Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer-Assisted Quality Control in Tree-Ring Dating and Measurement

Data quality control is especially important for tree -ring measurement series from non -arid regions. Since climatic factors are less often severely limiting to tree growth in these regions, ring series are less sensitive, and the climatic signal contained therein is weaker than in arid sites (Fritts 1976). In such areas it is very important to preserve as much as possible of the climatic information through accurate crossdating and measurement, with a minimum of "noise" introduced through errors. In determining the dating of tree -ring site collections from areas of somewhat difficult crossdating, an objective and efficient tool for locating errors or for confirming the crossdating would be very useful. Fritts describes some of the difficulties encountered in crossdating and emphasizes the importance of accurate dating for inferring climate from tree -rings, particularly since precise time definition is one of the advantageous qualities of dendrochronological data in comparison with most other paleoclimatic data. In addition, tree -ring series are occasionally found which though apparently of usable quality, fail to yield a conclusive crossdating match using the technique of skeleton plotting (Stokes and Smiley 1968), or by the widely used method of cross matching from memory. In such a series an injury or suppression of growth may prevent the dendrochronologist from following the dating inward from the date of collection. A new computer program for objectively checking tree -ring measurement series and aiding in the crossdating process is presented here.
A methodology for memristance calculation

A memristor is a newly found fundamental circuit element whose behavior can be predicted using either the charge-dependent function called memristance or the flux-dependent function called memductance. Therefore, it is important to find the memristance or memductance function of a memristor. To the best of our knowledge, there is no methodology describing how to obtain the memristance function or memristor characteristic in the literature for this purpose as of yet. In this work, a methodology is suggested to find the memristance or memductance functions. The methodology suggests first doing several experiments with a memristor using a square-wave signal to acquire data and then using an algorithm inspired by the experience on ionic memristors reported in the literature to obtain its memristance and memductance functions. The methodology is applied to calculate the memristance function and memristor characteristic of a memristor emulator. Justifications for this method are also given.
Climate change impacts on water resources and reservoir management in the Seine river basin (France)

The Seine River Basin has to face major issues on water resources due to a variety of uses and increasing pressure. Satisfying these water needs is a huge challenge on this basin that hosts the most urbanized and densely populated area in France: more than 6.5 millions inhabitants in the Paris region are supplied with drinkable water coming from rivers while one nuclear power plant and two coal-fired plants ensure power generation in the region. Furthermore, several large wastewater treatment plants (incl. the largest one in Europe) release their waters into the Seine, with possible consequences on the quality of water during low flows. The Seine Grands Lacs basin authority owns and manages four large artificial reservoirs on the river Seine and its tributaries (totaling a capacity of 800 hm3) with two main goals: flood alleviation and low-flow augmentation. The CLIMAWARE research project (2010-2014) characterized the impacts of climate change on flows of the Seine River Basin and on reservoir management by mid-21st century. Performance indicators representative of the tension on water resources were calculated to assess the impact of climate change. Various adaptation measures were tested including the modification of the objective seasonal filling curves, as well as modifications of the real-time management techniques. Adaptation measures can bring some improvements, but even with this adaptive management, the indicators show that the impacts of climate change on low flows will be major on the basin.
Shape context for image understanding

This paper presents a robust object recognition and recovery method for image understanding using a recent shape feature descriptor: shape context. The novel feature is to unify both object recognition and recovery components into an image understanding system architecture, in which a complementary feedback structure can be incorporated to alleviate processing difficulties of each component alone. The idea is firstly to recognize the preliminary extracted object from a set of models by matching their shape contexts, then to apply the a priori shape information of the identified model for accurate object recovery. The output of the system is the recognized and segmented object. The shape matching method is illustrated by recognizing a set of CAPTCHA and animal silhouette examples with the presence of object translation and scaling, shape deformations and noise. Experiments of object recovery using real biomedical image samples, such as MR knee, have shown satisfactory results.
A Case Study of Cloud Radar Observations and Large-Eddy Simulations of a Shallow Stratiform Orographic Cloud, and the Impact of Glaciogenic Seeding

AbstractThe impact of glaciogenic seeding on precipitation remains uncertain, mainly because of the noisy nature of precipitation. Operational seeding programs often target cold-season orographic clouds because of their abundance of supercooled liquid water. Such clouds are complicated because of common natural seeding from above (seeder–feeder effect) or from below (blowing snow). Here, observations, mainly from a profiling airborne Doppler radar, and numerical simulations are used to examine the impact of glaciogenic seeding on a very shallow (<1 km), largely blocked cloud that is not naturally seeded from aloft or from below. This cloud has limited but persistent supercooled liquid water, a cloud-base (top) temperature of −12°C (−16°C), and produces only very light snowfall naturally. A Weather Research and Forecasting Model large-eddy simulation at 100-m resolution captures the observed upstream stability and wind profiles and reproduces the essential characteristics of the orographic flow, cloud, and.
Population Genetics of Phalaris arundinacea L. In A Western United States Wetland

By Susanne Canwell, Ph.D. Washington State University May 2015 Chair: Linda H. Hardesty Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (henceforth Refuge) is a wetland complex located in east central Washington State. Phalaris arundinacea is an invasive grass species on the Refuge. It forms monotypic stands, reducing native plant diversity and can reproduce either sexually or from rhizomes and stem nodes. Due to the extreme density of P. arundinacea, we hypothesized that there was only one genetically distinct population of Phalaris arundinacea at the Refuge. The entire length and breadth of the refuge was sampled and leaf tissue was taken from each sample plant. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism was used to determine the presence or absence of genetic markers for each plant, and analysis using NTSYSpc, STRUCTURE, DISTRUCT and GenAlEx established the presence of 5 genetically distinct populations of Phalaris arundinacea at the Refuge. Out of 166 plants sampled only four were of clonal origin, indicating that this species’ reproduction on the Refuge is primarily sexual. Considering likely sources of this genetic variability, we identified the possibility of the species being planted by
2 Cl-- cotransporter : A Novel Marker for Identifying Freshwater-and Seawater-type Mitochondria-rich Cells in Gills of the Euryhaline Tilapia , Oreochromis mossambicus

Yu-Ching Wu, Li-Yih Lin and Tsung-Han Lee (2003) Na+,K+,2Cl--cotransporter: a novel marker for identifying freshwaterand seawater-type mitochondria-rich cells in gills of the euryhaline tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus. Zoological Studies 42(1): 186-192. The abundance and location of the branchial Na+,K+,2Cl--cotransporter (NKCC) were examined in freshwaterand seawater-adapted tilapia. Immunoblots revealed 4 bands with molecular masses centered at 282, 208, 122, and 105 kDa, respectively. Gill NKCC in tilapia is upregulated after seawater adaptation. Confocal laser scanning micrographs showed that in seawater-adapted tilapia, NKCC as well as Na,K-ATPase exhibited identical diffuse distribution confined to the basal portion of branchial mitochondria-rich cells. However, in freshwater-adapted tilapia, NKCC was displayed only in the apical region of Na,K-ATPase-immunoreactive cells. Polarized distribution of NKCC makes it a novel marker for recognizing freshwateror seawater-type MR cells in euryhaline tilapia. http://www.sinica. edu.tw/zool/zoolstud/42.1/186.pdf
Attributional style as a personality factor in insurance sales performance in the UK

The attribution of causation to favourable and unfavourable events has been implicated in both clinical disorders (e,g, depression) and achievement motivation (e,g, sports and commercial success). The aim of the present study was to examine the role of attributional style in a motivationally challenging occupation, namely financial services sales. The Seligman Attributional Style Questionnaire (SASQ) was administered to 130 experienced salespeople and found to correlate with: {a) sales (defined in monetary terms) and {b) performance ranking (within the sales force). In contrast to USA data, but confirming other results obtained in the UK, high positive attributional style (CoPos) was more important than low negative atttibutional style (CoNeg) in predicting successful sales performance.
Why Do People Disseminate Fictitious Accounts? A Systematic Analysis of Snopes.com

People often disseminate fictitious information and contrived anecdotes, some of which can be destructive. This paper explores the proposition that most, if not all, fictitious information can be classified into four clusters. Each cluster reinforces one of four underlying determinants of positive emotions—unambiguous duties, moral authorities, extensive capabilities, and stable values over time. This framework is derived from socio-emotional selectivity theory, self-discrepancy theory, and the meaning maintenance model. To assess these propositions, 1500 fictitious claims, derived from snopes.com, were subjected to thematic analysis. To code these claims, all nouns and verbs were translated to broader categories. Then, researchers sorted these abstracted claims into 88 piles of overlapping accounts. These 88 accounts were next sorted into 19 broader piles, each reflecting a distinct theme. All 19 themes aligned to one of the four underling determinants of positive emotions. These findings indicate that, arguably, the need to curb negative emotions and to foster positive emotions motivates these biased and fictitious accounts. The findings also highlight several distinct avenues in which each of these four needs can be fulfilled. The implications of these findings to a range of issues, from violence and mental illness to advertising and marketing, are discussed.
Efficiency and Capacity Utilization of India’s Marine Fisheries

For decades, the problems of excess capacity and overfishing have been the subject of considerable attentions, since they are the primary reasons for the depletion of fish stocks, reduction of the profitability and economic performance of the fishery sectors at the national and international levels. As a result, estimations of technical efficiency, harvesting capacity, and capacity utilization has become an increasingly important practice in the fishery, since they provide useful information about the optimum allocation of inputs and outputs, and guide policy formulation to combat biological and economic losses. Based on the Johansen (1968) definition of capacity we have examined the technical efficiency, capacity and capacity utilization of the marine fishery sectors of the India’s 9 marine states and 4 union territories using an output oriented data envelopment analysis approach. The result of the study shows that majority of the states/union territories have been inefficient and have the capacity to harvest considerably more than what they have actually been harvesting by using the existing resources in an efficient configuration and showed how serious the problem of excess capacity is in the India’s marine fishery.
Social Variance as it Exists Between Conformity and Deviance: Following some Advice from Ogburn

*Originally printed in Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology 2007 35(1). The purpose of this article is to introduce social variance as the "stuff'' that exists between conformity and deviance in modern sociology. We often overemphasize the either-or qualities of conformity and deviance, presuming that nothing lies between them. A foot-long ruler is not intended to look at 0 or 12 on a stick, so why do we do that very thing? By borrowing generously from novels, distance measurements and art, social variance represents aberrations from conformity and from deviance as a new subject in a discipline which has been dedicated to traditional definitions, dualisms, and labeling theory.
The Co-Innovation Alliance Scan, Tool for Effective Collaboration with External Partners

In order to select and assess co-innovation partners, I have developed an integrative framework coined as the co-innovation alliance scan that consist of four ‘fits’ between alliance partners: a strategic, operation, relationship and network fit. Each fit contains three indicators, to be rated from 1 (unfavorable) to 5 (favorable). High rated indicators prognosticate success, low ones might hamper or impede successful co-innovation cooperation. Using the scan, I constructed a serious “alliance game” in order to develop competencies of (future) alliance managers.
Diet Composition in Postmetamorphic Bullfrogs and Green Frogs: Implications for Interspecific Predation and Competition

We examined diet composition of postmetamorphic bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) and green frogs (R. clamitans) co-occurring at two study sites in southwest Michigan to gain insight into the nature of potential interactions between the species. Observations during sample collection indicated that bull- frogs tended to be found in the water and green frogs tended to be on land within a few meters of the water's edge. This habitat difference was reflected in diet composition. The percentage of the diet composed of aquatic prey items was significantly higher for bullfrogs on three of four collection dates. Comparisons of adult and juvenile classes of the two species indicated interspecific diet similarity was negatively related to the body size difference between classes. Juvenile frogs were common in the diet of adult bullfrogs, but were almost never consumed by green frogs. The small size of frogs consumed by adult bullfrogs indicated that juvenile green frogs constituted the great majority of frogs eaten. Our results suggest that, because of differences in habitat and body size, the opportunity for substantial competition between these species is probably small, and is restricted to individuals of similar body size. The potential for predatory interactions, however, may be substantial, and is highly asymmetrical, with the interaction largely re- stricted to adult bullfrogs preying on juvenile green frogs.
An Automated Technique for Damage Mapping after Earthquakes by Detecting Changes between High-Resolution Images

Abstract. Improving the speed and accuracy of earthquake disaster loss evaluations is very important for disaster response and rescue. This paper presents a new method for urban damage assessments after earthquake disasters by using a change detection technique between bi-temporal (pre- and post-event) high-resolution optical images. A similarity index derived from a pair of images was used to extract the characteristics of collapsed buildings. In this paper, the methods are illustrated using two case studies. Our results confirmed the effectiveness and precision of the proposed technique with optical data of the damage presented using a block scale.
3D OCTREE BASED WATERTIGHT MESH GENERATION FROM UBIQUITOUS DATA

Abstract. Despite of the popularity of Delauney structure for mesh generation, octree based approaches remain an interesting solution for a first step surface reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a generic framework for a octree cell based mesh generation. Its input is a set of Lidar-based 3D measurements or other inputs which are formulated as a set of mass functions that characterize the level of confidence on the occupancy of each octree’s leaf. The output is a binary segmentation of the space between occupied and empty areas by taking into account the uncertainty of data. To this end, the problem is then reduced to a global energy optimization framework efficiently optimized with a min-cut approach. We use the approach for producing a large scale surface reconstruction algorithm by merging data from ubiquitous sources like airborne, terrestrial Lidar data, occupancy map and extra cues. Once the surface is computed, a solution is proposed for texturing the mesh.
Management of water and agroecosystems in landscapes for sustainable food security

Various food and financial crises have increased the pressure on natural resources while expanding on alternative ways of considering agroecosystems as potential long-term providers of ecosystem services if managed in a sustainable and equitable way. Through the study of interrelations between ecosystems, water and food security, this book has aimed to increase the understanding and knowledge of these interactions for better planning and decision making processes at various levels. This chapter concludes Managing Water and Agroecosystems for Food Security. It discusses the main findings of the preceding chapters, from analyses of drivers of sustainable food security, via agroecosystems with their ecosystem services and challenges for water use and scarcity, to specific challenges for environments such as drylands and wetlands. Using a comprehensive landscape approach, recommendations on water productivity, agroecosystem services and integrated water management are brought together succinctly. In addition, knowledge gaps and issues for further research have been identified that may support further implementation of the agroecological approach in many landscapes around the world.
Changing pattern of energy use in Indian agriculture and linkage between energy and commodity prices

The expenses on energy based inputs have registered a phenomenal increase since the 1990s in Indian agriculture. The use of energy intensive inputs is higher on marginal farms than on large farms. In view of increasing share of energy costs, this paper examined the transmission mechanism of increase in energy prices in agricultural commodity markets in India using monthly wholesale price indices during April 1994 to March 2014. In order to assess the effect of deregulation of some petroleum products since April 2002, study period was divided into two sub-periods (April 1994 to March 2004 and April 2004 to March 2014), besides analyzing for full period. The co-integration analysis indicated evidence of parallel movement between prices of energy and all selected agricultural commodities after deregulation, which means higher transmission between crude oil and these commodity prices.
Research on State-owned Manufacturing Enterprises’ Productivity

Till now, the state-owned Enterprises (SOEs) still plays a vital role in Chinese economy. By using DEA model, this paper investigated the total factor productivity of listed manufacturing SOEs between 2011 and 2014.Authors’ work revealed the fact that the overall stall of total factor productivity of SOEs can be explained by the declination of technological innovations. Total factor productivity of SOEs in East China is higher than those of the rest and the productivity of SOEs in Central China has the fastest growth. Furthermore, total factor productivity of high-tech SOEs maintains a slight improvement while the data in other industries decrease by various margins. At the end of this paper, it is suggested to prioritize R&D investment, industry upgrading, and layout and appraisal system optimization in the reform of SOEs to improve productivity.
Brief alcohol intervention and health-related quality of life among primary health care patients in Estonia

Background. The effectiveness of brief interventions (BI) in reducing hazardous or harmful drinking among primary health care (PHC) patients has been confirmed by a number of studies; however, there is a lack of evidence regarding the effect of BI on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Objectives. This study aimed to find out whether the changes in alcohol consumption (AC) are associated with changes in HRQoL scores among PHC patients with hazardous and harmful drinking habits. Material and methods. 93 adult PHC patients with an alcohol disorder underwent BI, with the outcomes assessed after a follow-up period of 12 months. The main outcomes measures were the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score and physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores of HRQoL (using SF-36). Linear regression analysis was used to explain the follow-up value of PCS and MCS in association with the change of the AUDIT score during the follow-up period. Results. 12 months post-BI, 82% of the study participants had a significantly lower average AUDIT score (from 12.3 ± 0.5 to 7.5 ± 0.5, p < 0.001) and higher HRQoL PCS (68.3 ± 2.5 to 76.1 ± 2.0, p < 0.05). The regression analysis showed that the decrease of AUDIT scores during the follow-up period was positively associated with PCS in patients aged 18–44 but did not have a significant effect in patients aged 45 and older. The MCS was not associated with a decrease in the AUDIT score. Conclusions. A reduced AUDIT score post-BI leads to improved physical HRQoL for younger PHC patients with formerly hazardous and harmful drinking habits.
Effect of Obstacle on Deflagration to Detonation Transition (DDT) in Closed Pipe or Channel–An Overview

Due to complicated and rapid process, deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) becomes one of the major challenges in combustion theory where the exact mechanism is still poorly understood. Theoretically, the presence of obstacle may disturb flame propagation and hence make the DDT predictions more complex. Thus a comprehensive study is required to acknowledge DDT performance precisely. Lacking of information in literature causes the prediction of the transition period is still uncertain. In contrast, appropriate estimation of the DDT event is crucial for explosion safety. Thus, this present paper discusses the effect of obstacle on prediction transition deflagration to detonation event in pipeline system in order to apply an effective protection and safety systems to prevent and mitigate the gas explosion in industries. In addition the effect of bending on flame acceleration and explosion development would also be explored.
On coupled mechanical harmonic oscillators, transients, and isolated oscillating systems

Experimental results for the transient response of a single oscillator, for two magnetically coupled oscillators, and for oscillations about the center of mass of an isolated system are presented. The apparatus is easy to build. The data for the response and for the forcing term are acquired in a simple way, and allow accurate analysis and comparison with theory.