formation mechanism of this thick cloud band is investigated through a series of nonhydrostatic numerical simulations with a horizontal grid spacing of 5 km. The control simulation well reproduces the characteristics of an observed cloud band. The cloud band forms between relatively warm north-northwesterly winds on the northeast side and relatively cold northwesterly winds on the southwest side. Sensitivity experiments in which upstream topography is modified indicate that the formation and intensification of the cloud band depend on the following two effects; one is the effect of a specific mountain located near the coastline in the middle part of Russia’s Sikhote-Alin mountain range (SAMR), and the other is the effect of large-scale topography along the SAMR on synoptic-scale low-level cold northwesterlies.The specific mountain deflects the cold airflow and immediately a convergence zone forms downstream of the specific mountain, where the cloud band is initiated. On the northeastern side of this mountain, the Froude number is estimated to be about 0.4 from relatively high topography (∼1.2 km), stable stratification (∼0.02 s-1), and synoptic-scale wind speed of 10 m s-1. Thus, the relatively high topography strongly blocks a low-level cold air, whereas an upper air with high potential temperature flows downward over the sea. In contrast, on the southwestern side of the mountain, a low-level cold air can pass over the topography, because the Froude number is estimated to be about 1.6 from relatively low topography (∼0.8 km) and weak stable stratification (∼0.008 s-1). These two airs with different potential temperature create a mesoscale frontal zone over the sea, which causes the further development of the thick cloud band initiated by the coastal specific mountain in the SAMR.
Mining Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Car-sharing Demand

Since car-sharing demand plays an essential role on the management and service of car-sharing system, this paper attempts to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of the car-sharing demand, aiming to discover spatial and temporal patterns and association rules. Based on a clustering algorithm (i.e., DBSCAN), the spatiotemporal characteristics of car-sharing demand are studied. On the basis, the demand is divided into various clusters in space. Furthermore, the correlations between any two clusters are studied. The results show that car-sharing demand is high on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and has strong correlation with time and space. It is expected the results can support the management of car-sharing system, and further promote the service level for passengers.
Comparison of standard and geometric morphometric methods for discrimination of honey bees populations (Apis mellifera L.) in Iran

There are two methods of morphometric and geometric for discriminating of honeybee races and populations. Currently, geometric morphometric method uses as inexpensive, fast and precise method for identifying of honeybee races and populations. In standard morphometric, seven distances and three angles were measured from the forewings, proboscis, abdomen and hind legs of different honeybee populations. In geometric morphometric, 18 landmarks were located at wing vein junctions. Five areas were selected as representatives of main geographical points of the North, West, East, Center and South from Iran. Procrustes analysis, principal component analysis, and Canonical variate analysis (CVA) was conducted for discriminating of collected samples. Average length of forewing, proboscis and cubital index were 9.01 mm, 6.55 mm and 2.4 in Iran. Results showed that geometric and standard morphometrics discriminated area populations 77.5 and 70.7% respectively therefore the geometric morphometric method was more precise and easier than the standard morphometric because we used only forewing for discrimination of populations.
The modulation of reading strategies by language opacity in early bilinguals: an eye movement study

Converging evidences from eye movement experiments indicate that linguistic contexts influence reading strategies. However, the question of whether different linguistic contexts modulate eye movements during reading in the same bilingual individuals remains unresolved. We examined reading strategies in a transparent (German) and an opaque (French) language of early, highly proficient French–German bilinguals: participants read aloud isolated French and German words and pseudo-words while the First Fixation Location (FFL), its duration and latency were measured. Since transparent linguistic contexts and pseudo-words would favour a direct grapheme/phoneme conversion, the reading strategy should be more local for German than for French words (FFL closer to the beginning) and no difference is expected in pseudo-words’ FFL between contexts. Our results confirm these hypotheses, providing the first evidence that the same individuals engage different reading strategy depending on language opacity, suggesting that a given brain process can be modulated by a given context.
Can desiccant application improve carrot seed quality

Though not a common practice, the desiccant diquat is applied to some carrot seed crops in Canterbury to facilitate seed harvest. In a laboratory experiment, diquat had reduced both mycelial growth and spore germination of the seed-borne carrot pathogen Alternaria radicina, the extent being application rate-dependent. In three field trials over two seasons, diquat was applied to carrot seed crops when 80-90% of the secondary umbels had turned brown (approximately four days before swathing) at a rate of 200, 400 or 600 ml active ingredient (ai) ha -1 . Seeds from five pre-tagged primary and secondary umbels per plot were hand harvested, cleaned and assessed for the presence of A. radicina and for germination. In control plots, seed-borne A. radicina ranged from 18 to 49%, differing with season and trial site, but seeds from secondary umbels always had higher infection. For all sites, diquat application significantly reduced the pathogen in seeds from both umbel positions, with infection decreasing as application rate increased. However, at 600 ml ai ha -1 , diquat negatively affected germination by killing the seeds. At the two lower rates, germination did not differ from the control, but the desiccant increased the number of dead seeds, whereas for the control the pathogen increased abnormal seedlings. While diquat does have fungicidal properties, further work will be required to determine whether its use can improve carrot seed quality.
Externalisation and Internalisation of Collective Bargaining in Europe: Variation in the role of large companies **

In recent years major employers have sought greater scope to negotiate working and employment practices specific to the circumstances of the company or its constituent units, reflecting the internationalisation of markets and competition. This article examines the changing balance between multi-employer and single-employer collective bargaining in this context. The analysis focuses on developments in large firms across two distinct but related dimensions: externalisation-internalisation (engagement with sectoral multi-employer bargaining) and centralisation-decentralisation (the level of internalisation within the company). The treatment is comparative, analysing developments in metalworking and banking through case studies from Belgium, Germany Italy and Britain. The results demonstrate that 'decentralisation' takes various forms, within and without the company. Furthermore, sector features are at least as significant as country factors in explaining change. This is because the re-formation of multi-employer bargaining reflects changes in power relations and transaction costs that are peculiar to the industry as well as the national context.
The Roman Heidentor as study object to compare mobile laser scanning data and multi-view image reconstruction

Laser scanning (LS), which can be utilized in both a static mode (terrestrial LS or TLS) or kinematic mode (airborne LS (ALS) or mobile LS (MLS), has established itself in the last decade as an appropriate approach to densely sample a whole variety of objects and scenes in 3D (Vosselman and Maas, 2010). Besides differences in their applications (ALS and MLS being more suited for large area mapping), the georeferencing of different LS approaches differs. TLS data are typically georeferenced by indirect techniques using control and tie points, while ALS and MLS require the direct georeferencing of the moving sensor coordinate system based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and an inertial navigation unit (INS). Obviously, these position and orientation (POS) data of the platform must be perfectly synchronised with the simultaneous LS observations and possible image data. Besides LS-based methods, research in computer vision and photogrammetry lead to advanced automated procedures in image orientation and image matching. An important impact for 3D reconstruction computer vision algorithms was gained by so-called structure-from-motion (SfM) algorithms, as they allow reconstructing 3D scene geometry and camera motion from a sequence of 2D imagery captured by a camera moving around the scene (Szeliski, 2010). To do this, the SfM algorithms use image matching to detect image feature points and subsequently monitor their movement throughout whole image collection. Using this information as input, the locations of those feature points can be estimated and rendered as a sparse 3D point cloud. As the SfM heavily depends on accurate knowledge of camera positions, estimating the latter is one of the core components in SfM (Hartley and Zisserman, 2001; Szeliski, 2010). Using the output of these SfM algorithms (i.e. the sparse point cloud and the camera positions, orientation, and calibration parameters) as input, multi-view stereo (MVS) reconstruction algorithms can generate very dense 3D geometry that present the majority of geometric scene details (Scharstein, 2002). This paper focuses on the analysis of 3D geometry acquired by LS data and simultaneously acquired imagery from the same moving MLS platform. The Roman monument Heidentor, part of the archaeological site of Carnuntum (Austria), was selected as test object. This monument measures approximately 15 by 15 m and has a height of circa 14 m (Jobst, 2001).
The Influence of Feedback and Expert Status in Knowledge Sharing Dilemmas

Groups and organisations set cooperative goals for their members, yet in reality some team members contribute more than others to these goals. Experts, in particular, face a social dilemma: from the group s perspective they should share their knowledge, whereas individually they are better off not sharing, because acquiring knowledge is costly and they would give up a competitive advantage. Two experiments (N1596, N25192) tested the hypothesis, derived from indirect reciprocity theory, that experts contribute more if their status is being recognised. Expert status was manipulated under different performance feedback conditions and the impact on people s contributions in two different knowledge sharing tasks was analysed. In both studies, experts contributed more when feedback was individualised and public, ensuring both individual status rewards and public recognition. In contrast, novices contributed more when performance feedback was collective, regardless of whether it was public or private feedback. Novices did not have to fear negative performance evaluations under group feedback and could gain in social status as members of a successful group. Social value orientation moderated expert contributions in Study 2, with proself-oriented experts being particularly susceptible to reputation gains. The studies contribute to the neglected aspect of motivation in knowledge sharing dilemmas where collective and individual interests are not necessarily aligned. © 2017 International Association of Applied Psychology
Animal Performance, Feeding Behaviour and Carcass Traits of Feedlot Cattle Diet Fed With Agro-Industrial By-Product as Fat Source

In feedlot system is particularly important to reduce the cattle feeding cost without impact on the animal gain and carcass, in this sense, aimed with this study to evaluate animal performance and carcass traits of the young Nellore male (n = 40) finished with agro-industrial by-products in feedlot diet. The addition of cottonseed by-product (CSB) was based on the ether extract (EE) contents in the feedlot diet: 3, 4 and 5%; and two other reference treatments were also tested, with 3 and 5% of EE content and soybean by-product (SOB) as fat source, totalling five experimental diets. In diets with 3% EE, CSB did not alter performance, gain cost or carcass traits compared to the SOB. In diets with 5% EE, animals fed with CSB showed greater dry matter (DM) intake than animals fed with SOB (10.34 versus 8.94 kg/day), but because CSB is a cheaper ingredient than SOB, it reduced the gain cost from 1.60 to 1.35 US$/kg. The CBS used in diet with 3, 4 and 5% EE increased the daily gain (1.17, 1.38 and 1.50 kg/day) and the rumination time (225, 338 and 370 min/day, respectively). So, CSB does not change the carcass traits nor the feeding behaviour when compared to SOB. The increased of CSB concentration in the diet raised the daily gain, DM intake and rumination time, with no changes in carcass traits.
Severe pediatric asthma refractory to treatment : the ongoing challenge of exacerbation.

Cite this article: Nunes Pinheiro de Queiroz MV, de Queiroz JVC, de Lima Belizário Facury Lasmar LM (2017) Severe Pediatric Asthma Refractory to Treatment: The Ongoing Challenge of Exacerbation. Clin Res Pulmonol 5(1): 1043. *Corresponding author Mônica Versiani Nunes Pinheiro de Queiroz, 1Department of Pediatrics, Setor de Pediatria, Escola de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Rua Dois, 697, Ouro Preto, MG, 35400-000, Brazil, Tel: 55-313241-5060; Email