Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Newcomer challenges with accessing healthcare services in Saskatchewan, Canada

Newcomers experience a variety of barriers to healthcare services. The study objective is to identify newcomers’ healthcare barriers. During 2014-2015, we conducted in-depth interviews with service providers, and newcomer parents who had been in Saskatchewan for under 5 years. Primary themes include: 1) navigation difficulty, 2) limited awareness, 3) language, 4) interpretation and translation, 5) health benefits, 6) service limitations and stigma, 7) gender and cultural concerns, 8) health attitudes and beliefs, and 9) work demands. The results exposed service gaps and suggest options to improve access to healthcare. Consideration should be given to the development of formal processes to ensure the provision of information concerning healthcare and health benefit programs, as well as responsive healthcare services, including convenient primary healthcare sites that offer comprehensive care in a culturally responsive manner with embedded interpretation services to ensure that the Saskatchewan healthcare system does not perpetuate or create health disparities.
Comparative study of soil properties under various cultivation regimes of different crops

Establishment of cover crops is an effective way to reverse the soil fertility decline, which can be caused by a range of inappropriate traditional agriculture practices, particularly tillage and inorganic fertiliser application. In this study, soil properties were assessed under various cultivation regimes of different crops, including legumes, grass, and nursery natural rubber (NR) trees (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.), in southern Vietnam. The crops studied had all been growing for 7 years commencing in 1999, on light-textured Acrisols. Soils under the cultivation regime of creeping legumes including Calopogonium caeruleum, Pueraria phaseoloides, and Stylosanthes gracilis had significantly higher carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentrations and porosity than soils under the other management types studied. Soils under Brachiaria ruziziensis and P. phaseoloides had the highest aggregate stability. Cultivation regimes with tillage, field traffic, and inorganic fertilisers applied to nursery NR trees increased phosphorus (P) availability, but this was accompanied by increased soil compaction and reductions in most of the other soil properties analysed. Relative to the nursery NR cultivation, creeping-legume cultivation increased soil C concentration (by 95%), soil pHH2O (by 19%), macro-aggregates (by 29%), and porosity (by 8%). From principal component analysis, three soil properties—soil organic carbon (SOC), porosity, and P availability—were selected as key indicators suitable for the evaluation of the effects of cultivation on soils. Establishment of C. caeruleum and B. ruziziensis was most effective in improving soil C content, and soil porosity was significantly higher under C. caeruleum and P. phaseoloides. These findings suggest that each cover crop had its own dominant agro-characteristics and that selection of a cover crop to either improve soil fertility or reduce compaction should be considered by farmers in this region.
Czech 0 A parallel simulated annealing algorithm as a tool for fitness landscapes exploration

Solving a discrete optimization problem consists in finding a solution which maximizes (or minimizes) an objective function. The function is often called the fitness and the corresponding landscape the fitness landscape. We are concerned with statistical measures of a fitness landscape in the context of the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW). The measures are determined by using a parallel simulated annealing algorithm as a tool for exploring a solution space. This chapter summarizes our experience in designing parallel simulated annealing algorithms and investigating fitness landscapes of a sample NP-hard bicriterion optimization problem. Since 2002 we have developed several versions of the parallel simulated annealing (SA) algorithm (11)-(19). Each of these versions comprises a number of parallel SA processes which co-operate periodically by passing and exploiting the best solutions found during the search. For this purpose a specific scheme of co-operation of processes has been devised. The methods of parallelization of simulated annealing are discussed in Aarts and van Laarhoven (2), Aarts and Korst (1), Greening (20), Abramson (3), Boissin and Lutton (8), and Verhoeven and Aarts (35). Parallel simulated annealing to solve the VRPTW is applied by Arbelaitz et al. (4). Onbaşoğlu and Özdamar (26) present the applications of parallel simulated annealing algorithms in various global optimization problems. The comprehensive study of parallelization of simulated annealing is given by Azencott et al. (5) The parallel SA algorithm allowed us to discover the landscape properties of the VRPTW benchmarking tests (33). This knowledge not only increased our understanding of processes which happen during optimization, but also helped to improve the performance of the parallel algorithm. The usage of the landscape notion is traced back to the paper by Wright (37). The more formal treatments of the landscape properties are given by Stadler (32), Hordijk and Stadler (22), Reidys and Stadler (31). Statistical measures of a landscape are proposed by Weinberger (36). The reviews of the landscape issues are given by Reeves (30) and Reeves and Rowe (29). Section 2 of this chapter formulates the optimization problem which is solved. Section 3 describes a sequential SA algorithm. In section 4 two versions of the parallel SA algorithm, called independent and co-operating searches, are presented. Section 5 is devoted to the statistical measures of the fitness landscapes in the context of the VRPTW. In subsections 5.1-5.2 some basic notions are introduced, and in subsection 5.3 the results of the experimental study are discussed. Section 6 concludes the chapter. 13
Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting Disaster Policy And Planning

Mitigating natural hazards - a national challenge evolving mitigation policy directions Florida after Hurricane Andrew Missouri after the mid-West floods of 1993 California after the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes Massachusetts after Hurricane Bob and other storms Tennessee after a series of floods and storms state hazard mitigation plans - falling short of their potential the hazard mitigation grant programme - scattered spending state implementation of natural disaster mitigation policy ethical guidelines for hazard mitigation natural hazard mitigation - planning for sustainable communities.
Evaluation of groundwater monitoring results at the Hanford Site 200 Area Treated Effluent Disposal Facility

The Hanford Site 200 Area Treated Effluent Disposal Facility (TEDF) has operated since June 1995. Groundwater monitoring has been conducted quarterly in the three wells surrounding the facility since 1992, with contributing data from nearby B Pond System wells. Cumulative hydrologic and geochemical information from the TEDF well network and other surrounding wells indicate no discernable effects of TEDF operations on the uppermost aquifer in the vicinity of the TEDF. The lateral consistency and impermeable nature of the Ringold Formation lower mud unit, and the contrasts in hydraulic conductivity between this unit and the vadose zone sediments of the Hanford formation suggest that TEDF effluent is spreading laterally with negligible mounding or downward movement into the uppermost aquifer. Hydrographs of TEDF wells show that TEDF operations have had no detectable effects on hydraulic heads in the uppermost aquifer, but show a continuing decay of the hydraulic mound generated by past operations at the B Pond System. Comparison of groundwater geochemistry from TEDF wells and other, nearby RCRA wells suggests that groundwater beneath TEDF is unique; different from both effluent entering TEDF and groundwater in the B Pond area. Tritium concentrations, major ionic proportions, and lower-than-background concentrations of other species suggest that groundwater in the uppermost aquifer beneath the TEDF bears characteristics of water in the upper basalt confined aquifer system. This report recommends retaining the current groundwater well network at the TEDF, but with a reduction of sampling/analysis frequency and some modifications to the list of constituents sought.
A study of photometric errors on two different photographic plate scans

A considerable number of photographic plate archives exist world wide and digitization is in progress or already has been finished. Not only different type of scanners were used but also spatial resolution and dynamic range often were limited due to process duration and storage space. The open question is the effect of these limitations on the results. 61 high resolution photographic plates of the Gamma Cyg field from the Bruce astrograph at Landessternwarte Heidelberg--K\"onigstuhl (aperture 40~cm, focal length 200~cm) had been digitized both in Heidelberg and Sonneberg. Both scanners were set to 16 bit dynamic range. The Heidelberg scanner was operated at 2540 dpi resolution, resulting in a scale of 1 arcsec/pixel, while the Sonneberg scanner was operated at 1200 dpi, yielding a scale of 2.1 arsec/pixel. In the presented study the standard deviation of non--variable star light curves were examined in dependence of brightness and plate coordinates in both series. No evident differences could be found. A comparison of the analysis of both scan series will be presented.
A General Equilibrium Model of Ecosystem Services in a River Basin

This study builds a general equilibrium model of ecosystem services, with sectors of the economy competing for use of the environment. The model recognizes that production processes in the real world require a combination of natural and human inputs, and understanding the value of these inputs and their competing uses is necessary when considering policies of resource conservation. We demonstrate the model with a numerical example of the Mississippi‐Atchafalaya river basin, in which grain production in the upper basin causes hypoxia that causes damages to the downstream fishing industry. We show that the size of damages is dependent on both environmental and economic shocks. While the potential damages to fishing are large, most of the damage occurs from economic forces rather than a more intensive use of nitrogen fertilizers. We show that these damages are exacerbated by increases in rainfall, which will likely get worse with climate change. We discuss welfare effects from a tax on nitrogen fertilizers and investments in riparian buffers. A 3% nitrogen tax would reduce the size of the hypoxic zone by 11% at a cost of 2% of Iowa's corn output. In comparison, riparian buffers are likely to be less costly and more popular politically.
Square Root SAM

Solving the SLAM problem is one way to enable a robot to explore, map, and navigate in a previously unknown environment. We investigate smoothing approaches as a viable alternative to extended Kalman filter-based solutions to the problem. In particular, we look at approaches that factorize either the associated information matrix or the measurement matrix into square root form. Such techniques have several significant advantages over the EKF: they are faster yet exact, they can be used in either batch or incremental mode, are better equipped to deal with non-linear process and measurement models, and yield the entire robot trajectory, at lower cost. In addition, in an indirect but dramatic way, column ordering heuristics automatically exploit the locality inherent in the geographic nature of the SLAM problem. In this paper we present the theory underlying these methods, an interpretation of factorization in terms of the graphical model associated with the SLAM problem, and simulation results that underscore the potential of these methods for use in practice.
Photosynthate Allocation Patterns Along a Fire-Induced Age Sequence in Two Shrub Species From the California Chaparral

In the prolonged absence of fire, shrubs of the California chaparral have sometimes been reported to demonstrate an increase in the proportion of standing dead biomass and a decrease in productivity (''senescence''). To investigate the possible physiological basis of this phenomenon, seasonal patterns of the allocation of 14C-labeled photosynthate were studied in leaves of two chaparral species, Adenostoma fasciculatum H. & A. and Ceanothus greggii var. perplexans (Trel.) Jeps. , along a fire-induced age sequence. Harvested leaves labeled with 14C were analyzed for percent of 14C in storage, structural, metabolic, and defense compounds. No age-specific trends in photosynthate allocation were found except in the spring. During spring, when demands on photosynthate for growth were high, shrubs in older stands allocated a much lower proportion ot their photosynthate to storage compounds compared to shrubs in younger stands. Older shrubs are apparently less able to meet the concurrent demands of storage and growth during spring than younger shrubs. This observation is consistent with the notion of physiological senescence in older shrubs, and has implications for questions about the optimum length of the fire-free interval for stands managed with prescribed burning.
Natural convection in a differentially heated cavity with a square obstruction on the sidewall

Abstract Natural convection in a differentially heated cavity with a square obstruction placed in the middle of the hot wall is investigated numerically. The results demonstrate that, firstly, the thermal boundary layer flow, blocked by the obstruction, forms a lower intrusion front, which then detaches from the hot wall, bypasses the obstruction, and reattaches to the thermal boundary layer. While the reattachment occurs, a complicated flow with circulations is induced, and the heat transfer through the hot wall is significantly enhanced.
Precession‐scale cyclicity in the fluvial lower Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming (USA)

Little is known about controls on river avulsion at geological time scales longer than 104 years, primarily because it is difficult to link observed changes in alluvial architecture to well‐defined allogenic mechanisms and to disentangle allogenic from autogenic processes. Recognition of Milankovitch‐sale orbital forcing in alluvial stratigraphy would provide unprecedented age control in terrestrial deposits, and also exploit models of allogenic forcing enabling more rigorous testing of allocyclic and autocyclic controls. The Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin is a lower Eocene fluvial unit distinctive for its thick sequence of laterally extensive lithological cycles on a scale of 4 to 10 m. Intervals of red palaeosols that formed on overbank mudstones are related to periods of relative channel stability when gradients between channel belts and floodplains were low. The intervening drab, heterolithic intervals with weak palaeosol development are attributed to episodes of channel avulsion that occurred when channels became super‐elevated above the floodplain. In the Deer Creek Amphitheater section in the McCullough Peaks area, these overbank and avulsion deposits alternate with a dominant cycle thickness of ca 7·1 m. Using integrated stratigraphic age constraints, this cyclicity has an estimated period of ca 21·6 kyr, which is in the range of the period of precession climate cycles in the early Eocene. Previous analyses of three older and younger sections in the Bighorn Basin showed a similar 7 to 8 m spacing of red palaeosol clusters with an estimated duration close to the precession period. Intervals of floodplain stability alternating with episodes of large‐scale reorganization of the fluvial system could be entirely autogenic; however, the remarkable regularity and the match in time scales documented here indicate that these alternations were probably paced by allogenic, astronomically forced climate change.
Hydraulic Fracturing Stress Measurements at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and Relationship to the Regional Stress Field

Hydraulic fracturing stress measurements and acoustic borehole televiewer logs were run in holes USW G-1 and USW G-2 at Yucca Mountain as part of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations for the U.S. Department of Energy. Eight tests in the saturated zone, at depths from 646 to 1288 m, yielded values of the least horizontal stress S_h that are considerably lower than the vertical principal stress S_v. In tests for which the greatest horizontal principal stress S_H could be determined, it was found to be less than S_v, indicating a normal faulting stress regime. The borehole televiewer logs showed the presence of long (in excess of 10 m), vertical, drilling-induced fractures in the first 300 m below the water table. These are believed to form by the propagation of small preexisting cracks under the excess downhole fluid pressures (up to 5.2 MPa) applied during drilling. The presence of these drilling-induced hydrofractures provides further confirmation of the low value of the least horizontal stresses. A least horizontal principal stress direction of N60°W–N65°W is indicated by the orientation of the drilling-induced hydrofractures (N25°E–N30°E), and the orientation of stress-induced well bore breakouts in the lower part of USW G-2 (N65°W). This direction is in good agreement with indicators of stress direction from elsewhere at the Nevada Test Site. The observed stress magnitudes and directions were examined for the possibility of slip on preexisting faults. Using these data, the Coulomb criterion for frictional sliding suggests that for coefficients of friction close to 0.6, movement on favorably oriented faults could be expected. For coefficients of friction of 1.0, preexisting faults of all orientations should be stable. Laboratory studies on the Yucca Mountain tuffs, reported elsewhere, yield coefficients of friction ranging from 0.6 to 0.9.
Experimental results on the pressure dependence of the Grüneisen parameter: A review

The pressure dependence of the Gruneisen parameter can be determined by the measurement of temperature changes associated with adiabatic compression using the thermo-dynamic relationship γ = Bs/T (∂T/∂P)s. Bs, the adiabatic bulk modulus, is known from ultrasonic measurements. The measurement of (∂T/∂P)s is carried out in an end-loaded piston cylinder apparatus at pressures up to 35 kbar using a fluid cell. Results are presented for a series of fluids, metals, salts, and minerals. For fluids an increase in γ with pressure is observed. For all solids investigated, γ decreases with pressure. A drastic increase in γ is observed when a substance undergoes a phase transition. We find a systematic behavior of (∂T/∂P)s versus volume except for minerals. The average value of q = −(∂l nγ/∂l nV)T is 1.3. The value of γ for iron at a compression equivalent to the core mantle boundary is discussed, but the uncertainties are too large to permit us to predict with confidence γ for iron at the temperatures and pressures of the core.
Seismic refraction with variable velocity

The results of an investigation of methods of interpreting and calculating the propagation of seismic waves with variable velocity in contrast to an assumed constant velocity is presented. One of the major purposes of this study is to establish a calculation method for use in seismic refraction work that can be applied to existing types of alluvia and similar geologic formations. In addition to presenting the necessary tables and graphs used for such computations, two examples from actual field experience are presented.
Fire dynamics and implications for nitrogen cycling in boreal forests

[1] We used a dynamic, long-term mass balance approach to track cumulative carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses to fire in boreal Manitoba over the 6500 years since deglaciation. Estimated C losses to decomposition and fire, combined with measurements of N pools in mature and burned forest floors, suggest that loss of N by combustion has likely resulted in a long-term loss that exceeds the amount of N stored in soil today by 2 to 3 times. These estimates imply that biological N fixation rates could be as high as 5 to 10 times atmospheric deposition rates in boreal regions. At the site scale, the amount of N lost is due to N content of fuels, which varies by stand type and fire severity, which in turn vary with climate and fire dynamics. The interplay of fire frequency, fire severity, and N partitioning during regrowth are important for understanding rates and sustainability of nutrient and carbon cycling over millenia and over broad regions.
Characteristic 20th and 21st century precipitation and temperature patterns and changes over the Greater Horn of Africa

Characteristic patterns and changes in precipitation and temperature over the Greater Horn of Africa during the 20th and 21st century are analysed based on a sample of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project version 3 (CMIP3) models output. Analysis of the 11 CMIP3 models indicates that the equatorial eastern Africa region (including the entire Greater Horn of Africa (GHA)) have been experiencing a significant increase in temperature beginning in the early 1980s, in both A1B and A2 scenarios. All the Atmosphere Ocean Global Circulation Models (AOGCMs) analysed represent the correct mean annual cycle of precipitation, but there is a fairly large spread among the models in capturing the dominant bimodal peaks. In particular, all the models tend to overestimate the peak of the October–November–December (OND) season, while at the same time the peak of the March–April–May (MAM) season tends to be centered on May in the models instead of April as observed. The projected changes and probability distribution of minimum (Tmin) and maximum (Tmax) temperatures over the GHA sub‐region based on PDFs constructed from daily values showed very diverse distributions for the present (1981–2000) and future (2046–2065; 2081–2100) periods. Whereas in the reference (1981–2000) the probability distribution functions (PDFs) constructed for both Tmin and Tmax, and during all the seasons had a near normal (but narrow) distribution, those of the future periods were quite diverse but generally very elongated, with significant shifts toward the positive tail. This generally implies that there is consensus among models and the ensemble mean about high likelihood of increase in extreme warmer Tmin and Tmax (more so Tmin) in the future over the GHA region. Our results also show significant increase in the number of days with Tmin and Tmax greater the 2 °C (above 1981–2000 average) by the middle as well as the end of 21st century in both the A1B and A1 scenarios. This is especially so during the June, July, and August (JJA) season where all the 92 days of the season indicate projected minimum temperature to increase by more than 2 °C above the 1981–2000 average by the end of 21st century in both scenarios. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society