Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Forest Management affects Ecosystem Services, including Timber Production and Economic Return: Synergies and Trade-Offs

Forest ecosystems deliver multiple goods and services and, traditionally, forest owners tend to have a high interest in goods in the form of merchantable wood. As a consequence, forest management often aims to increase timber production and economic returns through intervention into natural processes. However, forests provide further services, including carbon sequestration, water quantity and quality, and preservation of biodiversity. In order to develop and implement strategies for sustainable forest management, it is important to anticipate the long-term effects of different forest management alternatives on the ability of the forest to provide ecosystem goods and services. Management objectives might emphasize economic interests at the expense of other services. Very few attempts have been made to illustrate and evaluate quantitatively the relationship between forest goods and services. By use of virtual but realistic datasets, we quantified, for multiple services, the effects of five forest management alternatives that form an intensity gradient. Our virtual forest management units represented Central European forest ecosystems in the submontane vegetation zone under a humid–temperate climate with acidic soils. In this zone the European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is the dominant tree species. In order to assess the effects on ecosystem services, the untouched natural forest reserve served as a reference. Wherever possible, response functions were deduced to couple the various services via stand-level data to demonstrate trade-offs between the services. Management units comprised all development phases in the sense of a "normal forest". It was clearly illustrated that maximizing the rates of biomass production and carbon sequestration may conflict with protection of authentic biodiversity. Several silvicultural operations may, however, have positive effects on biodiversity and water protection without high costs. We also illustrated that water quality and maintenance of soil fertility may be affected either positively or negatively by several forest management operations. In contrast, water quantity was only minimally influenced by forest management. For the virtual forest in a humid climate, differences of 70 mm/yr in runoff were negligible. Under dry continental conditions, however, such differences may have important implications for groundwater formation.
Spatiotemporal dynamics of spawning aggregations of common snook on the east coast of Florida

Data collected to determine specific reproductive traits, including spatial and temporal patterns, are an area of need for improved understanding of factors that contribute to pro ductivity in fish populations. We used passive acoustic telemetry to study the movements of 271 common snook Centropomus undecimalis on the east coast of Florida from 2008 to 2011 to assess spatial dynamics during the spawning seasons. Common snook were detected in 6 inlets from Port Canaveral to Palm Beach Inlet during the summer months when water temperature exceeded 23°C, with peak densities between July and August. Individual residency times in an aggregation were over 7.5 times shorter than the spawning season which, together with asynchronous arrival dates and frequent migrations away from the aggregation, indicates high rates of turnover. Nearly half of the tagged common snook were observed at multiple (2 to 5) spawning sites during a single season and showed varying degrees of fidelity to a spawning site. Area of residence, sex and size are influential factors in spawning traits of common snook. Females migrated earlier, made more trips, and spent longer periods in aggregations compared to males. Larger fish showed greater site fidelity to a single aggregation site. Each year a portion of the population was not detected in an inlet, implying that some common snook skip spawning or that spawning may occur outside of inlets. Findings highlight the need for a combined approach to management that includes updating the stock assessment, using more accurate measures of spawning effort and the protection of spawning areas from physical disturbance.
FIRST-ORDER METHOD FOR CONSTRAINED NONLINEAR OPTIMIZATION

The primary focus of this paper is on designing inexact first-order methods for solving large-scale constrained nonlinear optimization problems. By controlling the inexactness of the subproblem solution, we can significantly reduce the computational cost needed for each iteration. A penalty parameter updating strategy during the subproblem solve enables the algorithm to automatically detect infeasibility. Global convergence for both feasible and infeasible cases are proved. Complexity analysis for the KKT residual is also derived under loose assumptions. Numerical experiments exhibit the ability of the proposed algorithm to rapidly find inexact optimal solution through cheap computational cost.
Electric Field Alignment of Asymmetric Diblock Copolymer Thin Films

The electric field alignment of cylindrical microdomains in diblock copolymer thin films was studied using small-angle neutron scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The alignment process was followed with the block copolymer films in different initial states. Starting from a poorly ordered state, the cylindrical microdomain orientation was biased by the surface field that initially drove the cylindrical microdomains to be oriented parallel to the film surface. With further annealing, the cylinders were disrupted locally and formed ellipsoid-shaped microdomains that, with time, connected into cylindrical microdomains oriented in the field direction. Starting from an ordered state with cylinders parallel to the surface, the applied electric field enhanced fluctuations at the interfaces of the microdomains. The growth of the fluctuations continued until the cylindrical microdomains broke up into spherical microdomains, similar to that seen in the thermoreversible cylinder-to-sphere order−order tra.
Comparing Multifactor Models of the Term Structure

There are a large number of reduced-form, multifactor term structure models available in the literature. However, the basic question of which model does the best job at explaining the key stylized facts of U.S. Treasury yields remains unanswered. We propose a set of economic moment conditions as the key facts to be explained, and we use these moments to estimate and directly compare three-factor quadratic and affine term structure models. Using 45 years of monthly data, we conclude that essentially affine models cannot reconcile both the dynamics of conditional expected bond returns and their conditional volatility, but the three-factor Gaussian-quadratic model is generally consistent with the full set of moments. Preliminary and incomplete. ∗Brandt: Philadelphia, PA 19104-6367. Phone: (215) 898-3609. E-mail: brandtm@wharton.upenn. edu. Chapman: Austin, Texas 78712-1179. Phone: (512) 471-6621. E-mail: chapman@eco.utexas. edu. We would like to thank Rob Engle for helpful discussions.
Design and development of a simulation tool to investigate driver behaviour with respect to innovative travel information

Recent developments in computer science and wireless communication technologies present a wide vision among telecommunication operators, transport agencies, academia, as well as policy makers of a revolution in Advanced Traveller Information Systems (ATIS), which is called next generation ATIS (Kenyon and Lyons, 2003; Chorus et al., 2006). Currently these ATISs are still in the initial stage. However, to provide drivers with dynamic, real time and personalised travel information has the potential of influencing user choices for departure times, routes, and even driving styles. This paper reports the design and development of a computer-based simulator that is used to investigate how drivers response to innovative in-vehicle information when they are driving a vehicle with an eco-driving support device, a version of the IVIS. The stated preference information collected through the simulator can be used to estimate a corresponding choice model. The simulator graphically mimics a situation when the driver is travelling on an urban road connecting travel origin and destination and is prompted by the information system to take an action in relation to change departure time, driving route and driving style. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. The next section presents a theoretical framework on the multidimensional choice model and a mixed multinominal logit (MNL) model specification. Section Three presents the design and development of the simulation tool. The last section summarises this paper, and indicates future work.
A Novel Way for Personalized Music Recommendation Using Social Media Tags

Rapid growth of online music content has opened new opportunities for implementing new effective information access services – commonly known as music recommender systems – that helps users filter and discover songs according to their tastes. It supports music navigation, discovery, sharing, and formation of user communities. This survey illustrates various tools and techniques that can be used for addressing recommendation systems. Recommendation techniques can be classified in to four major categories: Collaborative Filtering, Content Based, Hybrid and Context based Recommendations. This survey elaborates these approaches and discusses their limitations and advantages. In the past decade, Social Tagging Systems have attracted increasing attention and tag-aware recommender systems (Collaborative tagging) have emerged. Besides the underlying structure of tagging systems, many efforts have been addressed to unify tagging information to reveal user behaviors and preferences, extract the latent semantic relations among items, make recommendations, and so on. Finally, this survey focuses on tag based recommendation approach.
An additional tool for arbovirus surveillance in The Netherlands: The use of honey-baited cards to detect circulating mosquito-borne viruses

Due to the presence of ungulates, migratory birds, humans, and diverse and large mosquito populations, De Oostvaardersplassen National Reserve can be considered a high-risk area for arboviruses circulation in The Netherlands. Up to now, arbovirus-surveillance in mosquitoes was hampered by the fact that RNA-virus degenerates rapidly once a virus-infected mosquito has died; mosquitoes often die soon after being caught in a mosquito trap. In order to develop a logistically-simple method to detect circulating mosquito-borne viruses in risk areas in The Netherlands, honey-baited Flinders Technology Associates filter paper (FTA® card) were placed into CO2-baited mosquito traps, as well as in the environment with high mosquito density. On FTA® cards nucleic acids (viral RNA) (buffer) are instantly captured and stabilized for about 7 days in an outdoor environment. When feeding on the honey, mosquitoes ‘spit’ saliva that possibly contains arbovirus, on the FTA® card. In this way, virus circulation in mosquitoes can be detected even when the virus in the mosquitoes themselves has degenerated. In total 441 mosquitoes of five different species were collected, 12-26th September 2011. All species are reported field or laboratory vectors for a wide variety of pathogens, including West Nile virus, Usutu virus, Tahyna virus, Rift valley fever virus, Sindbis virus, and Batai virus. Three species fed on the honey-baited FTA® cards: Anopheles claviger (34.2% of 371 individuals), Culex pipiens/torrentium (17.5% of 40 individuals), and Culiseta annulata (15.3% of 13 individuals). The processing and analysis of FTA® cards used in this experiment is ongoing. The potential of the use of this method as a part of a nationwide early warning system for mosquito-borne virus-circulation will be discussed.
Wind Energy System MVA Profile Enhancement based on Feedback Quadratic Function Controller

With the increase in the wind turbine power and size, its control system plays an important role to operate it in safe region and also to improve energy conversion efficiency and output power quality. In this paper a feedback quadratic function controller1 for controlling a wind1 energy1 system is presented. A1 nonlinear wind1 energy system has been linearized and simulated using MATLAB programming language. An enhanced profile has been acquired for active and reactive power when adopting the feedback quadratic controller, through checking the settling time of the step response.
The Role of Studs in the Sound Transmission of Double Walls

Steel studs are used in double walls to provide structural stability. This creates a vibration transmission path between leaves that can often be more critical than the airborne path through the cavity. Some of the existing models for sound transmission consider the studs as elastic springs. The spring stiff ness may be taken as the cross-section elastic stiff ness of the stud, but this leads to an underestimation of the vibration transmission. A procedure to obtain more accurate parameters to be used in vibration and sound insulation models is presented. The results show that they must be obtained from dynamic models and/or experiments.
APPENDIX A : OMITTED PROOFS IN PAPER FOR ICML 2018

Then μM is a probability measure defined on M. Proof. First claim μi 'i is a measure, which comes from the easy observation that for each i 2 [K], and countably many disjoint sets {An}n=1 ⇢ B(M), the Borel sets constructed over M as a topological space. 'i([ 1 n=1An) = [ 1 n=1'i(An) and since 'i itself is a homeomorphism, which indicates the one-to-one property, we have the disjointness of sets {'i(An)}n=1. Thus from the assumption that μi is a probability measure, the countable additivity of μi 'i on B(M) is thus proved as
Delaying conservation actions matters for species vulnerable to climate change

Handling Editor: Céline Bellard Abstract 1. Climate change vulnerability assessments are commonly used to identify species or populations at risk from global climate change, but few translate impact assessments to climate change adaptation actions. Furthermore, most climate change adaptation efforts emphasize where to implement management actions, whereas timing remains largely overlooked. The rate of modern climate change introduces urgency in evaluating whether delaying conservation actions compromises their efficacy for reaching important conservation targets. 2. We evaluated the importance of multiple climate change adaptation strategies including timing of actions on preventing extinctions for a threatened climate-sensitive species, the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus). We parameterized a range-wide population viability analysis model that related demographic sensitivities to drought events and human-modified land cover to assess vulnerability to future climate change. Using simulations, we assessed the efficacy and trade-offs associated with alternative climate adaptation strategies aimed at maximizing the number of future populations including when to initiate conservation actions, duration of management, number of managed populations, and local management effectiveness. 3. Population-level projections under future climate change scenarios revealed a broad-scale pattern of range contraction in the southwestern portion of the current range. Along the extinction gradient, we identified demographic strongholds and refugia critical for population persistence under climate change as well as populations at high risk of extinction and candidates for climate change adaptation actions. 4. In the context of future climate change, the timing of conservation actions was crucial; acting earlier maximized chances of achieving conservation targets. Even considering uncertainty in climate change projections, delaying actions was less efficient and introduced undesirable trade-offs including the need to implement conservation actions for longer or targeting more populations to achieve a similar conservation target. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our findings highlight how acting quickly reduces risk and improves outcomes for a highly vulnerable species under future climate change. Climate change vulnerability assessments require translation of
Test methods for the determination of biodiesel stability

Biodiesel, which is defined as mono alkyl esters derived from renewable resources such as vegetable oils and animal fats through transesterification, is an alternative fuel for diesel engines. One of the major drawbacks associated with practical applications is its relatively poor stability compared with petroleum-based diesel. Stabilization of biodiesel is a complex issue including oxidation stability, thermal stability and storage stability. During deterioration of biodiesel, changes of many chemical and physical properties take place and can be monitored by analytical methods. In order to find the relationship between fuel properties and stability during use, several studies have been carried out in this decade, which impelled the establishment of standard analytical methods and special specifications. However, there is still no effective method to determine the storage stability and thermal stability of biodiesel that can cover all oxidation characteristics. In this review, we introduce the methods for stability determination and present comparisons between them. The aim of this article is to present the development and implementation of the stability test method in research and application fields.
ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION OF GRID DEM GENERATION BASED ON GAUSSIAN MARKOV RANDOM FIELD

Abstract. Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are considered as one of the most relevant geospatial data to carry out land-cover and land-use classification. This work deals with the application of a mathematical framework based on a Gaussian Markov Random Field (GMRF) to interpolate grid DEMs from scattered elevation data. The performance of the GMRF interpolation model was tested on a set of LiDAR data (0.87 points/m2) provided by the Spanish Government (PNOA Programme) over a complex working area mainly covered by greenhouses in Almeria, Spain. The original LiDAR data was decimated by randomly removing different fractions of the original points (from 10% to up to 99% of points removed). In every case, the remaining points (scattered observed points) were used to obtain a 1 m grid spacing GMRF-interpolated Digital Surface Model (DSM) whose accuracy was assessed by means of the set of previously extracted checkpoints. The GMRF accuracy results were compared with those provided by the widely known Triangulation with Linear Interpolation (TLI). Finally, the GMRF method was applied to a real-world case consisting of filling the LiDAR-derived DSM gaps after manually filtering out non-ground points to obtain a Digital Terrain Model (DTM). Regarding accuracy, both GMRF and TLI produced visually pleasing and similar results in terms of vertical accuracy. As an added bonus, the GMRF mathematical framework makes possible to both retrieve the estimated uncertainty for every interpolated elevation point (the DEM uncertainty) and include break lines or terrain discontinuities between adjacent cells to produce higher quality DTMs.
Parameterization of electrostatic interactions for molecular dynamics simulations of heterocyclic polymers

The paper focuses on the problem of electrostatic interactions in molecular dynamics simulations of thermal prop- erties of heterocyclic polymers. The study focuses on three ther- moplastic polyimides synthesized on the basis of 1,3-bis-(3 0 ,4- dicarboxyphenoxy)benzene (dianhydride R) and three diamines: 4,4 0 -bis-(4 00 -aminophenoxy) diphenylsulfone (diamine BAPS), 4,4 0 - bis-(4 00 -aminophenoxy) biphenyl (diamine BAPB), and 4,4 0 -bis-(4''- aminophenoxy) diphenyloxide (diamine BAPO). In the molecular dynamics simulations these polyimides were described by the Gromos53a5 force field. To parameterize the electrostatic interactions four methods of calculating the partial atomic charges were chosen: B3LYP/6-31G*(Mulliken), AM1(Mulliken), HF/6-31G*(Mulliken), and HF/6-31G*(ChelpG). As our parameter- ization is targeted to reproduce thermal properties of the thermo- plastic polyimides, the choice of proper partial charges was finalized on a basis of the closest match between computational and experimental data for the thermal expansion coefficients of the polyimides below glass transition temperatures. Our finding clearly show that the best agreement with experimental data is achieved with the Mulliken partial atomic charges calculated by the Hartree-Fock method with 6-31G* basis set. Furthermore, in addition to the thermal expansion coefficients this set of partial atomic charges predicts an experimentally observed relationship between glass transition temperatures of the three polyimides under study: T R-BAPS g > T R-BAPB g > T R-BAPO g . A mechanism behind the change in thermal properties upon the change in the chemical structure in considered polyimides may be related to an addi- tional spatial ordering of sulfone groups due to dipole-dipole interactions. Overall, the modified force-field is proved to be suit- able for accurate prediction of thermal properties of thermoplastic polyimides and can serve as a basis for building up atomistic the- oretical models for describing other heterocyclic polymers in bulk. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 912-923
Comparison of three types of dry electrodes for electroencephalography

A potential new area of routine application for electroencephalography (EEG) is the brain-computer interface, which might enable disabled people to interact with their environment, based on measured brain signals. However, conventional electroencephalography is not suitable here due to limitations arising from complicated, time-consuming and error-prone preparation. Recently, several approaches for dry electrodes have been proposed. Our aim is the comparison and assessment of three types of dry electrodes and standard wet silver/silver-chloride electrodes for EEG signal acquisition. We developed novel EEG electrodes with titanium and polyurethane as base materials, which were coated with nanometer sized titanium-nitride films. Furthermore gold multi-pin electrodes were arranged on printed circuit boards. The results of the comparison of these electrodes with conventional wet silver/silver-chloride electrodes in terms of electrode impedances are presented, as well as open circuit potentials and biosignal measurements. Impedances were significantly higher for all dry electrode types compared to wet electrodes, but still within the measurement range of today’s standard biosignal amplifiers. It was found that the novel dry titanium and polyurethane based electrodes show biosignal quality equivalent to conventional electrodes. In conclusion, the novel dry electrodes seem to be suitable for application in brain-machine interfaces.
Strip-loaded slot waveguide for highly integrated photonics

The purpose of this master thesis was to demonstrate the effect of a patterning on the strip-loaded slot waveguide platform. The focus was mainly on the Bragg grating structures and to evaluate the influence of the geometrical variations on the SLSW platform which has a low index contrast. The different Bragg grating structures were designed using the FDTD software. The objective was to observe the fluctuation in the photonic band gap by the periodic variation of the effective index along the propagation direction of the SLSW platform. The SLSW structure was fabricated using atomic layer deposition and spin coating. The waveguide was then exposed to electron beam lithography for patterning the nano-structures. The fabrication lead to the fluctuation of various structure parameters. As a result, the structures were re-simulated using the fabricated parameters and characterized to show the response of the SLSW platform.