Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Multiple Wildland Fires on Ponderosa Pine Stand Structure in Two Southwestern Wilderness Areas, USA

The effects of 30 years (1972–2003) of Wildland Fire Use for Resource Benefit (WFU) fires on ponderosa pine forest stand structure were evaluated in the Gila Wilderness, New Mexico, and the Saguaro Wilderness, Arizona. Tree density, diameter-class distributions, basal area, and stand density index were compared among areas that burned with different frequencies since 1972 and areas that burned mid-century (1940–1950) and again during the WFU era (1972–2003). In both the Saguaro Wilderness and the Gila Wilderness, significantly fewer small-diameter (5 cm to 22.5 cm) trees occurred in areas that burned multiple times since 1972 compared to areas that were unburned (p < 0.05) during this time. The density of large-diameter (>45 cm diameter breast height) trees in the Gila Wilderness was highly variable and did not differ significantly among fire treatments (p > 0.32). In the Saguaro Wilderness, significantly more large-diameter trees (>45 cm dbh) occurred in areas that burned mid-century and again during WFU than in all other fire treatments. Mean 10-year basal area increment growth rates (1840 to the present) of trees in the Gila Wilderness that experienced mid-century fires suggest that those fires may have had a thinning effect. Ponderosa pine forests in the Gila Wilderness and Saguaro Wilderness are structurally diverse and resistant to fires burning during the natural fire season, suggesting that repeated WFU fires have restored forest resilience to fire.
UNEPLOYMENT DYNAMICS IN CENTRAL EUROPE: A LABOUR FLOW APPROACH

We analyse labour market flows and unemployment rate dynamics in the Czech Republic (CR), Slovakia and Poland. Relative involvement of working-age individuals in movements between various labour market states appears to be approximately fi ve times lower in Central Europe than in the U.S./UK. Compared to neighbouring countries, the CR suffers from a relatively weaker net flow of individuals from unemployment to employment. This net flow alone would cut the unemployment rate in Poland more than twice as fast as in the CR. In particular, currently unemployed Czech men, individuals with primary education, and the 55-65 age group are adversely affected by this national-specific feature of labour market flows.
Optimal Monetary Policy under Hysteresis

This paper analyses a new-Keynesian model incorporating hysteresis in output. Specifically, we assume that the natural rate of output sluggishly adjusts towards current output. We also assume that the natural rate has an upper bound and that, in addition to having standard objectives, the policymaker seeks to minimise deviations of actual output from this upper bound. We then solve for optimal monetary policy under a range of Phillips curve specifications. Our results suggest that despite increasing inflation temporarily, gradual demand expansions are usually desirable when the natural rate is low. Our model also offers a new explanation for inflation persistence.
Do You Want Your Students to Pay More Attention in Class? Try Dynamic Seating!

Background: A number of studies have examined dynamic seating in the classroom as a practical, low-cost, and effective strategy to allow students to accumulate light-intensity physical activity, improve the instructional atmosphere and increase academic performance in students. One outcome of interest associated with student learning and subsequent academic performance is attention.Purpose: To provide insight into the “state of affairs” of the classroom-based dynamic seating literature that has been published with a specific emphasis on improving attention among students. Strengths and limitations of the work are discussed and future directions are highlighted.Findings: To our knowledge, only five studies have investigated the effect of classroom-based dynamic seating on the academic-related outcome of attention. Evidence supports the use of classroom-based dynamic seating to improve the attention of students.Conclusion: The integration of dynamic seating in the classroom may be an attractive alternative to traditional seating options with benefits for increasing attention among students. However, studies need to be replicated with larger sample sizes, adequate power, and more rigorous experimental designs before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
Visacane: an innovative quarantine tool for the exchange of pest and disease-free sugarcane germplasm

Sugarcane varietal improvement requires the introduction of vegetative propagation material (cuttings, tissue-cultured plantlets). The continued increase of international and intercontinental trade of plants has led to the enforcement of quarantine measures in many countries before the introduction of vegetatively propagated material because many plant pathogens can be carried and transmitted by them. Visacane is the new name of CIRAD's sugarcane quarantine. It covers three main quarantine procedures: detection of pests and pathogens, elimination of pests and pathogens, and transfer of plant material free of pests and pathogens. Visacane has been devoted to sugarcane quarantining for several decades. Besides phytosanitary constraints, this quarantine structure also takes into account legal constraints and ensures, through appropriate contracts, that plant breeders' intellectual property rights over the transferred material are respected. Visacane can import and export varieties from and to most sugarcane growing countries in the world, ensuring that the material is free from any important pest and disease causing agent. Until recently, the sugarcane quarantine process was aimed at detecting known pathogens harboured by the plant material, and at eliminating these pathogens whenever possible. This process takes into account the pathogens that have been previously described and for which efficient detection tools exist, or have to be developed. However, during the last three decades, several new viruses infecting sugarcane have been discovered, including Sugarcane yellow leaf virus, Sugarcane streak mosaic virus and the virus associated with Ramu stunt. Therefore, it can be assumed that unknown pathogens are still to be discovered in sugarcane, especially if these pathogens do not cause symptoms that can be easily observed. For these reasons, the research team associated with Visacane is setting up a new strategy of diagnostics, the so-called sequence-independent approach which aims at deciphering the genomes of all the viruses that inhabit a particular organism. This metagenomics approach will help to improve our routine quarantine diagnostics. (Resume d'auteur)
SUPERLINEAR CONVERGENCE OF THE SHENG-ZOU-BROYDEN METHOD FOR NONLINEAR LEAST SQUARES PROBLEMS

We are concerned with nonlinear least squares problems. It is known that structured quasi- Newton methods perform well for solving these problems. In this strategy, two kinds of factorized structured quasi-Newton methods have been independently proposed by Yabe and Takahashi (1988), and Sheng and Zou (1988). Sheng and Zou introduced a BFGS-like update by considering how the normal equation based on an ane model may consist with the Newton equation, and dealt with a hybrid method that combines the Gauss-Newton method and their BFGS-like method. In this paper, we deal with the Sheng-Zou-Broyden family proposed by Yabe (1993), which is an extension of the update of Sheng and Zou to the Broyden- like family. Local and q-superlinear convergence of the method with this family is established for nonzero residual problems.
Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: what's the bottom line?

We test the relationship between shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issue participation. Building better relations with primary stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers, and communities could lead to increased shareholder wealth by helping firms develop intangible, valuable assets which can be sources of competitive advantage. On the other hand, using corporate resources for social issues not related to primary stakeholders may not create value for shareholders. We test these propositions with data from S&P 500 firms and find evidence that stakeholder management leads to improved shareholder value, while social issue participation is negatively associated with shareholder value. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Long-term monitoring of black turtles Chelonia mydas at coastal foraging areas off the Baja California Peninsula

Monthly in-water monitoring was conducted at 5 foraging areas off the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico, from 2001 to 2006 to assess black turtle population status. Turtles were captured with entanglement nets, size (straight carapace length, SCL) and weight of each individual were recorded and turtles were tagged on both rear flippers. A total of 1238 turtles were captured, involv- ing 6309 h of effort. Of this total, 937 ind. were marked and 155 were recaptured. SCL ranged from 30 to 95.5 cm; immature turtles accounted for >94% of the total catch and were dominant at all sites. However, size class distribution varied among sites, and turtles from the Gulf of California were sig- nificantly larger than those caught in the Pacific. Catch per unit of effort (defined as the number of turtles caught per 100 m of net soaking for 24 h) varied from 1.79 at Bahia Magdalena to 17.35 at Punta Abreojos. Mean (±SD) annual growth rate for black turtles was 2.27 ± 0.71 cm yr -1 , with the lowest and highest growth rates in Bahia Magdalena (1.37 ± 0.71 cm yr -1 ) and Laguna Ojo de Liebre (3.05 ± 2.23 cm yr -1 ), respectively. Lack of recaptures from adjacent sites and multiple recaptures of specimens at the site of origin over several years indicate a low connectivity among foraging areas and a high site fidelity. Hence, strengthening local protection is imperative to the recovery of black sea turtle populations.
Hybrid approach for mapping wetland habitats based on application of VHR satellite images

The article presents results of work aimed at developing methods for classifying wetland habitats, based on different types of satellite data and on various classification approaches. Very high resolution WorldView-2 satellite images were used for the research work as basic input data. An object-oriented, rule- based approach was applied to achieve high accuracy of classification of wetland vegetation classes. As a result of the research a semi-automatic classification method has been prepared within the eCognition environment, which enables high accuracy of the resultant map (ca. 90%) to be reached. At the final stage of the research, applicability of radar Terra SAR-X images for vegetation classification was studied.
Anomalous transport phenomena and momentum space topology

Using the derivative expansion applied to the Wigner transform of the two - point Green function this is possible to derive the response of various nondissipative currents to the external gauge fields. The corresponding currents are proportional to the momentum space topological invariants. This allows to analyse systematically various anomalous transport phenomena including the anomalous quantum Hall effect and the chiral separation effect. We discuss the application of this methodology both to the solid state physics and to the high energy physics.
Establishment of share unit formula for strata residential buildings and its implication to buyer and unit owner

Stratified development has become a trend nowadays and still expanding to suit with the scarcity of land. During the implementation of the early Strata Titles Act, there are many issues and disputes raised in terms of its legislation, rule and regulation, implementation, management and maintenance. One of the issues is the establishment and implementation of share unit formula to strata building. Recently, the government of Malaysia has formulated and approved the new Act which is called the Strata Management Act 2013 whereby several amendment has been made to strengthen and improve the current exercise and give a new breath to strata building development. The objective of this paper is to study the establishment of Share Unit Formula for strata residential building in Klang Valley and the implication of the new provision to house buyers and unit owners. A quantitative survey has been done by conducting interviews with the professionals in the industry. The findings of the research revealed that there are many advantages obtained by the house buyers and unit owners due to the latest enforcement. Besides promotes transparency and accountability in the housing development industry, it is also help to encourage an efficient application of simultaneous vacant possession of Strata Title to the unit buyers.
Hydroponic Production Systems: Impact on Nutritional Status and Bioactive Compounds of Fresh Vegetables

Hydroponic systems for vegetable production are nowadays essential to maximize productions and increase yields. Although the technical issues concerning the production are well explored and discussed, less information is available about the impact of hydroponic methods in the nutritional status of fresh vegetables and in particularly in their levels of bioactive compounds. Therefore, the aim of the current chapter is to provide accurate and updated information about their effects on compositional and bioactive properties of vegetables, comparing with conventional production mode. This chapter will be divided as the following sections: (1) introduction (introduction to the theme), (2) hydroponics and quality of vegetable produces, and (3) conclusion. With this chapter, we hope to present an updated and credible discussion, compare hydroponic versus conventional vegetables production mode, and present new consumers and producer trends.
Risk Adaptiveness and Need for Achievement Leads to Managerial Effectiveness

Fast and frequent change in technology has put the present day managers under pressure. This pressure has impact on their personality dimensions and consequently on their capabilities to perform. So, one of the most critical issue of modern era is to study the impact of changing psychological dimensions on managerial effectiveness. This research was aimed to study effects of improved psychological traits like need for achievement and risk adaptiveness on managerial effectiveness. Statistical universe for this study was the managers having experience of more than three years from governmental and non-governmental organizations. Managerial Effectiveness, Need for achievement and Risk adaptiveness among managers were assessed by using the Index of Managerial Effectiveness test devised by Walter W. Hudson (1993) Achievement Motive Test (AMT) developed by Bhargava, V.P. (1994) and Risk Adaptiveness Test (RAT) developed by Rishipal & Jain, N (2012) respectively. A cross-sectional and longitudinal study was conducted by using the before and after with control group research design to compare the effectiveness of treatment group consisting of ineffective managers having lower tendency of need for achievement and risk adaptiveness and control group consisting of the effective managers having higher degree of need for achievement and risk adaptiveness. Control and treatment group were formed by adopting the sampling technique of randomization on availability basis. Before treatment both the control and treatment group were tested. The mean scores for managerial effectiveness (ME), need for achievement (N-ach) and risk adaptiveness (RA) for control group were 174, 39 and 26 respectively whereas the mean scores of test group before treatment for managerial effectiveness (ME), need for achievement (N-ach) and risk adaptiveness (RA) were 73, 18 and 9 respectively. There was significant difference between the pre and post treatment mean scores values of managerial effectiveness (M
Social Transfers as a Determinant of Intra-household Distribution: the case of Chile

The effects of social transfers on individual participation and working hours are theoretically shown to differ for unitary and bargaining intra-household allocation models. This result is attributed to both the non-transferability of in-kind social transfers and differences in control of these transfers among household members. Using elasticities of social transfers on work effort (estimated through sample selection corrected participation probits and working hour OLS), new tests on intra-household allocation are developed for Chile. These tests strongly reject the unitary model and exogenous bargaining, accepting endogenous bargaining only among non-poor households. Poor households may use social incomes as investments for the future rather than for short-term strategic power relations.
A NOTE ON THE AN A LYTIC AP PROX I MA TIONS OF THE H-FUNC TION

This pa per shows some an a lytic ap prox i ma tions of the H-func tion de rived ear lier and ob tained by de com po si tion of the an gu lar flux den sity of par ti cles com bined with the zero or der DPN method. A novel so lu tion based on the mod i fied DPN method has been pre sented too. The com par i son with well-known Chandrasekhar’s re sults ob tained by nu mer i cal pro ce dure and with Pomraning’s an a lytic ap prox i ma tions has been per formed.
An Investigation on Gesture Analysis andGeometric Features Extraction

Using the gesture for natural human computer interaction became one of the important issues in recent few decades, to encompass human life appliance. Sign languages usually used among people to explain specific meaning or deliver a meaningful message, for this reason gestures motivate to simulate the natural interaction between humans but in this time between human and computers by modeling, analysing the gesture, and finally recognize it. This paper present a study of hand gesture recognition systems by investigating different algorithms, and tools used for adopting hand gesture recognition system in various system stages starting from image pre-processing to segment that hand and methods applied to capture hand shape to extract necessary feature, and terminating with suitable recognition algorithm in this work gestures modeling, analysis and recognition are demonstrated in detail with challenges that obstacle the performance of recognition system. Comparisons of different gesture recognition factors are shown as well.
Invariance principles for self-similar set-indexed random fields

For a stationary random field $(X_j)_{j\in\Z^d}$ and some measure m on $\R^d$, we consider the set-indexed weighted sum process $S_n(A)=\sum_{j\in\Z^d}m(nA\cap R_j)^\frac12 X_j$, where R_j is the unit cube with lower corner j. We establish a general invariance principle under a p-stability assumption on the X_j's and an entropy condition on the class of sets A. The limit processes are self-similar set-indexed Gaussian processes with continuous sample paths. Using Chentsov's type representations to choose appropriate measures m and particular sets A, we show that these limits can be Levy (fractional) Brownian fields or (fractional) Brownian sheets.
Strategic Attitudes in the Global Textiles Market: the Case of a South European Cluster

In recent years, the textile and clothing (T/C) industry in the EU has suffered difficult times, with declines in production and employment and an increase in the trade deficit. The case of Spain, the fifth biggest producer in the EU-15, is no exception. In spite of Spain having lower costs than most of its EU partners, the globalisation of the T/C industry and the liberalisation of the sector brought about by the GATT 1994 agreement have caused important restructuring in the sector, with the critical effects of downsizing and reallocation (delocalisation) of production. Within such a framework, innovation and R&D are seen as the key issues for competitiveness. We aim to analyse a particular cluster of T/C producers in the province of Girona, in the north-east of Spain. We look at the strategic similarity of the firms in the study and, in particular, whether they have used different innovation profiles. We argue that different strategic attitudes and innovation profiles entail different prospects for future survival. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered via structured interviews with the top-level management team of each firm. The results show that the subsector in which any given firm compete influences its strategic and technological positioning.
NetShare: Virtualizing Bandwidth within the Cloud

We present NetShare, a way of dividing a network into slices, such that that each network slice has the illusion of a network all to itself with guaranteed bandwidth. Bandwidth unused by a network slice can also be shared proportionately among active network slices. NetShare extends fair queuing of links to fair sharing of networks. NetShare’s virtualization of bandwidth complements existing technologies for virtualizing computation (as in VMWare) and storage (as in Amazon’s S3). Together they allow organizations to rent or internally maintain multiple “virtual clouds” on th e same physical infrastructure. While some degree of bandwidth virtualization can be provided by mechanisms such as virtual circuits and RSVP, NetShare provides a higher-level
A sweeping fingerprint verification system using the template matching method

Electronic products have adopted the technology of the fingerprint recognition system to offer protection mechanism. The characteristics of Line-Sensor are smaller size, lower power consumption, and lower cost. Therefore, it is suitable for designing fingerprint sensor in embedded systems. Generally, a Line-Sensor builds up a completed picture through assembling the image segments received after one sweeping the fingerprint. However, sometimes, the sweeping rate is unstable and the pressing strength is varied. To avoid such problems influencing the final results, the Fast Normalized Cross Correlation (FastNCC) algorithm is employed here to process and correct the image data. Moreover, the Group Delay Spectrum (GDS) and Dynamic Programming (DP) are implemented to complete fingerprint comparisons. Two different fingerprint matching algorithms are to exploit and demonstrate the verification rate of the system. FastNCC results in 93.8% of the verification rate, while SSD obtains 92.5% of the verification rate.
Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of ethanolic leaf extract ofNewbouldialaevis (P. Beauv.) Seemann Ex Bureau (Bignoniaceae)

Various parts of Newbouldialaevis (Bignoniaceae) including the leaves have been used to relieve stomach pains, pelvic pain, haemorrhoids, and rheumatic swellings in Ghanaian and West African folk medicine with little or no scientific evidence. This study was therefore aimed at evaluating the scientific basis for the traditional use of Newbouldialaevis leaves as an anti-inflammatory agent and analgesic using animal models. The chick inflammation model, tail immersion test, randallselitto test and formin test were used. One hour pre-treatment with the Newbouldialaevis extract (NLE) (30-300 mg kg-1; p.o.) significantly and dose dependently, inhibited foot edema in the chicks with maximal inhibition of 64.41±11.47%. In the tail immersion test, NLE (300 mg kg-1, p.o.) was able to significantly increase the withdrawal latency by 88.45±19.81%. Also, NLE (300 mg kg-1) reversed the inflammatoryinduced mechanical hyperalgesia with a maximum percentage effect of 37.60±7.26%. Treatment of mice with different doses of NLE (30–300 mg kg-1, p.o., 60 min before) produced a marked and dose-related inhibition of both phases of formalin-induced nociception with the highest dose given a maximal inhibition of 54.47±8.60% and 83.62±6.03% of the licking time in the first and second phases, respectively