Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conflicts Over Land and Threats to Customary Tenure in Africa Today

Issues swirling around land across Africa have never been so central to key social and political-economic dynamics as they are at the present time. The first part of the paper briefly reviews the construction of customary tenure and the historical phases of administrative interventions into land tenure, and considers their heritage in contemporary situations. The second part reviews the increasing competition and conflict centered on land; the increase in various types of land transfers that are implicated in the pervasive social conflict focused on land; and the associated rise in social inequality and contestation over belonging and citizenship. The third and final part discusses ‘land grabs’, the most recent surge of international interest in African land, and external and internal threats to ‘customary’ rights in land. The overall conclusion is that while relations around land have long been central to political economy, culture and society across the continent, their greater salience in intensifying struggles among actors within and from outside Africa has significance for the disposition of authority, property and citizenship.
Structural Health Monitoring of Pipelines Using Permanently Installed Guided Wave Sensors

Guided wave measurements are an established inspection method for pipelines in a variety of industries. Permanently installed guided wave sensors (gPIMS) have been used in the past to reduce the access cost for pipes in hard to reach locations which require repeated inspections. Making use of the existing gPIMS technology a method was devised to move from the current single inspection approach to a structural health monitoring system. With changes due to the environmental conditions of the pipe, such as temperature variations or content changes, the usefulness of simple baseline subtraction methods is very limited as temperature compensation methods do not allow for the full removal of these effects. Using a dataset of historic measurements and statistical signal processing it was possible to identify and track defects in pipe sections. The procedure is based on Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and allows the collected measurements to be separated into components of the constant baseline and those components associated with signal changes. Further processing of these components allows the removal of those caused by environmental variations or noise, leaving only components related to real changes of the pipe structure.
Development of a Virtual Museum Including a 4d Presentation of Building History in Virtual Reality

Abstract. In the last two decades the definition of the term “virtual museum” changed due to rapid technological developments. Using today’s available 3D technologies a virtual museum is no longer just a presentation of collections on the Internet or a virtual tour of an exhibition using panoramic photography. On one hand, a virtual museum should enhance a museum visitor's experience by providing access to additional materials for review and knowledge deepening either before or after the real visit. On the other hand, a virtual museum should also be used as teaching material in the context of museum education. The laboratory for Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning of the HafenCity University Hamburg has developed a virtual museum (VM) of the museum “Alt-Segeberger Burgerhaus”, a historic town house. The VM offers two options for visitors wishing to explore the museum without travelling to the city of Bad Segeberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Option a, an interactive computer-based, tour for visitors to explore the exhibition and to collect information of interest or option b, to immerse into virtual reality in 3D with the HTC Vive Virtual Reality System.
Seafood through time: changes in biomass, energetics, and productivity in the marine ecosystem

The biomass of marine consumers increased during the Phanerozoic. This is indicated by the increase in both fleshiness and average size of individuals of dominant organisms, coupled with the conservative estimate that dominant organisms in the Cenozoic are at least as abundant as those in the Paleozoic. As faunal dominants replaced one another during the Phanerozoic the general level of metabolic activity increased due to both increase in basal metabolism and increase in more energetic modes of life. This demonstrates that the expenditure of energy by marine consumers has increased with time as well. There is a time lag in the expansion of more energetic life habits from environmental settings known to have high food supply into regions expected to have lower rates of food supply (e.g., bivalves into offshore carbonate environments or deep burrowing deposit feeders into the full range of shelf environments), and a time lag in diversification of energetic modes of life (e.g., predation or deep burrowing deposit feeding) for long intervals after they first appeared. This suggests that the supply of food increased across the whole spectrum of marine habitats during the Phanerozoic. The great diversification of specialized predators especially suggests that biomass increase took place all the way down the food chain to the level of primary production. The development of plant life on land and the impact of land vegetation on stimulating productivity in coastal marine settings, coupled with the transfer of organic material and nutrients from coastal regions to the open ocean, and the increase through time in diversity and abundance of oceanic phytoplankton all point to increased productivity in the oceans through the Phanerozoic.
Characterization of source rocks and groundwater radioactivity at the chihuahua valley

As part of a scientific research project about alpha radioactivity in groundwater for human consumption at the Chihuahua City, the characterization of rock sources of radioactivity around de Chihuahua valley was developed. The radioactivity of groundwater and sediments was determined, too. The radioactivity of uranium- and thorium- series isotopes contained in rocks was obtained by high resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy. Some representative values are 50 Bq/kg for the mean value ofBi-214 activity, and 121.5 Bq/kg for the highest value at West of the city. The activity of sediments, extracted during wells perforation, was determined using a NaI(Tl) detector. A non-reported before uranium ore was localized at the San Marcos range formation. Its outcrops are inside the Chihuahua-Sacramento valley basin and its activity characterization was performed. Unusually high specific uranium activities, determined by alpha spectrometry, were obtained in water, plants, sediments and fish extracted at locations close to outcrops of uranium minerals. The activity of water of the San Marcos dam reached 7.7 Bq/L. The activity of fish, trapped at San Marcos dam, is 0.99 Bq/kg. Conclusions about the contamination of groundwater at North of Chihuahua City were obtained.
“Neither here and nor there does water quench our thirst”: Duty, Obedience and Identity in Greek-Australian and Chinese Australian Prose Fiction, 1971-2005

This thesis presents original research: it examines the constructs of duty and obedience in post-World War II Greek-Australian and Chinese Australian literature and compares the strategies these first- and second-generation authors use to make their fictional characters deal with these concepts while living in Australia, the problems their characters face and the solutions they encounter. This thesis analyses ten texts: six written by Greek-Australian authors and four by Chinese Australian writers. It aims to examine how the above-mentioned cultural concepts appear in these texts and influence the behaviour and thoughts of the characters. In doing so, this thesis aims to state and compare the strategies used. This study looks at texts published in English by first- and second-generation Greek-Australian and first-generation Chinese Australian migrants during the period 1971- 2005. The date 1971 is significant because that year Australia saw the publication of the first English-language book written by a Greek-Australian. It was the poetry collection A Tree at the Gate, by Aristides George Paradissis. Also, it was the year when the People’s Republic of China and Australia re-established diplomatic relations twenty years after all ties between the two nations had been suspended. Likewise, the year 2005 is relevant as the racist Cronulla riots took place in December. The riots marked the end of the spirit of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and of the 2001 centennial celebrations of the Federation of Australia… This thesis begins with an analysis of the immigration policies in Australia from the British invasion of the country in 1788 until 2011 and an analysis of the policy of multiculturalism. It then looks at the concepts of duty and obedience in Greek culture and in Chinese culture, how these concepts evolved especially during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and how they affect marriage and divorce, interpersonal and intergenerational relations, patriotism and migration. This historical-cultural section is followed by a theoretical chapter where the concept of “identity” is explored. The final step is to analyse these notions in the literary texts chosen and compare the strategies used by the authors to make the characters confront (or not) certain specific situations.
Investigating the Challenges of Developing Sports among the Elder Lies in Hamedan Province and Presenting Practical Solutions

The aim of this study was to determine the challenges of developing sports among the elderlies in Hamadan Province and their problems with exercising as well as providing practical solutions for developing recreational sports for this group of people in Hamadan Province. In order to investigate the research question, elder lies above 60 in 2014 were chosen as the statistical population. The sampling method was cluster-random and the data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire which its face and content validity were tested and confirmed by a group of authorities. The reliability was calculated using cronbach-α (α=0.87). Data analysis indicated that there are significant relationships. between monthly income and engaging in sports activities, between elder lies` satisfaction from leisure time activities and the kind of activity, and between quality of life and doing sports among the elderlies at α= 0.05. Findings of the present study indicated that lack of sufficient recreational and sports facilities, low level of education, low income, physical weakness, cultural factors, mental features, family , and proper education about advantages of sports and physical activity, and spending leisure time have prominent roles in proper use of sports and leisure time. Authorities in Hamadan province should take some serious steps including creating sports-recreational spaces and places in order to remove obstacles the elder lies face to increase elder lies` tendencies to sports. Keywords: Leisure Time, Sports Activity, The elderly.
Impact of a Practical Flowcharts Approach on Educating the Control Risk Assessment

The assessment of a control risk is a difficult task which has to be learned over the years. Experience is a good teacher in this respect. So, education guided by experience may be expected to be fruitful. The purpose of this paper is to develop practical flowcharts (PFs) to assist in educating the novices the assessment of control risk and to present the results of validation of PFs approach in classroom. The main research questions examined in the paper are: (1) how can the PFs be developed to help students and novice auditors assess the control risk? And (2) to what extent is using PFs effective as a tool to improve the education of assessing the control risk? To answer these questions, adequate field work and experiment were performed. The knowledge is acquired (a) from the literature and (b) from experienced auditors. The findings of the paper indicated that the conceptual model of PFs is successfully designed consisting of eleven submodels and ten PFs. Moreover, using a PFs approach is an effective tool to improve the education of assessing the control risk, i.e., the learning performance of students significantly improved via the PFs assignment. From the results of the validation, it may be concluded that the conceptual model of PFs provides a vital contribution to the auditing literature and the application of it constitutes a new education method of auditing.
Leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforest of Ebom, Southwest Cameroon: comparison among guild classes

Decomposition processes of guild classes - groups of plant species with a similar ecology and way of life in the tropical rainforest are poorly understood. Leaf litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics of the following three guild classes were studied in the tropical rainforest of Ebom, Southwest Cameroon: the shade tolerant (ST), non-pioneer light demanding (NP) and pioneer (PI) species. The litterbag technique was used to assess mass loss and decay rate. During the 23 weeks of the field experiment, mean dry mass remaining of litter samples with standard error was between 29.16 ± 18.17 and 60.19 ± 18.81 % of initial litter dry mass for ST and PI, respectively. Decomposition rate constant (k) significantly ranged from 0.02 (PI) to 0.08 % week-1 (ST). Initial nutrient contents widely varied among guild classes and revealed low nutrient contents in pioneer species and high contents in the other groups, except for Ca. Mean nutrient release from initial contents was significantly 50.62 % and 85.11 % respectively for N and Ca in ST; it varied significantly from 80.68 (NP) to 95.13 % (PI) for K and no significant nutrient releases were observed for Mg, Na and P. Thus, while litter decomposition was signi- ficantly influenced by guild classes, nutrient loss, with the exception of K, was not, and this should be explained by the short term of litter decomposition.
Accounting for model error from unresolved scales in ensemble Kalman filters by stochastic parameterization

We investigate by numerical experiment the use of discrete-time stochastic parametrization to account for model error due to unresolved scales in ensemble Kalman filters. The parametrization quantifies the model error and produces an improved non-Markovian forecast model, which generates high-quality forecast ensembles and improves filter performance. We compare this with the methods of dealing with model error through covariance inflation and localization (IL), using as example the two-layer Lorenz 96 system. The numerical results show that when the ensemble size is sufficiently large, the parametrization is more effective in accounting for the model error than IL; if the ensemble size is small, IL are needed to reduce sampling error, but the parametrization further improves the performance of the filter. This suggests that in real applications where the ensemble size is relatively small, the filter can achieve better performance than pure IL if stochastic parametrization methods are combined with IL.
Aspects of the ecophysiology and the dietary strategy of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis: a review.

Since European settlement, the distribution of the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), an omnivorous peramelid marsupial, has contracted into the driest and least fertile parts of its former range. A review of the dietary, metabolic and digestive strategies used by M. lagotis provides the basis for an explanation of its ability to persist in the arid regions where it is now restricted. M. lagotis utilises an opportunistic feeding strategy, selecting dietary items in accordance with their abundance. Termites, ants and seeds, that form a concentrated food source, are prevalent in their diet. In captivity, M. lagotis exhibits a flexible digestive strategy that enables them to use diets of varying nutritional value. However, the absence of a colonic separation mechanism in the hindgut suggests that they are limited to relatively low-fibre diets, and this is reflected in their diet in the field. The low water and maintenance nitrogen requirements of M. lagotis are consistent with arid habitation, but the field metabolic rate is higher than expected for an arid-zone mammal, which suggests that water rather than energy conservation is a priority for this species.
An efficient hybrid data gathering algorithm based on multihop and mobile elements in WSNs

Data gathering is a focal task in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that expends most of the sensor nodes' energy. Two factors that are considered essential in data gathering are latency and power consumption. The multihop data gathering approach proves that latency is minimized due to the speed of forwarding data to the base station. However, this may lead to increased power consumption and increased possibility of an emerging hotspot area. In contrast, data gathering based on a mobile element (ME) proves that power consumption is minimized due to avoiding relay data in extreme schemes. However, this may increase the latency of data gathering due to the low velocity of the ME. In this article, an efficient hybrid data gathering algorithm called zonal data gathering based on multihop and ME in WSNs (ZDG-MME) is proposed. In ZDG-MME, intelligent data gathering is proposed, capturing the unique nature of nodes along with the node's position. In addition, it is able to forward the tailored data to the base station by segmenting the deployment field into two divisions. First, the inner division, which is the closest to the base station, reports the sensed data through multihop communications. Second, the outer division reports the data to certain nodes that locally buffer the data from affiliated sensors and await the ME for uploading. Furthermore, ZDG-MME analyzes the sensing area in a way to ensure balancing between latency and power consumption based on application requirements while avoiding the hotspot area. An extensive simulation clarifies the validity and effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of ME tour length, data gathering latency, and total energy consumption.
Assessing the Status of Electronic Commerce and Its Performance in the Jordanian Electronic Stores

Expansion of the use of internet leads to multiple uses within virtual world. One of these uses is e-commerce which becomes a necessity for dealings in the markets and improving countries economy. And so e-commerce has appeared in the Arab markets including Jordan whether it was through local companies or individuals. This research which aimed to assess the status of e-commerce and its performance in Jordan, adopted the qualitative approach following Content Analysis of the e-commerce literature; it addressed the concepts of the e-commerce and e-businesses, highlighted some international studies that discussed e-commerce and shed light on types of the e-commerce. To achieve the research’s goals, samples of Jordanian e-stores were addressed. Results showed partial practice of e-commerce by stores of advertising. Moreover, adaptation of common means of payment to suit requirements of e-commerce was weak compared to modern countries that used the digital checks.
An application of cubic B-Spline finite element method for the Burgers` equation

It is difficult to achieve exact solution of non-linear PDE, directly. Sometimes, it is possible to convert non-linear PDE into equivalent linear PDE by applying a convenient transformation. Hence, Burgers’ equation replaces with heat equation by means of the Hope-Cole transformation. In this study, Burgers’ equation was converted to a set of non-linear ODE by keeping non-linear structure of Burgers’ equation. In this case, solutions for each of the non-linear ODE were obtained by the help of the cubic B-spline finite element method. Model problems were considered to verify the efficiency of this method. Agreement of the solutions was shown with graphics and tables.
An Approach to Optimize the Departure Times of Transit Vehicles with Strict Capacity Constraints

This paper focuses on an urban transit line which connects several residential areas and a workplace during the morning rush hours. The congestion is represented by some passengers who must wait for an extended duration and board the next or the third departure vehicles. This paper divides the time horizon equally into several small periods to measure the dynamic passenger demands. Under period-dependent demand conditions, a biobjective optimization model is developed to determine the departure times of transit vehicles at the start station with strict capacity constraints, in which a heuristic algorithm based on intelligent search and local improvement is designed to solve the model. The developed model can address the case in which more than two passengers arrive at a station simultaneously during one same period and calculate the number of boarded passengers. Finally, the model and algorithm have been successfully verified by a numerical example.
Productivity of maize in two soil tillage systems to variance in plant densities and row spacing

Conventional tillage practices remain to prove to be unsustainable particularly under water prone regimes and often contribute to stagnant maize yields on farmlands. The sustainability of crop production presently and beyond will seek for an alternative valuable production strategy that would reduce these crop production risks. An on-farm rainfed trials were conducted during the 2011/12 summer-cropping season to determine confound effect of minimal soil disturbance tillage and row spacing on maize grain yield at varying plant densities. Treatments consisted of tillage practices (conventional as control and minimal soil disturbance), row spacing (0.9 and 1.5 m) and plant densities (10 000, 20 000, 30 000 and 40 000 plants ha -1 ). A randomised completely block design was used in a split-split plot arrangement with three replications. The main effect of tillage resulted in no significant effect on grain yield and yield components measured, but were significant for row spacing and plant density. The interaction effect of site x plant density as well as site x tillage x row spacing was significant on maize grain yield. Plots planted at 20 000 plants ha -1 gave mean grain yield of 3173 kg ha -1
PII: S0197-4580(01)00219-6

NEUROBIOL AGING. In the present study we analysed the genotype of HFE, the gene involved in hemochromatosis, in 107 patients with sporadic late-onset AD and in 99 age-matched non-demented controls. We observed that patients carrying the mutant HFE-H63D allele had a mean age at onset of 71.7 6 6.0 years versus 76.6 5.8 years of those who were homozygous for the wild-type allele (p 5 0.001). The frequency of the HFE-H63D mutation was highest (0.22) in the patients aged ,70 years at the time of disease onset, whereas it was 0.12 in those with disease onset at an age of 70–80 years, and 0.04 in those aged more than 80 years. The APOE genotype did not significantly modify the effect of HFE on age at onset. We conclude that mild disturbances of iron homeostasis associated with a common genetic determinant may interact with other pathogenic mechanisms involved in AD. HFE mutations may anticipate AD clinical presentation in susceptible individuals. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Are Soft γ-Ray Repeaters Strange Stars?

The soft $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray repeaters (SGRs) are proposed to result from young, magnetized strange stars with superconducting cores. As such a strange star spins down, the quantized vortex lines move outward and drag the magnetic flux tubes because of the strong coupling between them. Since the terminations of the tubes interact with the stellar crust, the dragged tubes can produce sufficient tension to crack the crust and pull parts of the broken platelet into the quark core. The deconfinement of crustal matter into strange quark matter will release energy. The model burst energy, duration, time interval, spectrum, and the persistent x-ray emission from SGRs are shown to be in agreement with observed results.