Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weed Mapping in Early-Season Maize Fields Using Object-Based Analysis of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Images

The use of remote imagery captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has tremendous potential for designing detailed site-specific weed control treatments in early post-emergence, which have not possible previously with conventional airborne or satellite images. A robust and entirely automatic object-based image analysis (OBIA) procedure was developed on a series of UAV images using a six-band multispectral camera (visible and near-infrared range) with the ultimate objective of generating a weed map in an experimental maize field in Spain. The OBIA procedure combines several contextual, hierarchical and object-based features and consists of three consecutive phases: 1) classification of crop rows by application of a dynamic and auto-adaptive classification approach, 2) discrimination of crops and weeds on the basis of their relative positions with reference to the crop rows, and 3) generation of a weed infestation map in a grid structure. The estimation of weed coverage from the image analysis yielded satisfactory results. The relationship of estimated versus observed weed densities had a coefficient of determination of r2=0.89 and a root mean square error of 0.02. A map of three categories of weed coverage was produced with 86% of overall accuracy. In the experimental field, the area free of weeds was 23%, and the area with low weed coverage (<5% weeds) was 47%, which indicated a high potential for reducing herbicide application or other weed operations. The OBIA procedure computes multiple data and statistics derived from the classification outputs, which permits calculation of herbicide requirements and estimation of the overall cost of weed management operations in advance.
Social Determinants of Health

This chapter reviews differences with respect to health outcomes within and between countries, and the role of the ‘social determinants of health’—family, household, community, and societal conditions—in shaping these outcomes. The pathways from before birth, through the early childhood years, to adolescence and adult health are explored, in particular looking at relationships between health and wealth, as manifested through social, economic, and political factors. National wealth is associated with better child health where adequate resources are channelled into public and social goods, such as clean water and sanitation, education, basic health care, social protection. National, and increasingly global, influences on a country’s ability to raise domestic revenue and finance public services are considered, including aid, trade, and the international and multilateral systems. In a rapidly globalising world, more effort is required to elucidate the channels between global, national and local actors in the generation and equitable distribution of resources.
Revival of Industrial Hemp: A systematic analysis of the current global industry to determine limitations and identify future potentials within the concept of sustainability

Industrial hemp or Cannabis sativa L. is a quick growing, annual herb with a multitude of uses covering a range of products derived from fiber or oilseed that have been known throughout history. Cultivation in industrialized countries more or less halted in the early 20 century when hemp became intrinsically linked with marijuana, the species other phenotype, which contains larger quantities of the psychoactive compound, THC. Recently, a renewed interest in hemp for industrial purposes has occurred due to environmental concerns, the over production of food crops coupled with a need for new sources of fiber. The aim of this research is to present a comprehensive foundation in order to evaluate the hemp industry and its contribution to sustainable agriculture. This includes determining the variables limiting growth at this stage. Hemp scores high in environmental and social aspects but the economics were not as convincing. If the industry is to receive a substantial share in any particular market, industry limitations caused by educational, technical, and political obstacles need to be addressed. Further investigation into the future potential of hemp markets revealed that only niche markets are viable in the near future. More market opportunities exist for the mid and long term future of the industry, especially for value added products. Recommendations include addressing the social stigma, and research efforts aimed at improving farm gate profitability through breeding and technological improvements. If the recommendations are applied and effectively used to reduce the industry’s obstacles, the economic outlook for the industry will substantially improve, especially if bioregional economics is employed. This study has shown that industrial hemp can play an important role in sustainable agriculture environmentally, socially and ultimately economically.
A design of robust energy detector for cognitive radios

Cognitive radio has been considered as the key to promote the efficient use of the spectrum by exploiting idle spectrum bands. Energy detection method is the most commonly used method for spectrum sensing in cognitive radios because of its simplicity and good performance. However, the performance of energy detector deteriorates rapidly if the noise power is fluctuating. In order to cope with noise uncertainty, this paper proposes a robust energy detection method based on Huber's mixture model. The proposed robust energy detector performs amplitude-limiting operation before energy detection and in fact is an improved energy detector. A detailed performance analysis is given on this method and simulation results are presented to show the validity and the superiority of the proposed method.
Single Cell Analysis Reveals Regulated Hierarchical T Cell Antigen Receptor Signaling Thresholds and Intraclonal Heterogeneity for Individual Cytokine Responses of CD4+ T Cells

T cell receptor (TCR) recognition of peptide–major histocompatibility complex antigens can elicit a diverse array of effector activities. Here we simultaneously analyze TCR engagement and the production of multiple cytokines by individual cells in a clonal Th1 CD4+ cell population. Low concentrations of TCR ligand elicit only interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production. Increasing ligand recruits more cells into the IFN-γ+ pool, increases IFN-γ produced per cell, and also elicits IL-2, but only from cells already making IFN-γ. Most cells producing only IFN-γ show less TCR downmodulation than cells producing both cytokines, consistent with a requirement for more TCR signaling to elicit IL-2 than to evoke IFN-γ synthesis. These studies emphasize the hierarchical organization of TCR signaling thresholds for induction of distinct cytokine responses, and demonstrate that this threshold phenomenon applies to individual cells. The existence of such thresholds suggests that antigen dose may dictate not only the extent, but also the quality of an immune response, by altering the ratios of the cytokines produced by activated T cells. The quantitative relationships in this response hierarchy change in response to costimulation through CD28 or LFA-1, as well as the differentiation state of the lymphocyte, explaining how variations in these parameters in the face of a fixed antigen load can qualitatively influence immune outcomes. Finally, although the IFN-γ/IL-2 hierarchy is seen with most cells, among cells with the greatest TCR downmodulation, some produce only IFN-γ and not IL-2, and the amount of IFN-γ exceeds that in double producers. Thus, these single cell analyses also provide clear evidence of nonquantitative intraclonal heterogeneity in cytokine production by long-term Th1 cells, indicating additional complexity of T cell function during immune responses.
Multilevel Theory Building: Benefits, Barriers, and New Developments

The article focuses on benefits, recent developments, and barriers to multilevel theory building. It states that multilevel theories span levels of organizational behavior and foster synthesis within the organizational sciences. It mentions that multilevel theories help identify characteristics, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors that help shape the organization. It states that some barriers to multilevel theories include conflicting interests, heuristics, and scope. It mentions that a sensemaking perspective can be used to explore creativity when analyzing several levels, including the inter- and intrasubjective levels as well as the collective level.
Coupled Least Squares Identification Algorithms for Multivariate Output-Error Systems

This paper focuses on the recursive identification problems for a multivariate output-error system. By decomposing the system into several subsystems and by forming a coupled relationship between the parameter estimation vectors of the subsystems, two coupled auxiliary model based recursive least squares (RLS) algorithms are presented. Moreover, in contrast to the auxiliary model based recursive least squares algorithm, the proposed algorithms provide a reference to improve the identification accuracy of the multivariate output-error system. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Simple Deterministically Constructed Cycle Reservoirs with Regular Jumps

A new class of state-space models, reservoir models, with a fixed state transition structure (the “reservoir”) and an adaptable readout from the state space, has recently emerged as a way for time series processing and modeling. Echo state network (ESN) is one of the simplest, yet powerful, reservoir models. ESN models are generally constructed in a randomized manner. In our previous study (Rodan & Tiňo, 2011), we showed that a very simple, cyclic, deterministically generated reservoir can yield performance competitive with standard ESN. In this contribution, we extend our previous study in three aspects. First, we introduce a novel simple deterministic reservoir model, cycle reservoir with jumps (CRJ), with highly constrained weight values, that has superior performance to standard ESN on a variety of temporal tasks of different origin and characteristics. Second, we elaborate on the possible link between reservoir characterizations, such as eigenvalue distribution of the reservoir matrix or pseudo-Lyapunov exponent of the input-driven reservoir dynamics, and the model performance. It has been suggested that a uniform coverage of the unit disk by such eigenvalues can lead to superior model performance. We show that despite highly constrained eigenvalue distribution, CRJ consistently outperforms ESN (which has much more uniform eigenvalue coverage of the unit disk). Also, unlike in the case of ESN, pseudo-Lyapunov exponents of the selected optimal CRJ models are consistently negative. Third, we present a new framework for determining the short-term memory capacity of linear reservoir models to a high degree of precision. Using the framework, we study the effect of shortcut connections in the CRJ reservoir topology on its memory capacity.
Entrainment and Interruption of Atrial Flutter with Atrial Pacing: Studies in Man Following Open Heart Surgery

To examine the question of why the pacing rate and duration of atrial pacing are crucial factors in the successful interruption of atrial flutter, studies were performed on 30 patients in the period following open heart surgery. In each patient the diagnosis of atrial flutter was made using a pair of wire electrodes placed on the right atrial epicardium at the time of operation and brought out through the anterior chest wall. The same electrodes were used for atrial pacing. Pacing faster than the spontaneous rate of the atrial flutter which failed to interrupt the atrial flutter was associated with transient entrainment of the atrial flutter up to the atrial pacing rate. Atrial flutter was interrupted successfully when the atria were paced at a rate which was too fast for the atrial flutter to follow. This was heralded by the conversion of previously negative flutter waves to positive atrial complexes in ECG lead II. When pacing the atria at a constant rate, 2-22 seconds with a mean of 10 seconds were required to interrupt the atrial flutter.
İngilizce Öğretmen Adaylarının Mesleki Gelişime ve Lisans Eğitimine Yönelik Görüşleri

Bu calismanin amaci, Turk egitim sistemine bagli okullarda gorev alacak Ingilizce ogretmen adaylarinin almakta olduklari lisans egitimine iliskin goruslerini saptamak ve goreve basladiktan sonra mesleki acidan kendilerini nasil gelistireceklerini belirleyip elde edilen bulgular isiginda oneriler gelistirmektir. Bu calismaya, Ingilizce Ogretmenligi bolumunde okuyan 214 ogrenci katilmistir. Arastirmada genel tarama modeli kullanilmistir. Olcme araci olarak arastirmacilar tarafindan gelistirilen Mesleki Gelisime ve Lisans Egitimine Yonelik gorus anketi kullanilmistir. Ayrica katilimcilara, mesleki acidan kendilerini nasil gelistirmeyi dusunduklerine ve aldiklari lisans egitimine yonelik goruslerini almak uzere iki acik uclu soru sorulmustur. Acik uclu sorulara verilen yanitlardan temalar olusturulmustur. Verilerin analizinde yuzde ve frekans hesaplamalari kullanilmistir. Arastirma sonunda, adaylarin bilgilerini sinayan merkezi sinavlara girme isteginde olduklari, staj suresinin yeterli fakat iceriginin yetersiz goruldugu, hizmet ici egitim almaya istekli olduklari, lisansustu egitime onem verdikleri, kedilerinden daha deneyimli meslektaslariyla bilgi alisverisi istedikleri, akran degerlendirmesi konusuna olumlu baktiklari yonunde gorusler bulunmustur.
CO 2 breathing Suppresses Cerebral Metabolic Rate of Oxygen

INTRODUCTION: CO2 has been known for its high potency in modulating blood flow. However the effect of CO2 on neuronal activity and brain energy consumption is not yet known. Characterization of such an effect can provide a new opportunity to non-invasively and conveniently modulate neural activity in humans, which traditionally would have to be done surgically or transcranially. For example, suppressing of neural activity can be used to terminate an epileptic episode (1). Also, the ability of reducing neural activity may provide a potential therapy for insomnia and other sleep disorders. In addition, understanding the effect of CO2 on neurons is useful in re-assessing CO2 as a pure vascular challenge as well as in interpreting the data of calibrated fMRI studies. A recent electroneurophysiology study in anesthetized animal provided evidences that mild hypercapnia (HC) reduces neural activity (2). Here we performed an MRI and an EEG study to assess the effect of HC on oxygen consumption and neural activity in humans. In the MRI study, we used a recently developed method (3) to measure cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) during normocapnia (NC) and HC. In the EEG study, we measured surface electrode potentials during NC and HC. METHODS: MRI experiments (8 healthy controls, 5 M, 3 F, age 20-35) were performed on a 3T Philips System. Absolute CMRO2 in units of μmol/min was calculated using Fick principle 2 ( ) a v a CMRO CBF Y Y C = ⋅ − ⋅ , where CBF is the blood flow in ml/min, Ya is the arterial oxygenation (%), Yv is the
Follow The Leader: Theory And Evidence On Political Participation

This paper presents an empirical and theoretical investigation of the strategic components to political participation. Using state-by-state voting data for the eleven U.S. Presidential elections, 1948-1988, we first show that voter turnout is a positive function of predicted closeness and a negative function of the voting population size. We then develop a follow-the-leader model of political participation to explain and to impose structure on these empirical regularities. In the model, leaders expend effort according to their chance of being pivotal, which depends on the expected closeness of the race (at both the state and national levels), its unpredictability, the number of eligible voters, and the rationally anticipated turnout in response to effort by leaders. Returning to the data with structural estimation shows that closeness counts: a one percent increase in the predicted closeness at the state level increases turnout by 0.34 percent. Through simulations, we calculate the chance that each state is pivotal in the national elections. This national closeness effect is significant in explaining effort and participation. Winning the national election is worth thirteen times the value of winning the state. However, since the average chance of a state being pivotal is small, in 96 percent of the observations the value of winning the state had a larger net impact on motivating effort. As a test of the model, we compare our effort variable with National Election Studies data on the proportion of individuals contacted by campaign representatives. Although our effort variable is inferred from the equilibrium model and thus is estimated without using direct data on campaign effort levels, it is significantly correlated with party contact.
Wavelet-based depth map estimation for light field cameras

Conventional depth estimation methods for light field cameras often fail to estimate sharp object boundaries. We propose a depth estimation method using a wavelet-based matching cost calculation and an estimation optimization, which can estimate sharp object boundaries. Our method first calculates matching costs on four subband images derived with a wavelet transform, and then combines the costs based on matching confidence. After an initial depth estimation by using the matching cost, we improve estimation by an optimization process. Experimental results demonstrated that our proposed method provides more plausible estimation with sharper object boundaries.
Developmental and dynamic canal stenosis as radiologic factors affecting surgical results of anterior cervical fusion for myelopathy.

STUDY DESIGN The correlation between preoperative and postoperative lateral functional radiograms and clinical results was analyzed in 74 cases of myelopathy treated by anterior cervical fusion. OBJECTIVES To clarify the correlation between clinical results and radiologic findings (developmental and dynamic stenosis). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Although radiologic changes have been reported at the disc level adjacent to anterior cervical fusion, the question of whether these radiologic findings affect the clinical results of anterior fusion has not been resolved. METHODS The "deteriorated" results group (28 cases) was composed of cases with deterioration of 2 points or more in the Japan Orthopedic Association score at follow-up compared with the postoperative best score. The "good" results group (46 cases) exhibited a recovery rate of > or = 50%. The two groups were compared in lateral functional roentgenograms on which the sagittal canal diameter in each vertebra and the diameter between the inferoposterior lip of the vertebral body and the anterior margin of the lamina of the distal vertebra in the extended neck were measured. A diameter of less than 12 mm was defined as developmental canal stenosis or dynamic canal stenosis. RESULTS Fifty-four percent of the cases in the deteriorated results group had developmental canal stenosis, whereas the same findings were identified in only 2% of the cases in the good results group (P < 0.01). Preoperative dynamic canal stenosis at the disc level adjacent to the fusion was found in 64% of the patients in the deteriorated results group and in only 4% of the patients in the good results group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Patients in the deteriorated results group showed a higher incidence of preoperative developmental and/or dynamic canal stenosis at the adjacent disc level than those in the the good results group. These results indicate that patients with preoperative developmental canal stenosis are not suitable candidates for anterior cervical fusion. When dynamic canal stenosis is found below or above the level of fusion, simultaneous fusion is recommended to avoid deterioration of the myelopathy.
Understanding Nonverbal Learning Disorders in Children with Spina Bifida

brown hair and dark eyes, glares at her mother as she rolls her wheelchair in the front door. She and her mom exchange hugs, then Kayla explodes into tears as she describes her day. She had a different paraeducator that day, the schedule was rearranged since they had a concert practice, she missed some of her favorite class—art, her dad was a few minutes late to pick her up, and she had math homework to do, which she didn't understand. Kayla continues to go over these things and gets even more upset. Her mother knows that her daughter will continue until she gags and throws-up if she doesn't intervene, so her mother gets out bubbles and has Kayla blow them with her, knowing that if Kayla's blowing, she can't be throwing up. Kayla's mother listens to her, then tries to move on to the "what's for dinner" and "let's look at the mail" topics. Kayla calms down, but continues to bring up each of the things that were different than her normal routine throughout the evening. Kayla expresses feelings of confusion and being overwhelmed by her day. Kayla's mother listens but is careful not to let Kayla get too upset and intervenes with bubbles or controlled breathing (Lamaze type) as needed. She continues with the evening routine, knowing that this is what Kayla needs most. At bedtime, Kayla reviews her frustrating day, and the tears start again. Her mom listens, reassures, and reminds Kayla that things should be better tomorrow. With a kiss and a wish for sweet dreams from her mom, Kayla soon falls asleep, exhausted.
Monte Carlo study of the evaporation/condensation transition of Ising droplets

In recent analytical work, Biskup et al. (Europhys. Lett., 60 (2002) 21) studied the behaviour of d-dimensional finite-volume liquid-vapour systems at a fixed excess δN of particles above the ambient gas density. By identifying a dimensionless parameter Δ(δN) and a universal constant Δc(d), they showed in the limit of large system sizes that for Δ Δc a droplet of the dense phase occurs ("condensed" system). Also the fraction λΔ of excess particles forming the droplet is given explicitly. Furthermore, they argue that the same is true for solid-gas systems. By making use of the well-known equivalence of the lattice-gas picture with the spin-(1/2) Ising model, we performed Monte Carlo simulations of the Ising model with nearest-neighbour couplings on a square lattice with periodic boundary conditions at fixed magnetisation, corresponding to a fixed particles excess. To test the applicability of the analytical results to much smaller, practically accessible system sizes, we measured the largest minority droplet, corresponding to the solid phase, at various system sizes (L = 40,.,640). Using analytic values for the spontaneous magnetisation m0, the susceptibility χ and the Wulff interfacial free energy density τW for the infinite system, we were able to determine λΔ numerically in very good agreement with the theoretical prediction.