Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Valuing ecosystem functions: an empirical study on the storm protection function of Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem, India

The ecosystem services provided by mangroves are often ignored in the ongoing process of mangrove conversion. Services provided by the Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem in India and estimated cyclone damage avoided in three selected villages, taking the cyclone of 1999 as a reference point, were valued by assessing the socio-economic status of the villages, the cyclone damage to houses, livestock, fisheries, trees and other assets owned by the people, and the level and duration of flooding. Eleven variables were used to compare damage in the villages, one protected by mangroves, one unprotected by mangroves, and the third possessing an embankment on its seaward side. Attitude surveys were carried out in 10% of the households in 35 villages located in the Bhitarkanika Conservation Area to assess local people's perceptions regarding the storm protection function of mangroves and their attitude towards mangrove forests generally. In the mangrove-protected village, variables had either the lowest values for adverse factors (such as damage to houses), or the highest values for positive factors (such as crop yield). The loss incurred per household was greatest (US$ 153.74) in the village that was not sheltered by mangroves but had an embankment, followed by the village that was neither in the shadow of mangroves or the embankment (US$ 44.02) and the village that was protected by mangrove forests (US$ 33.31). The local people were aware of and appreciated the functions performed by the mangrove forests in protecting their lives and property from cyclones, and were willing to cooperate with the forest department in mangrove restoration.
STRAW BALE CONSTRUCTION AS AN ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTAL BUILDING ALTERNATIVE- A CASE STUDY

Approximately 4 million tons of rice straw- an agricultural residue is produced in Egypt annually. A great percentage of this amount is disposed of by burning causing high degrees of environmental pollution known as the Black Cloud that causes seriously chronic chest diseases to the great population of Egypt. This paper explores the different architectural styles of straw bale construction worldwide, with an aim to reach an economic environmentally adapted system for wide application of straw bale construction in Egypt. The paper presents an economical comparison between a load bearing wall unit built with locally produced rice straw bales and a traditional load bearing wall unit built with cement bricks. A direct cost saving that reaches about 40% of the total construction cost is achieved, in addition to the indirect cost saving in energy consumption, and thermal insulation.
Gravity, Curvature and Energy: Gravitational Field Intentionality to the Cohesion and Union of the Universe

We use the quantum operators O Gc , which are diffeomorphisms of gravity creating the intentionality under the action integrals to prove and determine the gluing intention for adherence of the matter-energy (taking the corresponding mass-energy tensor T ab ) to create complex bodies in the scale of conforming the fragmented Universe such as we know. The reverse is the planting of the energy model of gravity in accordance with the implications in space-time due to the diffeomorphisms of gravity, which were designed to explain the existence of the intention as kernel of the integral operators of the actions with this intention as direction of the energy-matter. The time, in particular, can be shown through instantons of a gauge field (this as electromagnetic field, and in this case appears the torsion) of gravity, which appears in natural way as the same integral operators obtained. Finally, using the complex Riemannian structure of our model of the space-time, and the K-invariant G-structure of the orbits used to obtain curvature, are obtained as consequences of the diffeomorphisms, the field equations to the energy- matter tensor density in each case of the gravitational field.
7 Samples and Cases: Generalisation and Explanation in Geomorphology

Research in geomorphology employs a range of strategies, but one useful distinction is between extensive research methods based on large-N samples, and intensive methods employing small-N case studies. The former may lead to generalisation by empirical statistical means, while the latter generalise by theoretical reasoning. This chapter explores the relationship between these approaches, and some implications of adopting the latter. The case of the historical development of views on the nature of river meandering is used to illustrate that a broad shift occurs from extensive to intensive research as understanding improves. However, this necessitates a more detailed assessment of the rules governing case-study research than has hitherto taken place; while sampling theory for large-N studies is well established, theoretical bases for the selection of field areas for case studies are much less evident. In a case study, it is essential to identify the boundary conditions provided by the field location, in order that generalisation can proceed of the mechanisms inferred from observation. This in turn places great emphasis on the development of new methods for describing those local conditions in time and space. These general considerations are illustrated with examples drawn from fluvial geomorphology, glacial hydrology and slope hydrology.
North Atlantic Oscillation controls on oxygen and hydrogen isotope gradients in winter precipitation across Europe; implications for palaeoclimate studies

Abstract. Winter (October to March) precipitation δ18OP and δDP values in central Europe correlate with the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index (wNAOi), but the causal mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we analyse the relationships between precipitation-weighted δ18OP and δDP datasets (δ18Opw and δDpw) from European GNIP and ANIP stations and the wNAOi, with a focus on isotope gradients. We demonstrate that longitudinal δ18Opw and δDpw gradients across Europe (“continental effect”) depend on the wNAOi state, with steeper gradients associated with more negative wNAOi states. Changing gradients reflect a combination of air temperature and variable amounts of precipitable water as a function of the wNAOi. The relationships between the wNAOi, δ18Opw and δDpw can provide additional information from palaeoclimate archives such as European speleothems that primarily record winter δ18Opw. Comparisons between present-day and past European longitudinal δ18O gradients inferred from Holocene speleothems suggest that atmospheric pressure configurations akin to negative wNAO modes dominated the early Holocene, whereas patterns resembling positive wNAO modes were more common in the late Holocene, possibly caused by persistent shifts in the relative locations of the Azores High and the Icelandic Low.
Interactive comment on “Differences in BVOC oxidation and SOA formation above and below the forest canopy” by Benjamin C. Schulze et al

The canopy layer makes up <10% of the full boundary layer, so are findings of production rates, etc. normalized or corrected for this small contribution to the mean boundary layer concentrations? Presumably the observations used to constrain the model are vertically resolved, but no vertical profiles of the observations are shown to evaluate how representative the two boxes used for modeling actually are. Oxidation products formed below the canopy, or above, would cycle many times between the two regions over the course of a day, scrambling the signatures and likely diluting the effect of chemistry occurring within the canopy itself.
Hopf bifurcation in an open monetary economic system: Taylor vs. inflation targeting rules (Malaysian case)

Abstract The main objectives of this research are to analyze the trends of expectations condition within Malaysian economic system and investigate the existence of Hopf bifurcation in the economic dynamical system’s policy in order to examine the existence of periodic solutions. The study uses two types of monetary policy rules which are namely: Taylor rule and inflation targeting rule. The results reveal that the patterns of expectations condition for Malaysia economic system from 2004 until 2014 are quite similar except for exchange rate case. Furthermore, it shows that Hopf bifurcation occurs within the policy’s variables in both forms of rules in Malaysian open economic system.
Effects of perceived interactivity on commercial web sites' experiential value

Little is known about perceived interactivity's effects on commercial web sites' experiential value. The present investigation considers this ambiguous relationship. S-O-R model and flow theory illuminate many facets of it. A quantitative research within 385 subjects consolidate the theoretical dissertation. Results demonstrate that perceived interactivity composed of reciprocity; receptivity, perceived speed and non verbal information play a considerable role in predicting cognitive and affective web user's responses. Accordingly, some managerial implications are proposed. Companies have to improve the interactive qualities of their commercial web sites in order to favor utilitarian and hedonic gratifications. Ensuring more control, convenience, less effort and a high level of efficiency seems to be a priority. They should also put consumers at the heart of managerial decisions to build effective e-marketing strategy and achieve profitability goals.
MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION OF TIO2-WATER NANOFLUID FLOW IN TUBES FITTED WITH MULTIPLE TWISTED TAPE INSERTS IN DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENT

In this paper, experimentally derived correlations of heat transfer and pressure drop are used in a Pareto based Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) approach to find the best possible combinations of heat transfer and pressure drop of TiO2-water nanofluid flow in tubes fitted with multiple twisted tape inserts in different arrangement. In this study there are four independent design variables: the number and arrangement of twisted tape inserts (N), TiO2 volume fraction (φ), Reynolds number (Re) and Prandtl number (Pr). Seven twisted tape arrangement in three different categories are investigated. The objectives are maximizing the non-dimensional heat transfer coefficient (Nu) and minimizing the non-dimensional pressure drop (f Re). It is shown that some interesting and important relationships as useful optimal design principles involved in the thermal performance of nanofluid flow in tubes fitted with multiple twisted tape inserts in different arrangement can be discovered by Pareto based multi-objective optimization approach.
Study of the Relationship between Communication Competence and Heart Rate Variability among International Postgraduate Students of a Malaysian Public University

Communication competence is among the main skills that enable individuals to conduct fruitful interactions with different people. This study was carried out to examine the relationship between communication competence and heart rate variability (HRV) among individuals from different nationalities. The quantitative method was used to conduct this study. This study had two data collection procedures which were the quantitative survey and HRV data set. The participants of this study were 128 postgraduate students of a Malaysian public university. Based on their agreements, 40 of them were participated in the HRV data collection procedure of this study. Based on the results from this study, the levels of communication competence and heart rate variability of the participants had close relationship, and individuals with good levels of communication competence were good in heart rate variability and vice versa. Based on the results, their good scores of heart rate variability as an important internal factor helped the participants to increase the levels of their communication competence and their good levels of communication competence helped them to have more successful interactions with their peers. The results from this study may be helpful for future researchers to focus on these issues and also for university students to pay attention on their daily communication as an important factor for their personal and university related lives.
Are Stewardship and Valuation Usefulness Compatible or Alternative Objectives of Financial Accounting?

In their joint framework project, the FASB and the IASB recently proposed dropping stewardship as a separate objective of financial accounting, because the Boards view stewardship and valuation usefulness as compatible sub-objectives ranking under an overall objective of decision usefulness. This paper puts this conjecture to an empirical test. As it is widely agreed that asymmetric timely earnings increase the contractual efficiency of accounting information, I first test whether firms with more asymmetric timely earnings produce more valuation-useful financial accounting information. Second, I test whether firms with more influential non-equity stakeholders provide more valuation-useful financial accounting information. As non-equity stakeholders in general face higher transaction costs when diversifying unsystematic risk compared to equity stakeholders and as stewardship-related risks should be at least in part unsystematic, I expect the demand for stewardship-related accounting information to increase with the influence of non-equity stakeholders. Using a broad sample of U.S. firms and a set of firm-specific metrics for valuation usefulness based on short-window capital market reactions to quarterly earnings announcements, I document that the valuation usefulness of financial accounting information is consistently negatively related to its stewardshiporientation. I conclude from these analyses that valuation usefulness and stewardship are alternative objectives of financial accounting.
Numerical Analysis of the Impact of Thermal Inertia from the Furniture / Indoor Content and Phase Change Materials on the Building Energy Flexibility

Many numerical models for building energy simulatio n assume empty rooms and do not account for the indoo r content of occupied buildings. Furnishing elements and indoor items have complicated shapes and are made o f various materials. Therefore, most of the people pr efer to ignore them. However, this simplification can be problematic for accurate calculation of the transie t indoor temperature. This article firstly reviews di fferent solutions to include the indoor content in building models and suggests typical values for its characte ristics. Secondly, the paper presents the results of a numer ical study investigating the influence of the different types of thermal inertia on buildings energy flexibility. Al though the insulation level and thermal mass of a building envelope are the dominant parameters, it appears th t indoor content cannot be neglected for lightweight structure building simulations. Finally, it is show n that the integration of phase change materials in wallbo rds or furniture elements can appreciably improve the energy flexibility of buildings.
A VAPID analysis of interstellar lithium in the ζ Oph sightline

ABSTRA C T We present observations of the Li I 6708 Adoublet in the z Oph sightline, obtained at a resolution of , 10 6 and a signal-to-noise ratio of , 1200, together with supplementary observations of K I l7699 and the Na I l3302 doublet. These observations marginally resolve the main ' 2 15 km s 21 ' system into its two principal clouds; we model the data using standard physical assumptions, but in a statistically rigorous manner, taking fully into account the hyperfine, doublet and isotopic structure for each species, in each cloud, using a new code, VAPID. The average 7 Li/ 6 Li ratio determined in this sightline is 1:12 ^ 0:20 dex (68 per cent confidence interval), in excellent agreement with the solar-system (meteoritic) value. The ratios in the individual clouds are determined with less precision, but are also consistent with the solar-system value, as is the total lithium abundance (with little evidence for depletion). The thermal and 'turbulent' broadening in the two clouds is discussed on the basis of observed line widths.
AN EFFECTIVE COLOR FACE RECOGNITION BASED ON BEST COLOR FEATURE SELECTION ALGORITHM USING WEIGHTED FEATURES FUSION SYSTEM

This paper aims to achieve the best color face recognition performance. The newly introduced feature selection method takes advantage of novel learning which is used to find the optimal set of color-component features for the purpose of achieving the best face recognition result. The proposed color face recognition method consists of two parts namely color-component feature selection with boosting and color face recognition solution using selected color component features. This method is better than existing color face recognition methods with illumination, pose variation and low resolution face images. This system is based on the selection of the best color component features from various color models using the novel boosting learning framework. These selected color component features are then combined into a single concatenated color feature using weighted feature fusion. The effectiveness of color face recognition method has been successfully evaluated by the public face databases.
Earnings Management and Companies Ownership Structure in Iran (A Comparison of Earnings Management between companies with institutional investors and companies with individual investors)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of ownership structure on earnings management in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In this research companies divided to two groups: 1companies with institutional investors (INS), 2-companies with individual investors (IND). The basic for dividing is standard No, 20 of Iran that emphasizes low share to direct control in investee companies is 20%. The sample comprises 636 firm-years observations from 212 companies (2006-2008). The results show that: 1) firms with low earnings before accruals have relatively high earnings management than firms with high earnings before accruals, 2) the companies with institutional investors (INS) are involved in more aggressive earnings management practices or in detail, companies with institutional investors (INS) tend to manipulate earnings upward more aggressively when their earnings before discretionary accruals are poor, and they downplay their earnings more than companies with individual investors (IND) when their earnings before discretionary accruals are exceptionally high.
A Hybrid Technique Based on the Combination of Multilevel Fast Multipole Algorithm and the Geometrical Theory of Diffraction

This paper proposes a hybrid technique for treating electromagnetic problems of scattering and radiation in which the source structure is described as an array of antennas. This strategy is based on the combination of the rigorous method multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) and the high frequency technique geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD). Thanks to the use of MLFMA, the source can be discretized into several cubic regions considering each of them as a source point in order to reduce the number of times required to compute the ray tracing when GTD is applied to obtain the scatter field. In this analysis, objects with complex shapes are described by using nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS) which is a very common way to model geometrical bodies. Numerical results that demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency in terms of CPU time are shown.
Strengthening foundation phase teacher education through mentoring

This paper explores a multidimensional mentorship model implemented between lecturers from the foundation phase at the Wits School of Education and four master’s students from the University of Limpopo, as part of the Departments of Education’s research initiative to strengthen foundation phase teacher education. Using three critical incidents, we interrogate mentors’ experiences of their mentoring practices. Two sets of literature, mentoring and social capital are used as a lens for analysing these incidents. Initial findings suggest the relationship has moved from the initiation to cultivation stage (Kram, 1985; Ragins & Kram, 2007). But, cultural preconceptions, implicit assumptions and institutional practices can impede or enhance information flows and trust. It is argued that weak ties characterised by mentors’ heterogeneity is a strength that has resulted in growing professional development. Through a process of reflection-on-practice, we have begun to think of ourselves as a fledging community of practice. This opens up possibilities for the larger research project.
Multiple Positive Solutions of BVPs for Singular Fractional Differential Equations with Non-Caratheodory Nonlinearities

AbstractIn this article, the existence of multiple positive solutions of boundary-value problems for nonlinear singular fractional order elastic beam equations is established. Here f depends on x, x′ and x″, f may be singular at t = 0 and t = 1 and f is non-Caratheodory function. The analysis relies on the well known Schauder fixed point theorem and the five functional fixed point theorems in the cones.
Global Land Surface Temperature From the Along‐Track Scanning Radiometers

The Leicester Along‐Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) Processor for LAnd Surface Temperature (LASPLAST) provides global land surface temperature (LST) products from thermal infrared radiance data. In this paper, the state‐of‐the‐art version of LASPLAST, as deployed in the GlobTemperature project, is described and applied to data from the Advanced Along‐Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR). The LASPLAST retrieval formulation for LST is a nadir‐only, two‐channel, split‐window algorithm, based on biome classification, fractional vegetation, and across‐track water vapor dependences. It incorporates globally robust retrieval coefficients derived using highly sampled atmosphere profiles. LASPLAST benefits from appropriate spatial resolution auxiliary information and a new probabilistic‐based cloud flagging algorithm. For the first time for a satellite‐derived LST product, pixel‐level uncertainties characterized in terms of random, locally correlated, and systematic components are provided. The new GlobTemperature GT_ATS_2P Version 1.0 product has been validated for 1 year of AATSR data (2009) against in situ measurements acquired from “gold standard reference” stations: Gobabeb, Namibia, and Evora, Portugal; seven Surface Radiation Budget stations, and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement station at Southern Great Plains. These data show average absolute biases for the GT_ATS_2P Version 1.0 product of 1.00 K in the daytime and 1.08 K in the nighttime. The improvements in data provenance including better accuracy, fully traceable retrieval coefficients, quantified uncertainty, and more detailed information in the new harmonized format of the GT_ATS_2P product will allow for more significant exploitation of the historical LST data record from the ATSRs and a valuable near‐real‐time service from the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometers (SLSTRs).