Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The necessity of exterior orientation parameters for the rigorous geometric correction of MEIS‐II airborne digital images

Remote sensing is an essential element of the Canada Land Use Monitoring Program. The program sought the replacement, before 1991, of classical aerial photographs by remote sensing imagery (satellite or airborne) as the main source of data for land management (Wilson, 1986). In this sense, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) has been involved over the last few years in a project for implementing an airborne multi‐detector electro‐optical imaging system (MEIS‐II). The acceptance of airborne scanners has been slow over the years principally because of poor spatial resolution and distortions induced by aircraft motion. For addressing this geometric problem, CCRS has developed a rigorous correction method based on a fundamental photogrammetric principle (colinearity condition) and auxiliary navigation data (attitude, altitude and aircraft speed) measured in relation to time by an inertial navigation system (INS). The method can process images in monoscopy or stereoscopy (two flight lines or more, in w.
Getting Started with Structural Causal Modeling in SAS/STAT

INTRODUCTION In a broad sense, correlation is any relationship between two variables. Causation is a stronger relationship because the value of one variable induces the second variable to take its value. Causation can be quantified when the two variables are measured close in time, but with the cause always preceding the outcome. To establish a causal relationship, we must isolate the cause and outcome from other possible causal factors by intervening in the world we are measuring. To say this another way, causation is all about understanding the process that generated our data. It is not enough to discover relationships in the data, we must understand how those relationships were created.
Welcome to the Jungle: an expedition to China’s patent thicket

China is the world’s second largest economy and its biggest generator of new patents, so the workings of its intellectual property system are currently of first-order importance for the global innovation system. In this research, we collect a unique dataset of China’s litigated invention patents, and take an additional step omitted by prior researchers, matching patent litigation data to the full population of Chinese patent grants. This allows us to document a series of previously unreported anomalies vis-à-vis other major patent jurisdictions. We show that China’s patent litigation rate is low and declining sharply over time. Unlike in Western countries, we find that litigated patents do not appear to be of higher quality than non-litigated patents, but seemingly owned by parties who possess little stakes in strategic negotiations and thus have less to lose if going for trials, such as domestic or individual patentees. Industries that are patent intensive, such as electronics, are characterized by significantly lower litigation rates than industries that use patents much less intensely, such as textile and paper. We build a three-stage bargaining model with incomplete information, which confirms that these anomalies are mainly driven by a historically unprecedented explosion of low-quality patents granted after insufficient examination. The resulting “patent thicket” (Shapiro, 2001) could complicate the emergence of truly functional IP legal system for years to come.
In-situ and Laboratory Cyclic Response of an Alluvial Plastic Silt Deposit

: Current best practices for the assessment of the cyclic response of plastic silts are centered on the careful sampling and cyclic testing of natural, intact specimens. Side-by-side evaluation of in-situ and laboratory element test responses are severely limited, despite the need to establish similarities and differences in their characteristics. In this paper, a coordinated laboratory and field-testing campaign that was undertaken to compare the strain-controlled cyclic response of a plastic silt deposit at the Port of Longview, Longview, WA is described. Following a discussion of the subsurface conditions at one of several test panels, the responses of laboratory test specimens to resonant column and cyclic torsional shear testing, and constant-volume, strain-controlled cyclic direct simple shear testing are described in terms of shear modulus nonlinearity and degradation, and excess pore pressure generation with shear strain. Several months earlier, the in-situ cyclic response of the same deposit was investigated by applying a range of shear strain amplitudes using a large mobile shaker. The in-situ response is presented and compared to the laboratory test results, highlighting similarities and differences arising from differences in mechanical (e.g., constant-volume shearing; strain rate-effects) and hydraulic (e.g., local drainage) boundary conditions and the spatial variability of natural soil deposits. RÉSUMÉ : Les meilleures pratiques actuelles pour l'
Relationship Between Perceived Social Support and Distress Tolerance in Parents with Phenylketonuria Children: Mediating Role of Self-Compassion

Background: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive disorder in the metabolism of the amino acid phenylalanine. This disease affects not only the life of the child but also the life of the parents. Objectives: The current study aimed to examine the direct and indirect relationships between perceived social support, self-compassion, and distress tolerance in a sample of parents with PKU children. Methods: One hundred and fifty-seven parents were recruited from the Province Metabolic Patients Support Charity in Zanjan (Iran) through available sampling. The study utilized three instruments: The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), and the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Results: The data were analyzed using SmartPLS software (version 3.3), and the relationship between variables was assessed through partial least squares structural equation modeling. According to the bootstrapped results, the direct effects of perceived support from significant others on distress tolerance (β = 0.39, P = 0.0001) and self-compassion on distress tolerance (β = 0.68, P = 0.0001) significant others (β = 0.26, P = 0.0001) via self-compassion on distress tolerance were significant and positive. Conclusions: The study indicates that joining support groups and exchanging experiences with other parents of PKU children can enhance feelings of effectiveness and reduce isolation among these individuals as parents. Self-compassion plays a crucial role in perceiving challenges as part of the human experience, providing a valuable defense against personal distress that might arise while caring for a child with PKU.
The energy release in great earthquakes

The conventional magnitude scale M suffers saturation when the rupture dimension of the earthquake exceeds the wavelength of the seismic waves used for the magnitude determination (usually 5–50 km). This saturation leads to an inaccurate estimate of energy released in great earthquakes. To circumvent this problem the strain energy drop W (difference in strain energy before and after an earthquake) in great earthquakes is estimated from the seismic moment M_0. If the stress drop Δσ is complete, W = W_0 = (Δσ/2μ)M_0 ∼ M_0/(2×10^4), where μ is the rigidity; if it is partial, W_0 gives the minimum estimate of the strain energy drop. Furthermore, if Orowan's condition, i.e., that frictional stress equal final stress, is met, W_0 represents the seismic wave energy. A new magnitude scale M_w is defined in terms of W_0 through the standard energy-magnitude relation log W_0 = 1. 5M_w + 11.8. M_w is as large as 9.5 for the 1960 Chilean earthquake and connects smoothly to M_s (surface wave magnitude) for earthquakes with a rupture dimension of about 100 km or less. The M_w scale does not suffer saturation and is a more adequate magnitude scale for great earthquakes. The seismic energy release curve defined by W_0 is entirely different from that previously estimated from Ms. During the 15-year period from 1950 to 1965 the annual average of W_0 is more than 1 order of magnitude larger than that during the periods from 1920 to 1950 and from 1965 to 1976. The temporal variation of the amplitude of the Chandler wobble correlates very well with the variation of W_0, with a slight indication of the former preceding the latter. In contrast, the number N of moderate to large earthquakes increased very sharply as the Chandler wobble amplitude increased but decreased very sharply during the period from 1945 to 1965, when W_0 was largest. One possible explanation for these correlations is that the increase in the wobble amplitude triggers worldwide seismic activity and accelerates plate motion which eventually leads to great decoupling earthquakes. This decoupling causes the decline of moderate to large earthquake activity. Changes in the rotation rate of the earth may be an important element in this mechanism.
Relationships between physical fitness and body mass index in 11- and 12- year-old New Zealand and Japanese school children

The present study examined differences in scatter plots and correlations between physical fitness factors and body mass index (BMI) for New Zealand and Japanese school children. Subjects were 11- and 12-year-old students living in Hamamatsu City, Japan and Christchurch, New Zealand. Physical fitness tests were performed in each country. For Japanese children, these included a 20-m shuttle run, standing jump, sit and reach, slide steps and sit-up tests. Tests for New Zealand children comprised a 550-m run, standing long jump, sit and reach, agility test, and sit-ups. Comparing physical fitness of children in each country, each test was classified into 5 fitness factors. Correlations of each physical fitness test with BMI for New Zealand and Japanese children were calculated without an underweight group. Prevalence of overweight and obesity were significantly higher in New Zealand children than in Japanese (boys, p<0.05; girls, p<0.001). Prevalence of underweight was higher in Japanese girls than in New Zealand girls (p<0.001). Some fitness factors showed significant negative correlations, but this was not strong. Despite the different cultures and ethnicities, relationships between BMI and each physical fitness factor were thus similar in both countries. Important problems are the number of lower-fitness children within the normal group in both countries. These findings suggest that relationships between BMI and various fitness factors can be estimated for Japanese children as in Western countries, and development of motor fitness for children of both countries appears warranted regardless of BMI. These regions should share ideas and strategies in the schools and society of both countries to prevent decreasing physical fitness and increasing weight on children.
Schumpeter and Steindl on Growth and the Transformation to Maturity in Capitalism

Joseph Schumpeter and Josef Steindl provide distinctive contributions to the analysis of growth and development under capitalism. They each analyse the evolution of competition and use this analysis to determine the growth prospects of mature capitalism. Both reach pessimistic conclusions, although for different reasons. This paper critically examines the analysis of each author and makes suggestions for building on their work to provide a richer theory of economic growth and transformation within advanced capitalist economies.
High-Quality Shearlet Transform based Light Field Compression Under Very-Low Bitrates

—Light ﬁeld (LF) acquisition devices capture spatial and angular information of the scene. In contrast with traditional cameras, the additional angular information enables novel post-processing applications such as 3D scene reconstruction, refocusing at different depth planes, and synthetic aperture. In this paper, we present a novel compression scheme for LF data captured using multiple traditional cameras. The input LF views are divided into two groups, i.e. key views and decimated views. The key views are compressed using multi-view extension of High Efﬁciency Video Coding (MV-HEVC) scheme and decimated views are predicted using the shearlet transform based prediction (STBP) scheme. Additionally, the residual information of predicted views is also encoded and sent along with the coded stream of key views. The proposed scheme is evaluated over benchmark multi-camera based LF dataset and it is demonstrated that incorporating the residual information into compression scheme increases the overall PSNR by 2 dB. The proposed compression scheme performs signiﬁcantly better in low bit-rates compared to anchor schemes whose compression efﬁciency is better in high bit-rate scenarios. The sensitivity of the human vision system towards compression artifacts speciﬁcally in low bit-rates favors the proposed compression scheme over the anchor schemes.
Direct estimation of near-surface damping based on normalized energy density

We propose a direct estimation of dampings in surface layers based on the normalized energy density (NED). The ratio of the NED, deﬁned as the NED for the uppermost layer divided by the NED for the basement, correlates well with the total damping, t ∗ S . We apply the relation between the NED ratio and the total damping to estimate the total damping at an actual site, Katagihara (KTG) site in Japan. The total damping at the KTG site is directly estimated as t ∗ S = 0 . 038. This value agrees well with the estimated values determined from a conventional method, incorporating the non-linear inversion scheme.
Effective shear and bulk viscosity of partially molten rock based on elastic moduli theory of a fluid filled poroelastic medium

SUMMARY The effective bulk and shear viscosity of the matrix of a partially molten rock are important properties for the process of melt migration and matrix compaction. A set of porosity-dependent effective bulk and shear viscosity models is presented based on a self-consistent poroelastic formulation for partially molten rock where the melt occurs in spherical, ellipsoidal, film-like or tubular inclusions. For these melt geometries a graphical user interface operated MATLAB program is provided which allows the calculation of effective bulk and shear viscosities as a function of porosity, as well as effective elastic moduli and seismic velocities. For all melt geometries an inverse porosity—dependence of the effective bulk viscosity is found. Depending on the assumed melt geometry, this formulation predicts both the effective bulk and shear viscosity to drop to zero at and above finite melt fractions of 20–50 per cent. Fitting equations are derived allowing direct implementation into two-phase flow melt–matrix formulations.
Evaluation of Current Technologies and Development of Novel Techniques for Detection of Obstacles Buried in Snow

The project's goal was the development of a radar system to detect obstacles obscured by deep snow, and to provide range information for guardrails under snowbanks. After the project started, the need for such a system was re-evaluated by Caltrans end users and management, and it was determined that such a system would not currently be cost-beneficial. In response, research work on this project halted after approximately one quarter of work. This report documents the work performed in one quarter, which included the development of complete architecture and high-level system design, as well as preliminary detailed system design. The report also provides further information on the motivation and history of the project.
Pedagogical practices from the perspective of ethics in the initial training of preschool students. Prácticas pedagógicas desde la perspectiva de la ética en la formación inicial de los estudiantes en etapa preescolar

Objective: This article's main purpose is to conduct a systematic review, following the guidelines and directives established by the PRISMA declaration. The focus is on analyzing pedagogical practices from an ethical perspective in the context of students' initial training. Method: The analysis was developed through a detailed exploration of the available information, seeking to cover research advances in this specific field. In order to guarantee an accurate and relevant approach, inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Three renowned databases, namely Web of Science (WOS), Scopus and ProQuest, were used for the search. Boolean operators were used to refine the search, such as "Practices AND pedagogical OR ethical AND teachers OR preschool OR university NOT". Results: This rigorous search process resulted in the identification of a total of 23 results, which were selected for analysis and then compiled into a matrix. This matrix reflects the title of each research paper, the methodology employed, the results obtained and the specific
The effects of economic integration on regional growth : an evolutionary model

This paper will present a multi-region-multi-country model in which inter-regional knowledge spillovers determine the growth of regions. Key parameters in the model are the learning capability of a region, and the exogenous rate of knowledge generation (R&D). The intensity of spillovers depends on geographical distance between regions. The model is investigated by means of simulation techniques. What results is a core-periphery situation, the exact form of which depends on the assumed spatial structure. One surprising result of the analysis is that larger technological differences between regions may lead to smaller disparity in terms of the long-run spatial distribution of GDP per capita. The impact of economic integration is investigated by comparing two different aspects of the model. First, examining a fixed exchange rate system versus a system of flexible exchange rates results in conditions (constellations of parameters) under which fixed exchange rates (compared to flexible exchange rates) generate less disparity across regions. However, depending on the parameter values, fixed exchange rates may also generate more disparity, leading to the conclusion that the effect of monetary integration is ambiguous. Second, the impact of barriers to knowledge spillovers is analysed by assuming that cross border knowledge flows are hampered compared to inter-country flows. This results in the observation that reduced cross border flows have a large impact when regions are initially unequal with respect to their exogenous rate of knowledge generation or their learning capability. In these cases, the resulting trends in overall disparity are quite different from the trends established in a situation of no barriers to knowledge spillovers.
Seismotectonics and relative plate motions in the Scotia Sea region

Source parameter inversion of P and SH waveforms and amplitudes for 20 shallow earthquakes using a singular value decomposition technique provides important constraints on the tectonics and relative plate motions of the Scotia Sea region. The derived focal mechanisms show both thrust and strike-slip faulting along the North Scotia Ridge and normal and strike-slip faulting along the South Scotia Ridge. Two thrust faulting mechanisms south of Tierra del Fuego indicate diffuse convergence of the Antarctic plate along the western margin of the Scotia plate. Earthquakes are consistent with active subduction and back arc spreading along the South Shetland Trench and Bransfield Strait. The depths of two earthquakes (35 km and 55 km) and one shallow thrust faulting event suggest continued subduction along the South Shetland Trench, but the underthrusting is largely aseismic due to the young plate age and slow subduction rate. The magnitude and depth of normal faulting earthquakes along Bransfield Strait and the South Scotia Ridge are suggestive of diffuse extension rather than typical organized mid-ocean spreading, which is generally associated with smaller and shallower earthquakes. Eight strike-slip and thrust faulting events provide well-constrained slip vectors showing Scotia plate motion relative to the surrounding larger plates. Using a four-plate model (Scotia (SC), South Sandwich (SS), Antarctica (AN) and South America (SA)) and a fixed SA-AN Euler vector, we inverted these data together with published centroid moment tensor slip vectors along the South Sandwich Trench and published marine magnetic data from the SS back arc spreading center to derive the first quantitative plate motion model for the Scotia region. The SC-SA Euler pole is located in the South Atlantic and shows large latitudinal uncertainties. The SC-AN pole is better constrained and located in the Weddell Sea. These results predict left-lateral strike-slip motion with a component of compression along the North Scotia Ridge, left-lateral strike-slip with a component of extension along the South Scotia Ridge, and east-west compression in Drake Passage. Although no rate data have been published connecting the Scotia plate with the global plate system, Euler vector magnitudes are obtained through closure. The results, though poorly constrained, suggest relative motion rates of 0.5 cm/yr along the North Scotia Ridge and 1.0 cm/yr along the South Scotia Ridge and in Drake Passage.
Spatial distribution of temperature trends in Sicily

Climate change resulting from the enhanced greenhouse effect is expected to have great impacts on hydrological cycle and consequently on ecosystems. The effects of climate variability have direct implications on water management, as water availability is related to changes in temperature and precipitation regimes. At the same time, this kind of alterations drives ecological impacts on flora and fauna. For these reasons, many studies have been carried out to investigate the existence of some tendency in temperature and/or precipitation series in different geographic domains. In order to verify the hypothesis of temperature increase in Sicily (Italy), temperature data from about 80 spatially distributed weather stations have been deeply analysed. In this study, trend of annual, seasonal and monthly temperature time series have been examined for the period 1924–2006 to investigate possible evidences of climate changes in this region. In addition, also a long series (more than 200 years) has been analysed in order to individuate possible anomalies in the 20th century and to verify the presence, in the last decades, of a temperature increase larger than in the past. The Mann–Kendall non‐parametric statistical test has been used to identify trends in temperature time series data. The test has been applied at local and regional scale for three different confidence level, considering the influence of serial correlation as well. The field significance of the regional results has been evaluated using a bootstrap technique of resampling that allows to eliminate the influence of data spatial correlation on Mann–Kendall test. The application of Mann–Kendall test on temperature data provides the evidence of a general warming in Sicily during the analysed period. The analysis of the long series demonstrates that the temperature trend is mainly due to the strong rising observed in the last years of the past century. In order to determine the spatial patterns of temperature trends and identify areas with a similar temperature evolution, the detected trends have been first subjected to the spatial auto correlation analysis and then interpolated using spatial analysis techniques in a GIS framework. Temperature trend maps have allowed to argue on the risk of aridity increase, in particular in the central and western part of the island. Copyright © 2013 Royal Meteorological Society