Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Road Gap Detection Using Fuzzy Inference System

Automatic feature extraction from aerial and satellite images is a high-level data processing which is still one of the most important research topics of the field. In this area, most of the researches are focused on the early step of road detection, where road tracking methods, morphological analysis, dynamic programming and snakes, multi-scale and multi-resolution methods, stereoscopic and multi-temporal analysis, hyper spectral experiments, are some of the mature methods in this field. Although most researches are focused on detection algorithms, none of them can extract road network perfectly. On the other hand, post processing algorithms accentuated on the refining of road detection results, are not developed as well. In this article, the main is to design an intelligent method to detect and compensate road gaps remained on the early result of road detection algorithms. The proposed algorithm consists of five main steps as follow: 1) Short gap coverage: In this step, a multi-scale morphological is designed that covers short gaps in a hierarchical scheme. 2) Long gap detection: In this step, the long gaps, could not be covered in the previous stage, are detected using a fuzzy inference system. for this reason, a knowledge base consisting of some expert rules are designed which are fired on some gap candidates of the road detection results. 3) Long gap coverage: In this stage, detected long gaps are compensated by two strategies of linear and polynomials for this reason, shorter gaps are filled by line fitting while longer ones are compensated by polynomials. 4) Accuracy assessment: In order to evaluate the obtained results, some accuracy assessment criteria are proposed. These criteria are obtained by comparing the obtained results with truly compensated ones produced by a human expert. The complete evaluation of the obtained results whit their technical discussions are the materials of the full paper.
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques amt-2018-58 : Responses to Reviewers Unraveling hydrometeor mixtures in polarimetric radar measurements

Radar-based hydrometeor classification typically comes down to determining the dominant type of hydrometeor populating a given radar sampling volume. In this paper we address the subsequent problem of inferring the secondary hydrometeor types present in a volume the issue of hydrometeor de-mixing. The present study relies on the semi-supervised hydrometeor classification proposed by Besic et al. (2016), but nevertheless results in solutions and conclusions of a more general character and 5 applicability. In the first part, oriented towards synthesis, a bin-based de-mixing approach is proposed, inspired by the conventional coherent and linear decomposition methods widely employed across different remote sensing disciplines. Intrinsically related to the concept of entropy, introduced in the context of the radar hydrometeor classification in Besic et al. (2016), the proposed method, based on the hypothesis of the reduced random interferences of backscattered signals, estimates the proportions of different hydrometeor types in a given radar sampling volume, without considering the neighboring spatial context. 10 Plausibility and performances of the method are evaluated using C and X band radar measurements, compared with hydrometeor properties derived from a Multi Angle Snowflake Camera instrument. In the second part, we examine the influence of the potential residual incoherency in the backscattering from different hydrometeors populating a radar sampling volume. This part consists of adapting and testing the techniques commonly used in conventional incoherent decomposition methods to the context of weather radar polarimetry. The impact of the residual incoherency is found to be limited, justifying the hypothesis of 15 the reduced random interferences even in a case of mixed volumes, and confirming the applicability of the proposed bin-based approach, which essentially relies on the first order statistics.
The Role of Environmental Filtering in Structuring Appalachian Tree Communities: Topographic Influences on Functional Diversity Are Mediated through Soil Characteristics

Identifying the drivers of community assembly has long been a central goal in ecology, and the development of functional diversity indices has provided a new way of detecting the influence of environmental gradients on biotic communities. For an old-growth Appalachian forest, we used path analysis to understand how patterns of tree functional diversity relate to topography and soil gradients and to determine whether topographic effects are mediated through soil chemistry. All of our path models supported the idea of environmental filtering: stressful areas (high elevation, low soil moisture, low soil nutrients) were occupied by communities of low functional diversity, which suggests a selective effect for species with traits adapted to such harsh conditions. The effects of topography (slope, aspect, elevation) on functional diversity were often indirect and moderated through soil moisture and fertility. Soil moisture was a key component of our models and was featured consistently in each one, having either strong direct effects on functional diversity or indirect effects via soil fertility. Our results provide a comprehensive view of the interplay among functional trait assemblages, topography, and edaphic conditions and contribute to the baseline understanding of the role of environmental filtering in temperate forest community assembly.
Role of fine roots in the plant-induced weathering of andesite for several plant species

The present work aims at providing experimental evidence for weathering as a direct consequence of plant physiology, and the importance of the proximity of fine roots to rock in the weathering process. Discussion is based on the release of different elements from andesite rock particles by the three crop species: rice, maize, and soybean. We designed two types of hydroponic crop pots, in which fine roots were allowed (or not allowed) to contact rock particles by using coarse (or fine) net bags. A plant-free control was also run. Experiments were carried out in a controlled glasshouse for 35-38 days. The pH in the media of all the planted pots decreased by about 1-1.5 units from the value of blank pots during the experimental period, but it did not differ significantly between the coarse and fine net pots. The release of elements in the presence of the plants was calculated by subtracting the depletion of media from the amount absorbed by the plants. We observed a positive effect of plants on the release of elements from the rock particles. The amounts of Ca, Mg and Mn released increased by a factor of 4-12, 4-28, and 4-7, respectively, except for Ca for rice. The amount of Si released was also higher in all the planted pots. Between the coarse and fine net pots the released amounts of Ca and Mn differed significantly for maize (p < 0.05) and that of Si for soybean (p < 0.05). In the case of Fe and Al, the fine net pots gave a greater release than did the coarse ones. A significant difference was found only in the rice pots (p < 0.05 for Fe and p < 0.001 for Al). Maize showed the greatest growth of the three species and significantly higher release of some elements in the coarse net pot than in the fine net pot. This implies that weathering may be caused partially by the direct contact of fine roots with rock particles, together with the alteration of rhizospheric conditions by the roots.
Perceived Interpersonal Support as Protective Factors for Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

Depression is a serious and life-threatening disorder that is affecting a large number of adolescents every year. Understanding possible protective factors may help to understand the disorder and aid in developing more effective prevention programs and treatments. Using data collected by The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, perceived parent, teacher, and friends support were examined as possible protective factors for the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence. Multiple regression analysis was performed on a sample of 18,787 adolescents between ages 10 and 19. Results indicated that higher levels of perceived interpersonal support predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms in the population [F(3, 18793) = 637.292, r2 = . 092, p < . 001]. Perceived parental support was the strongest significant predictor of depressive symptoms (β = -.167, t = -20.826, p < .001), followed by perceived teacher support (β = -.153, t = -22.890, p < .001), and perceived friends support (β = -.106, t = -14.377, p < .001). These results suggest that it may be beneficial for prevention programs and treatments of adolescent depression to attempt to increase these forms of interpersonal support. Possible prevention and treatment programs, limitations of the study, and areas of interest for future research are discussed.
Effects of Annual Turkey Litter Application on Surface Soil Quality of a Texas Blackland Vertisol

Proper application management is essential to minimize adverse environmental effects and maximize agronomic benefits of land applying poultry litter as a nutrient source and soil amendment. In this study, turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) litter was applied to five cultivated fields (target rates 4.5, 6.7, 9.0, 11.2, 13.4 Mg ha−1) and to two pasture fields (target rates 6.7, 13.4 Mg ha−1) to evaluate the effects on surface soil quality in the Vertisol-dominated Texas Blackland Prairie. A cultivated field that received only inorganic fertilizer and two pasture fields (one native prairie and one grazed pasture) served as "controls. " Despite the annual variability in litter composition, actual application rates, and weather conditions, 7 years of litter application produced several significant differences in surface soil properties. Litter application produced significant increasing trends in soil organic C and extractable P for several cultivated and pasture fields. Similarly, after seven annual litter applications, litter rate was significantly related to total N, total P, extractable P, Zn, and Cu in the cultivated fields and to total P, extractable P, Zn, and Cu in the pasture fields. These observations coupled with previous findings indicate that annual litter application rates should be within 2.2 to 4.5 Mg ha−1 for cropland and 4.5 to 6.7 Mg ha−1 for pasture to limit the buildup of extractable P, Zn, and Cu in the soil. Although these target rates appear to be appropriate, the annual variability in litter composition (both nutrients and moisture) can, if not accounted for, make it difficult to determine proper application rates. Therefore, preapplication soil and litter testing and spreader calibration is strongly recommended so that litter application supplies only crop nutrient requirements (typically P) and balances agronomic and environmental concerns.
EFFICIENCY AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF GREEK BEEKEEPING FARMS

MAKRI, P., P. PAPANAGIOTOU and E. PAPANAGIOTOU, 2015. Efficiency and economic analysis of Greek beekeeping farms. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 479-484 Beekeeping is an economic activity, not only because of the products it offers, but also for being environmentally friendly. Greece is a significant honey producing country, given its limited population and area. Thus, the present study attempts to perform an important economic analysis of the Greek beekeeping sector, and explore the efficiency of beekeeping farms by applying the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. According to the results, significant inefficiencies have been identified, despite the fact that beekeeping seems to be a profitable sector. More precisely, beekeepers could achieve the same level of output by reducing their inputs by 34% for the short-run and by 43% for the long-run, on average, given the technology adopted. In addition, the majority of beekeepers should make important changes to their scale of operation. Finally, the reorganisation of the used inputs along with the appropriate adjustments, could lead to the improvement of both: efficiency and economic performance.
Climate of the Past Discussions Interactive comment on “ Revisiting the humid Roman hypothesis : novel analyses depict oscillating patterns ” by B . J . Dermody

4) P2356, Line 11-12: Change ‘since’ to ‘after’. Changed to after in the revised manuscript. 5) P2356, Line 11-12: Any conclusions drawn from the archaeological evidence presented from the Middle East is necessarily limited to that region. The authors also cite numerous examples where the evidence may be explained by non-climatic events. I would not have thought historical texts represent reliable documentary evidence, even if they are interesting. It is fair to say that direct interpretations of climate based upon archaeological site distribution in the Middle East should be restricted to that region and we will be explicit about this in the revised manuscript. At no point do our conclusions rely solely on historical texts. However the use of historical texts has widespread acceptance in the paleo community as a brief review of manuscripts in Climate of the Past will demonstrate. We are very careful about the interpretations we make based on historical texts and highlight the carelessness with which they can be used in other studies. However, given that many potential natural proxy archives are corrupted during the Late Holocene owing to deforestation, human induced soil erosion etc. it seems negligent for the paleo community to ignore historical texts which can provide a valuable supplement to the natural archives. For example
The influence of the cryogenic processing after saturating on propriety AlCu4,7 cast alloy

In the article was introduced the investigations defining influence of the cryogenic processing after saturating on the processes of the effusion consolidation of the alloy AlCu4,7. The qualification of the influence this processes was planned (in the function of temperature and time) on microstructure and the mechanical proprieties of this alloy. There are accept the wide range of the temperature 175C ÷ 350C there made possible the settlement of the influence of the temperature of aging on the kinetics of the break-up of the permeated with solution α and then on the change of microstructure and mechanical proprieties. There were applied the times of aging from 30 to 240 min. Results of investigations were compared with results after such thermal processing itself without the cryogenic processing after saturating.
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CHLORPYRIPHOS DEGRADING BACTERIA

Twenty six bacterial isolates were obtained from chlorpyriphos contaminated soil samples by enrichment culture technique. Out of these, four isolates showed growth up to 30,000 ppm and four up to 40,000 ppm chlorpyriphos amended in Mineral salt medium (MSM) containing glucose (0.2%). Out of these eight isolates, four produced yellow coloured colonies on MSM agar plates containing chlorpyriphos (50 ppm) and bromo thymol blue (BTB) indicator and also showed the reduction of 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) in MSM that confirmed their chlorpyriphos degrading capability. These four isolates were tested for different carbon and nitrogen source utilization pattern on MSM agar plates (containing 100 ppm chlorpyriphos). With all the isolates, good growth was observed in presence of five carbon and five nitrogen sources. Therefore, these carbon and nitrogen sources were usedfor chlorpyriphos utilization inliquid medium. Bacterial countand protein content was found to be more in the medium amended with 100 ppm chlorpyriphos containing glucose as carbon source and ammonium chloride as nitrogen source as compared to medium containing other carbon and nitrogen sources with all the four isolates at 7 days of growth. Maximum utilization of chlorpyriphos was observed with the isolate SB1(80.1%) followed by HIC2 (76.2%), SGB2 (65.2%) and HIIGA2 (58.1%) in liquid medium. Two isolates(SB1 and HIC2) which showed more utilization of chlorpyriphos in liquid medium as compared to others, were characterized using morphological, biochemical and physiological tests. Isolate SB1 was identified as Pseudomonas and HIC2 as Xanthomonas.
High Frequency Instrument data processing : Time-ordered information and beams Permalink

The Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) has observed the full sky at six frequencies (100, 143, 217, 353, 545, and 857 GHz) in intensity and at four frequencies in linear polarization (100, 143, 217, and 353 GHz). In order to obtain sky maps, the time-ordered information (TOI) containing the detector and pointing samples must be processed and the angular response must be assessed. The full mission TOI is included in the Planck 2015 release. This paper describes the HFI TOI and beam processing for the 2015 release. HFI calibration and map making are described in a companion paper. The main pipeline has been modified since the last release (2013 nominal mission in intensity only), by including a correction for the nonlinearity of the warm readout and by improving the model of the bolometer time response. The beam processing is an essential tool that derives the angular response used in all the Planck science papers and we report an improvement in the effective beam window function uncertainty of more than a factor of 10 relative to the 2013 release. Noise correlations introduced by pipeline filtering function are assessed using dedicated simulations. Angular cross-power spectra using data sets that are decorrelated in time are immune to the main systematic effects.
Diet of a restocked population of the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis in NW Italy

Recently several projects have been implemented for the conservation of the European turtle Emys orbicularis , but few aspects of the captive-bred animals released into the wild have been described. In this note we report about the trophic habits of a small restocked population of the endemic subspecies E. o. ingauna that is now reproducing in NW Italy. Faecal contents from 25 individuals (10 females, 11 males and 4 juveniles) were obtained in June 2016. Overall, 11 taxonomic categories of invertebrates were identified, together with seeds and plant remains. Plant material was present in 24 out of 25 turtle faecal contents, suggesting that ingestion was deliberate. There were no differences between the dietary habits of females and males, and the trophic strategy of adult individuals was characterised by a relatively high specialization on dragonfly nymphae. These findings suggest that captive bred turtles are adapting well to the wild and that restocked individuals assumed an omnivorous diet, a trophic behaviour typical of other wild turtle populations living in similar habitats.
Comprehension of Representations and Health Education Practices from Users and Professionals of the Family Health Strategy

Objective: To understand the representations and health education practices between users and ESF team. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study in which a target population composed of 416 competition student athletes aged between 10 and 20 years of both genders, basketball (n=100), handball (n=60), soccer (n=96), Semi-structured quantitative and qualitative research focused on interview techniques with the theory of Social Representations as a benchmark for analysis and participant observation. Seventy-five subjects participated in four groups: a) Higher-education professionals, five nurses, three doctors and one dentist; b) eight professionals with technical training in nursing and dental health; c) ten community health workers; d) forty-eight users of ESF units. Data were analyzed using content analysis, whose categories were retrospectively established. Results: "Education" as well social value, cultural to be preserved in the family; "Health" as individual self-care; "Health education" as transmission, prescription of body care. Conclusion: The principles of popular health education can support redefinition processes of the practices analyzed.
Describing constraint-based assembly tasks in unstructured natural language

Task-level industrial robot programming is a mundane, error-prone activity requiring expertise and skill. Since humans easily communicate with natural language (NL), it may be attractive to use speech or text as instruction means for robots. However, there has to be a substantial amount of knowledge in the system to translate the high-level language instructions to executable robot programs. In this paper, the method of Stenmark and Nugues (2013) for natural language programming of robotized assembly tasks is extended. The core idea of the method is to use a generic semantic parser to produce a set of predicate-argument structures from the input sentences. The algorithm presented here facilitates extraction of more complicated, advanced task instructions involving cardinalities, conditionals, parallelism and constraint-bounded programs, besides plain sequences of commands. The bottleneck of this approach is the availability of easily parametrizable robotic skills and functionalities in the system, rather than the natural language understanding by itself. (Less)
Corporate Governance: International Context and Trends from 2005 to 2015

Corporate governance is a topic that in recent years has been related to fraud and economic crises, which could be reasons for pessimism; however, this study views it as an opportunity to improve the organizational environment. Therefore, this exploratory study is conducted with the purpose of identifying the context in which corporate governance occurs and potential international trends. The review of the literature indicates that corporate governance codes based on the model of insider information are gradually being replaced by American and British models, which are characterized by democracy, transparency, and accountability. Similarly, there is emphasis on the importance of bringing organizations and interest groups closer together and building consensus to develop activities that are in the common interest and that provide benefits to all. Finally, further studies are recommended to improve national and international standards concerning corporate governance with the aim of balancing the interests of organizations and their stakeholders.
Proteomic analysis of chromate response in Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolated from a fly ash dumping site

Staphylococci species resistant to chromate were previously isolated from a fly ash dumping site. To further understand the mechanisms developed by these bacteria to tolerate chromate, a proteomic analysis was performed to identify proteins involved in chromate stress response of Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolated from a fly ash dumping site. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and two dimensional (2D) electrophoresis gels revealed several proteins visualized as up- and down- regulated in presence of Cr (VI) (500 µg/ml). Using matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), a putative ribosome-associated protein Y [S. saprophyticus subsp. saprophyticus ATCC 15305], and a pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 component beta subunit [S. saprophyticus subsp. Saprophyticus ATCC 15305] were identified as upregulated during chromate stress. The putative ribosome-associated protein Y is homologous to the ribosomal protein (gi24349644) expressed in Shewanella oneidensis in response to an acute chromium stress. The chromate stress upregulated pyruvate dehydrogenase from S. saprophyticus was highly similar to a pyruvate dehydrogenase (AF23026) upregulated in Staphylococcus aureus during osmotic stress. These results show that these proteins may be used as genetic systems by S. saprophyticus to resist chromate pollution and other stresses within the fly ash (FA) dumping site.