Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing forest canopies and understorey illumination: canopy closure, canopy cover and other measures

Summary The forest canopy is one of the chief determinants of the microhabitat within the forest. It affects plant growth and survival, hence determining the nature of the vegetation, and wildlife habitat. A plethora of different techniques have been devised to measure the canopy. Evaluation of the literature reveals confusion over what is actually being measured. This paper distinguishes two basic types of measurement: canopy cover is the area of the ground covered by a vertical projection of the canopy, while canopy closure is the proportion of the sky hemisphere obscured by vegetation when viewed from a single point. The principal techniques used to measure canopy cover, canopy closure, and a number of related measures are described and discussed. The advantages and limitations are outlined and some sampling guidelines are provided. The authors hope to clarify the nature of the measurements and to provide foresters with sufficient information to select techniques suitable for their needs.
Toward a better understanding of the relation between music preference, listening behavior, and personality

Previous research relating personality and music preferences has often measured such reported preferences according to genre labels. To support previous research, the current paper has expanded investigation of the relation between personality and music preferences to include direct measurement of music listening behavior. A study (N = 395) measured participants’ personality, reported music preferences, and their listening behavior, which was tracked while using a music database for a minimum period of three months. Results indicated that reported music preferences were correlated to listening behavior, and indicated robust positive relations between Neuroticism and Classical music preference, and between Openness to Experience and Jazz music preference. Results also indicated issues when using genre labels to measure music preferences, which are discussed.
Design and Testing of a Large Composite Asymmetric Payload Fairing

A very large asymmetric composite payload fairing (PLF) was developed for launching payloads of unconventional geometry and size on the Atlas V Heavy Lift vehicle. Currently, no launch system exists that can accommodate these payloads without requiring a redesign of the launch vehicle and/or integration facility. The asymmetric design was tailored to accommodate very large payloads while maintaining structural requirements and control authority limits of the launch vehicle as it currently stands. An optimal design was achieved through the use of an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based geometric optimization, composite structural tailoring, and novel manufacturing methods. The design was validated through correlation with subscale wind tunnel testing, and extremely close agreement between the analysis and test was achieved. The final design resulted in a composite sandwich structure that meets or exceeds strength, buckling, flutter, thermal, and acoustic requirements and does not require significant modifications to existing launch pad integration facilities. The geometry, methods, and processes demonstrated here have wider applicability to the whole range of launch vehicle sizes and can increase the payload capabilities of each by offering fairings which are tailored specifically to existing control capability and payloads of nonstandard geometry.
Sentiment and Financial Health Indicators for Value and Growth Stocks: The European Experience

Abstract The well-documented market underperformance of the majority of value and growth stocks over a 12-month holding period reflects that traditional valuation metrics might tell us whether a stock is potentially cheap or expensive but little about when, or even if, it will experience a market correction. Two indicators have come to the fore in recent years that provide useful insights: sentiment/momentum and accounting fundamentals/financial health. We examine their single and combined impact on value and growth stocks and find that (i) they are effective in introducing a timing element into the selection of both value and growth stocks, (ii) the sentiment indicator completely dominates the financial health indicator and, (iii) both indictors contribute to the performance of the good and bad growth stocks. The size and significance of the investment profits that potentially can be generated using the two indicators in combination questions of the efficiency of the European equity markets. We conclude that our findings are consistent with the pricing cycle for a stock proposed by Lee and Swaminathan (Lee, C., Swaminathan, B. (2000) Price momentum and trading volume, Journal of Finance, 55, pp. 2017–2069. ) and the under- and over-reaction in pricing inherent in models proposed by Barberis et al. (Barberis, N., Shleifer A., and Vishny, R. (1998) A model of investor sentiment, Journal of Financial Economics, 49, pp. 307–343. ) and Hong and Stein (Hong, H., Stein, J.C. (1999) A unified theory of underreaction, momentum trading and overreaction in asset markets, Journal of Finance, 54, pp. 2143-2184. ).
Closed-loop control of laser assisted chemical vapor deposition growth of carbon nanotubes

Laser-assisted chemical vapor deposition growth is an attractive mask-less process for growing locally aligned nanotubes in selected places on temperature sensitive substrates. An essential parameter for a successful and reproducible synthesis of nanotubes is the temperature during growth. Here, we demonstrate a temperature feedback control mechanism based on the dynamic, in situ monitoring of the infrared radiation coupled with reflectivity information. With the information provided by these sensors, an infrared laser, focused on a silicon substrate covered with aluminum-oxide and iron catalyst layers, can be controlled. The growth takes place in a gaseous mixture of argon (carrier gas), hydrogen (process gas), and ethylene (carbon-containing gas). Scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy analysis demonstrate the excellent reproducibility of the closed-loop control process over multiple experiments. Furthermore, we developed a unique method to identify the onset for catalyst formation and activation by monitoring the fluctuation of the reflected laser beam.
The Effects of Endogenous Enforcement on Strategic Uncertainty and Cartel Deterrence

This study experimentally investigates the impact of antitrust enforcement on cartel price decisions when fines and detection probabilities depend on them. We impose expected punishments that create two payoffâ€“equivalent collusive price equilibria, of which one features a lower riskiness of collusion. Subjects are found to behave strategically in that they choose the equilibrium with a lower riskiness of collusion. This suggests that competition authorities can exploit the effects of such endogenous enforcement on strategic uncertainty between cartelists, i.e. a priori uncertainty about the actions of the other cartel members, to lower cartel prices. However, frequency deterrence might be reduced such that the overall welfare effects may be ambiguous.
Financial Fragility in Small Open Economies: Firm Balance Sheets and the Sectoral Structure

Episodes of large capital inflows in small open economies are often associated with a shift of resources from the tradable to the non-tradable sector and sometimes lead to balance-of-payments crises. This paper builds a two-sector dynamic model to study the evolution of the sectoral structure and its impact on financial fragility. The model embeds a static mechanism of balance-of-payments crisis which produces multiple equilibria within a single time period when the non-tradable sector is large enough compared to the tradable sector. The paper studies the dynamics induced by an increase in financial openness. It shows that the relative size of the non-tradable sector overshoots, which makes the economy more likely to be financially fragile during the transitory dynamics. Using an extended version of the model, the paper conducts a quantitative analysis and shows that this mechanism accounts well for several episodes of large capital inflows that led to financial crises.
Design of novel full adder based on resonant tunneling diode

The resonant tunneling diode (RTD) has attracted much attention because of its unique negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic, RTD increases the powerful logic function of a single gate and is more suitable to implement the threshold gates. Recently, the generalized threshold gate (GTG) and the multi-threshold threshold gate (MTTG) have been proposed, which provide the more based circuit structures of RTDs. Meanwhile, the RTD full adder circuits with GTG and MTTG circuit structures have been proposed. In this paper, a novel full adder circuit based on RTD is proposed, compare to previous designs, the novel proposed circuit has better performance, which uses fewer devices and reduces 3.6%-11.5% power.
Flow Complexity, Multiscale Flows, and Turbulence

Fundamental theoretical ideas are considered toward the formulation of a measure of flow complexity that is useful both fundamentally and in applications. General considerations of geometric fractional dimensions, which can be functions of scale, oer a means to quantify the physical complexity of multiscale flows including turbulence. An analytical example of the dependence of the geometric dimension on scale is investigated. It is motivated by its physical significance and relevance to turbulent flows both at large scales and small scales for flow conditions associated with large Reynolds numbers. A basic element for a flow complexity measure must be its ability to incorporate the entire range of multiscale flow behavior. Key theoretical ingredients, based on the geometric dimension and its dependence on scale, are investigated to develop a flow complexity measure that exhibits this multiscale capability.
Time to Abandon Group Thinking in Economics - Updated

Group thinking is the notion that natural selection favors what is good for the group or the species, not for the individual. Most mainstream evolutionary biology rejects this idea and natural selection is viewed as working on the individual’s genes to promote their own survival and reproduction. Here I show through a couple of examples how group thinking also pervades economics. I argue that the reason for the mistake relies on the fact that economics fails to ground itself in the underlying knowledge provided by biology. Then I suggest how economics can aspire more than being applied logic and turn into a scientific discipline by placing biology on its basis. Finally, I outline how economics should treat group behavior properly.
S-graph Based Scheduling Method for Parallel Architecture

The S-graph framework introduced by Sanmarti et al. (1998), originally developed for single processor, is proved to be an effective tool for batch process scheduling. The basic algorithm of the framework follows branch-and-bound strategy that provides an opportunity for parallelization. Nowadays, multi-core processors are available even in personal computers, thus, parallel algorithms become more important and useful in practice. Two types of parallel scheduling algorithms are introduced here. In the first one, each processor considers the entire search space, while in the second one, some processors perform a look-ahead strategy for sharpening the bound. The proposed algorithms are effective in practice, for some examples the so called super-linearity occurs, i.e., for n processor system, the running time can be less than the n-th fraction of the time required by a single processor.
The Automatic Morphological Description and Classification of Archaeological Monuments from Vertical Aerial Photographs.

For most of this century, aerial photography has been an important technique for the discovery, recording and analysis of archaeological sites. For many regions there are vast archives of aerial photographs available; however, a critical problem for archaeology is the lack of time and resources available to adequately study this rich source of information by traditional methods. A problem that has more recently come to light with the advent of regional and national archaeological databases is the subjectivity inherent in the current techniques of recording and analysis. We have developed a software toolset in conjunction with archaeologists, which provides accurate, efficient and objective means to: extract and measure monuments visible in aerial photographs; provide topographic models of them; automatically classify them; and provide integration with geographical information systems (GIS). This paper describes the archaeological context of our research. It then introduces our object extraction approach, and discusses the development of an automated morphological-topographical classification scheme for earthwork monuments. This work represents a contribution to the automatic detection and extraction of low contrast, damaged objects, in scenes where significant noise and clutter are present. It also shows image processing, cluster analysis and artificial neural networks to be suitable and complementary tools for the automatic generation and implementation of an image-driven morphological classification scheme.
Partner Perception of Nonverbal Social Skills and its Impact on Relationship Satisfaction in Dating Couples

This study examined relational satisfaction and perceptions of the target person’s social skills from the perspective of both members of the relationship. Respondents (N = 177) age 18 to 28 completed the Relationship Assessment Scale and the emotional expressivity, emotional sensitivity, social expressivity, and social sensitivity subscales of the Social Skills Inventory. Participants and partners completed a self-report assessment of her or his own social skills, other-report assessment of her or his partners’ social skills, and the Relationship Assessment Scale. Multiple regression correlations were performed using participant and partner satisfaction as the dependent variables and participant and partner social skills as the independent variables. Results confirmed that individuals who are or perceive themselves to be socially skilled are more likely to be satisfied in her or his relationship. However, the data indicated that how an individual’s social skills are perceived by her or his partner, has minimal to no influence on her or his partner’s satisfaction with the relationship. Significant, yet moderate relationships were found between respondents’ assessment of their social skills and their relational satisfaction. Although additional analyses yielded other moderate relationships that may influence relationship satisfaction, it is difficult to determine from this data what variables would strengthen the relationship between these two variables. While the research indicates a relationship between the variables, the results in this study question whose social skills play a role in determining relationship satisfaction –the individual or her or his partner.
The low-mass content of the massive young star cluster RCW 38

KM acknowledges funding by the Joint Committee of ESO/Government of Chile, and by the Science and Technology Foundation of Portugal (FCT), grant no. IF/00194/2015. Part of the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no. [614922]. RJ acknowledges support from NSERC grants. JA acknowledges funding by the Science and Technology Foundation of Portugal (FCT), grant no. SFRH/BPD/101562/2014.
Preprocessing of Digitalized Engineering Drawings

The concept of digital manufacturing assumes an application of digital technologies in the whole product life cycle. CAD product model replaced engineering drawing in digital manufacturing. In contemporary practice the engineering paper-based drawings are still archived. They could be digitalized and stored to one of the raster graphics format. After that they could be vectorized for interactive editing in the specific software system or for archiving in some of standard vector graphics file format. The vector format is suitable for 3D model generating too. The article deals with using of methods for preprocessing phase of digitalized engineering drawings vectorization process.
THE EFFECT OF REWARD AND JOB SATISFACTION ON THE POLICE PERSONNEL PERFORMANCE IN THE RIAU POLICE HEADQUARTERS Vita

This study examined the effect of reward and job satisfaction on the police personnel performance in the Riau Police Headquarters. This involved 12 locations, such as POLDA Riau, POLRESTA Pekanbaru; and 10 Police of Resorts/POLRES (Indragiri Hilir; Indragiri Hulu; Pelelawan; Siak; Bengkalis; Dumai; Rokan Hilir; Rokan Hulu; Kampar; Kuantan Singingi) with number of population was 6,010 personnel. The sampling technique used stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were distributed to 612 respondents that consisted of Bintara, First Officer (Pama) and Intermediate Officers (Pamen). The results show that: 1) simultaneously, there was a direct positive effect on the performance of the reward. But partially, on 9 object of research, namely: POLDA Riau; POLRESTA Pekanbaru; and 7 POLRES (Indragiri Hilir; Pelalawan; Siak; Bengkalis; Dumai; Rokan Hilir and Kampar), there was no direct influence of the reward on the performance; 2) and partially and simultaneously, there was a direct and positive effect of job satisfaction on the performance; 3) and partially and simultaneously, there was a positive and direct effect of reward on job satisfaction; 4) simultaneously, there was an indirect effect of reward toward performance. However, partially, there was no indirect effect of reward on performance at the Kuantan police station Singingi.
Performance of Statistical Arbitrage in Future Markets

This paper is the replication of Alizadeh and Nomikos (2008) Performance of Statistical Arbitrage in Petroleum Futures Markets. Cited methodology from the original paper, this paper investigates the linkages between commodities in the future markets and apply trading strategy based on statistical analysis. The trading strategy is established based on cointegration relationships between commodities and execute trading rules to determine long-short positions. The robustness of trading result will be implemented by using stationary bootstrap approach. From the result, we can see the trading strategy based on cointegration relationship analysis is efficient to set up trading strategies in given datasets.
Intelligent Virtual Agents - ReadingSample

Internet-based guided self-therapy systems provide a novel method for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder patients to follow therapy at home with the assistance of a virtual coach. One of the main challenges for such a coach is assisting patients with recollecting their traumatic memories, a vital part of therapy. In this paper, an ontology-based question system capable of posing appropriate and personalized questions is presented. This method was tested in an experiment with nonpatients (n = 24), where it was compared with a non-ontology-based system which did not provide personalization. Results show that people take more time answering questions with the ontology-based system and use more words describing properties, such as adjectives. This indicates that the ontology-based system facilitates more thoughtful and detailed memory-recollection.
Development and application of elemental fingerprinting to track the dispersal of marine invertebrate larvae

The early life history of many marine benthic invertebrate and fish species involves a planktonic larval stage that allows exchange of individuals among separated adult populations. Here, we demonstrate how natural and anthropogenic trace elements can be used to determine larval origins and assess bay‐ocean exchange of invertebrate larvae. Trace elements can be effective site markers for estuaries because run‐off and pollutant loading often impart distinct elemental signatures to bay habitats relative to nearshore coastal environments. Crab larvae originating from San Diego Bay (SDB) were distinguished from those originating in neighboring embayments and exposed coastal habitats by comparing multiple trace‐element concentrations (“fingerprint”) in individuals. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used to characterize stage I zoeae of the striped shore crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes, of known origin (reference larvae) via trace‐elemental composition (i.e., Cu, Zn, Mn, Sr, Ca). Linear discriminant functions were used to identify the origin and characterize the exchange of stage I P. crassipes zoeae between SDB and the nearshore coastal environment during one spring tidal cycle. Elemental fingerprinting revealed that most (87%) of the stage I larvae collected at the bay entrance during the flood tide were larvae of SDB origin that were reentering the bay. Nearly one third of zoeae sampled (32%) at the entrance during ebb tide were coastal larvae leaving the bay and returning to open water. The observed bidirectional exchange contrasts with the unidirectional transport of zoeae out of the bay predicted from stage I vertical migratory behavior. Because P. crassipes zoeal survivorship is lower in SDB than in coastal waters, bay‐ocean exchange has significant implications for the dynamics of P. crassipes populations. Trace‐elemental fingerprinting of invertebrate larvae promises to facilitate investigations of many previously intractable questions about larval transport and dynamics.
Nanoformulations and Clinical Trial Candidates as Probably Effective and Safe Therapy for Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is the main infectious disease causing 1.8 million deaths worldwide every year and represents a principal cause of mortality resulting from a bacterial infection. The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains and lack of effective anti-TB drugs are threatening the future control of TB. The present multidrug regimen against TB needs daily administration for at least 6 months, and patients often fail to follow this complex regimen for such a long interval, thus leading to patient non-compliance and treatment related side effects. To avoid daily dosing, application of nanotechnology is a promising solution by virtue of sustained drug release. Nanotechnology-based rational targeting may improve therapeutic success by limiting adverse drug effects and requiring less frequent administration regimens, ultimately resulting in higher patient compliance, and thus attain higher adherence levels. Today, the pipeline of potential new treatments consists of several compounds in clinical trials or preclinical development with promising activities against sensitive and resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. Encapsulation of existing anti-TB drugs into nano-delivery systems and introduction of new drugs in combination treatment for all forms of tuberculosis have resulted in novel treatments with more effectiveness and reduced side effects.
BAYESIAN BOOTSTRAPS FOR U-PROCESSES, HYPOTHESIS TESTS AND CONVERGENCE OF DIRICHLET U-PROCESSES

Suppose F is a class of bounded or unbounded functions. We construct a Bayesian bootstrapped U-process over F and study the limiting behavior of the process. We obtain conditional central limit theorems for Bayesian bootstrapped U-processes and Dirichlet U-processes over F, and discuss Bayesian bootstrap ap- proximations for U-processes. Some problems concerning hypothesis testing in high-dimensional spaces are solved by combining the results in this paper with the Projection Pursuit method.