Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Public land leasing and the changing roles of local government in urban china

Since late 1980s China's urban land use began to change from administrative allocation to public land leasing. Based on the assumptions of fiscal decentralization and growth of private economy, this paper provides another perspective on public land leasing in addition to the well-known efficiency of market allocation of land resource. My focus is on the endogenous evolution of local public finance due to rent capitalization. Especially, I model a two-sector urban economy and a multi-task local government that allocates its effort to maximize fiscal revenue. The findings indicate that complete wage capitalization under administrative allocation of land contributes to the pressure on local governments to look for alternative revenue source. Public land leasing helps to include private firms into local public finance and re-orient local governments' interest from SOEs to public goods provision. A simple test on the institutional change shows the efficiency of public land leasing relative to the old system.
Enzymatic preparation and characterization of soybean lecithin-based emulsifiers

Simple enzymatic methods were developed for the synthesis of lysolecithin, glycerolyzed lecithin and hydrolyzed lecithin. The products were characterized in terms of their acetone insoluble matter, hexane insoluble matter, moisture, phospholipid distribution and fatty acid composition. The HLB value ranges of different products with different acid values were detected. The efficiency of optimally hydrolyzed lecithin was examined at high calcium ion, low pH, and aqueous solutions and compared with commercially available standard lecithin-based emulsifiers. Overall, lysolecithin powder was proven to be the best emulsifier even at strong and medium acidic conditions.
2 . 4 Relationship Between Normalized Corn Yields and Monthly Rainfall for the Midwestern United States

The summertime climate of the central United States is characterized by high spatial variability in precipitation, resulting in high spatial variability in soil moisture, crop stress, and crop yield. Monitoring rainfall conditions and identifying areas of potential crop damage from deficient or excessive rainfall can be problematic because the existing network of precipitation observations is not of sufficient spatial resolution to identify small-scale variations in precipitation. Further, delay in the availability of quality controlled cooperative rainfall data prevents timely monitoring of precipitation. This study examines the relationship between high resolution (15-km) multi-sensor rainfall estimates obtained in near-real time from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and county-level corn yields for a 9-state region (Fig 1).
Age and Metallicities of Cluster Galaxies: A1185 and Coma

We present age and metallicity determinations based on narrowband continuum colors for the galaxies in the rich clusters A1185 and Coma. Using a new technique to extract luminosity-weighted age and [Fe/H] values for non-star-forming galaxies, we find that both clusters have two separate populations based on these parameters. One population is old (τ > 11 Gyr) with a distinct mass-metallicity relation. The second population is slightly younger (τ ≈ 9 Gyr) with lower metallicities and lower stellar masses. We find detectable correlations between age and galaxy mass in both populations such that older galaxies are more massive and have higher mean metallicities, confirming previous work with line indices for the same type of galaxies in other clusters (Kelson et al.; Thomas et al.). Given the previously discovered correlation between galaxy mass and α/Fe abundance (a measure of the duration of initial star formation; Denicolo et al.; Sanchez-Blazquez et al.), we interpret our age-metallicity correlations to imply that cluster galaxies are coeval with varying durations for their initial bursts. Our results imply shorter durations for higher mass galaxies, in contradiction to the predictions of classic galactic wind models. Since we also find a clear mass-metallicity relation for these galaxies, we conclude that star formation was more efficient for higher mass galaxies, a scenario described under the inverse wind models (Matteucci). With respect to cluster environmental effects, we find there is a significant correlation between galaxy mean age and distance from the cluster center, such that older galaxies inhabit the core.
A Choice Experiment Approach to assess the costs of degradation as specified by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive

This paper uses the choice experiment methodology to estimate the value of the nonmarket benefits associated with the achievement of good (marine) environmental status (GES) as specified in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The MSFD requires that the “costs of degradation” (the benefits foregone if GES is not achieved) be considered within a broader ‘Economic and Social Assessment’ of the marine environment by EU member states. Assessing the costs of degradation as defined by the MSFD implies that changes in marine ecosystem services provided in each State should be analysed. The results show that there are high values attached with changes to the state of the marine environment by the Irish general public. The results of a random parameters logit model also demonstrate that preferences are heterogeneous, with changes in certain marine attributes generating both positive and negative utility.
THE USE OF TREE LEVEL ALS DATA IN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING SIMULATIONS

The objective of the research was to investigate by Monte Carlo simulations the effect of tree level errors originating in airborne laser scanning (ALS) on forest planning tree level simulation results. The investigated features were error in the timing of loggings (years) and relative change in net present value. Timing of logging was scrutinized in respect to the next thinning or clear-cut logging simulated for the compartment. Change in a compartment's net present value was calculated for the whole rotation period. The effect of measurement errors in two main tree characteristics, namely tree diameter at breast height and height, on timing of loggings and net present value was studied. The accuracy factors of ALS individual tree detection were based on the EUROSDR/ISPRS Tree Extraction Project in which the quality, accuracy and feasibility of automatic or semiautomatic tree-extraction methods based on high-density ALS data and digital image data were evaluated by a global science network. Research results indicated that errors originating in tree level laser scanning clearly effect simulation results for both the timing and net present value of various types of loggings. The effect of the errors was clearly different in various tree species and development class strata. It was noted that especially errors in tree diameter at breast height measurement effect simulated timing of loggings. Tree height measurement accuracy does not lead to similar consequences. This is a significant observation in respect to the utilization possibilities of tree level ALS as input data for forest planning simulations.
Intralaminar fracture toughness of UD glass fiber composite under high rate fiber tension and fiber compression loading

Automotive and aeronautical composite structures can be subjected to dynamic loading scenarios (e.g. crash, bird strike). In both industrial areas, energy-based damage models for composite materials, able to predict initiation and evolution of damage of a composite ply under various loading conditions, are increasingly used. These models require the specification of fracture toughness parameters for the main failure modes. In previous works [1],[2], the authors have successfully enhanced a methodology suggested by Catalanotti et al. [3],[4] to measure the fiber failure crack resistance curves of a UD carbon fiber composite under dynamic loading. This methodology uses the relation between the energy release rate, the crack resistance curve and the size-effect law. For the determination of the size-effect law, double-edge-notched specimens of different sizes are tested. In this work, the developed approach is used for the measurement of the fracture toughness for fiber tension and compression failure of a UD glass-epoxy composite under high rate loading. Static tests are performed on an electromechanical test machine. For the high rate tests, split-Hopkinson bars for tensile (SHTB) and compressive (SHPB) loading are used. The results show, that the fracture toughness of the UD glass-epoxy composite, associated with the fiber failure modes, increases with increasing loading rate for tension as well as for compression. The observed strain rate effect on the fracture toughness of the glass-epoxy composite is more pronounced than for the carbon-epoxy composite investigated in [1],[2], in particular for fiber tensile failure.
Gibbs Markov random fields with continuous values based on the modified planar rotator model

We introduce a novel Gibbs Markov random field for spatial data on Cartesian grids based on the modified planar rotator (MPR) model of statistical physics. The MPR captures spatial correlations using nearest-neighbor interactions of continuously-valued spins and does not rely on Gaussian assumptions. The only model parameter is the reduced temperature, which we estimate by means of an ergodic specific energy matching principle. We propose an efficient hybrid Monte Carlo simulation algorithm that leads to fast relaxation of the MPR model and allows vectorization. Consequently, the MPR computational time for inference and simulation scales approximately linearly with system size. This makes it more suitable for big data sets, such as satellite and radar images, than conventional geostatistical approaches. The performance (accuracy and computational speed) of the MPR model is validated with conditional simulation of Gaussian synthetic and non-Gaussian real data (atmospheric heat release measurements and Walker-lake DEM-based concentrations) and comparisons with standard gap-filling methods.
Climate change and winegrape quality in Australia

Various agricultural sectors are likely to be sensitive to projected climate change. Wine- grapes are particularly sensitive to climate change because of the intrinsic link between the climate and the characteristic and often unique quality of the resulting wine. Here we present results from a study exploring the impact of projected climate change on the Australian wine industry. In the pre- sent study, impact models based upon existing viticultural and winegrape market data are used to estimate how projected regional temperature increases might affect the winegrape and wine indus- try throughout Australia by 2030 and 2050. The effect on winegrape quality is determined for differ- ent premium winegrape varieties separately. Differential impacts were determined across a range of base-climates, climate change regimes and varietal crush profiles. This represents the first national study of the impact of climate change on winegrape quality that is regionally specific, and that inte- grates varietal differences in temperature sensitivity. The impact of warming was found to be nega- tive overall, assuming no adaptation is implemented, for all Australian winegrowing regions. It is found that the reduction to winegrape quality varied regionally, with greater quality reductions cal- culated for the inland regions. Without adaptation, winegrape quality may be reduced at a national scale in Australia from 7% with lower warming to 39% with higher future warming by the year 2030, and from 9% with lower warming to 76% with higher warming by the year 2050 (all uncertainties considered).
First evidence of the occurrence of the Pygmy white-toothed shrew, Suncus etruscus (Savi, 1822), on the island of Lipari, Aeolian archipelago (Italy)

The island of Lipari (388299 N–148569 E) is located in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, 30 km off of northeast Sicily and 80 km from the southwest coast of Calabria. Lipari is the main island (36.7 km2, 602 m a.s.l.) of the Aeolian Archipelago, a volcanic arc originated during the Middle Pleistocene, which also includes six other islands and several small islets. The climate is typically Mediterranean, with an annual average temperature of 18.38C and an average rainfall of 620 mm/year. At the present time, the vegetation is represented by Mediterranean maquis mainly referred to the Erico arboreae-Arbutetum unedonis Molinier, and some degraded aspects, due to the impact of previous agricultural use of the territory, which covered the ancient man-made terraces widespread on the island (Lo Cascio and Navarra 2003). Despite the fact that several scientific investigations were carried out in the Aeolian Islands even during recent years, no report has ever been obtained on the occurrence of any representatives of the Erinaceomorpha and Soricomorpha taxonomic groups, with the exception of the western hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus L. , 1758, which was introduced in the island of Alicudi around the beginning of the 1980s (cf. Cristaldi et al. 1987, Lo Cascio and Navarra 2003). In particular, the mammalian fauna up to now recorded for Lipari was only represented by Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1814), Pipistrellus kuhli (Kuhl, 1819), Oryctolagus cuniculus (L., 1758), Eliomys quercinus liparensis Kahmann, 1960, Rattus rattus (L., 1758) and Mus domesticus (Schwarz and Schwarz, 1943) (cf. Kahmann 1960, Cristaldi and Federici 1980, Cristaldi 1983, Cristaldi et al. 1987, Cristaldi and Amori 1988, Zava and Lo Valvo 1991, Zava et al. 1994, Lo Cascio and Navarra 2003). The aim of this short note is to present for the first time the evidence of the occurrence of the Pygmy white-toothed shrew, Suncus etruscus (Savi, 1822) in the island, which was discovered during the present research.
Impact of Global Media on the Culture of Pakistan: A Case Study of Youth of Layyah City

Pakistan is an under developing country and it is facing the problems of globalization which are created due to global media. The present study is conducted to dig out the impact of global media of Pakistani culture with particular focus on the role of cable television in the promotion of foreign cultural trends in Pakistan. In this study it is documented that the young generation of Layyah city is extremely influenced due to cable network. To understand that what type of cultural impact have been imposed on our society by foreign TV entertainment channels. By using survey and content analysis data was collected from the target respondents. The results of the study strongly supported that foreign entertainment channels are extremely influencing the Pakistani young generation.
Factorization-based Automatic 3D Face Modeling from Turntable Image Sequence using Monocular Camera

〈 Summary 〉 Creating a 3D model of a human face from an image sequence remains an important problem in the ﬁelds of computer vision and computer graphics. We propose a method based on a factorization algorithm; it automatically constructs a 3D face model from an image sequence that contains turntable motion of the face as captured by a monocular camera. Our proposal uses multiple Active Appearance Models for feature tracking to avoid manual operations and to recover the 3D shape of the whole face. In contrast to previous methods, our approach requires no 3D generic model and can obtain the user’s individual 3D face shape. Experiments conducted on real image sequences demonstrate the eﬀectiveness of the proposed method.
Observations of heterogeneous pore pressure distributions in clay-rich materials

Abstract The concept of effective stress is one of the basic tenets of rock mechanics where the stress acting on a rock can be viewed as the total stress minus the pore water pressure. In many materials, including clay-rich rocks, this relationship has been seen to be imperfect and a coefficient (χ) is added to account for the mechanical properties of the clay matrix. Recent experimental results during the flow testing (both gas and water) of several rocks (Callovo-Oxfordian claystone, Opalinus Clay, Boom Clay) and geomaterials (bentonite, kaolinite) has given evidence for stable high pressure differentials. The design of the experiments allows multiple measurements of pore pressure, which commonly shows a complex distribution for several different experimental geometries. The observed stable high pressure differentials and heterogeneous pore pressure distribution makes the describing of stress states in terms of effective stress complex. Highly localized pore pressures can be sustained by argillaceous materials and concepts of evenly distributed pore pressures throughout the sample (i.e. conventional effective stress) do not fit many clay-rich rocks if the complexities observed on the micro-scale are not incorporated, especially when considering the case of gas flow.
Reinforcing the North Atlantic backbone: revision and extension of the composite splice at ODP Site 982

Ocean Drilling Programme (ODP) Site 982 represents a key location for understanding the evolution of climate in the North Atlantic over the past 12 Ma. However, concerns exist about the validity and robustness of the underlying stratigraphy and astrochronology, which currently limits the adequacy of this site for high-resolution climate studies. To resolve this uncertainty, we verify and extend the early Pliocene to late Miocene shipboard composite splice at Site 982 using high-resolution XRF core scanning data and establish a robust high-resolution stable isotope stratigraphy and astrochronology between 4.5 and 8.0 Ma. Splice revisions and verifications resulted in ~ 11 m of gaps in the original Site 982 isotope stratigraphy. Our new stratigraphy reveals previously unseen benthic δ 18 O excursions, particularly prior to 6.65 Ma. The benthic δ 18 O record displays distinct, asymmetric cycles between 7.7 and 6.65 Ma, confirming that high-latitude climate is a prevalent forcing during this interval. An intensification of the 41-kyr beat in both the benthic δ 13 C and δ 18 O is also observed ~ 6.4 Ma, marking a strengthening in the cryosphere-carbon cycle coupling. A large ~ 0.7 ‰ double excursion is revealed ~ 6.4–6.3 Ma, which also marks the onset an interval of average higher δ 18 O and large precession and obliquity-dominated δ 18 O excursions between 6.4–5.4 Ma, coincident with the culmination of the late Miocene cooling. The two largest benthic δ 18 O excursions ~ 6.4–6.3 Ma and TG20/22 coincide with the coolest alkenone-derived SST estimates from Site 982, suggesting a strong connection between the late Miocene global cooling and deep-sea cooling and dynamic ice sheet expansion. The splice revisions and revised astrochronology resolve key stratigraphic issues that have hampered correlation between Site 982, the equatorial Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Comparisons of the revised Site 982 stratigraphy to high-resolution astronomically tuned benthic δ 18 O stratigraphies from ODP Site 926 (equatorial Atlantic) and Ain el Beida (north western Morocco) show that prior inconsistencies in short-term excursions are now resolved. Our new integrated deep-sea benthic stable isotope stratigraphy and astrochronology from Site 982 will facilitate future high-resolution late Miocene to early Pliocene climate research.
Genome sequence and emended description of Leisingera nanhaiensis strain DSM 24252 T isolated from marine sediment

Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg , Oldenburg , Germany. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA Leibniz Institute DSMZ German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany Biolog ical Data Management and Technology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, California, USA HZI – Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig , Germany
A REAPPRAISAL OF PORPHYRA AND BANGIA (BANGIOPHYCIDAE, RHODOPHYTA) IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC BASED ON THE rbcL–rbcS INTERGENIC SPACER

Sequence data of the rbcL–rbcS noncoding intergenic spacer of the plastid genome for 47 specimens of Porphyra and Bangia from the northeast Atlantic reveal that they fall into 11 distinct sequences: P. purpurea, P. dioica (includes a sample of P. “ochotensis” from Helgoland), P. amplissima (includes P. thulaea and British records of P. “miniata”), P. linearis, P. umbilicalis, P. “miniata”, B. atropurpurea s.l. from Denmark and B. atropurpurea s.l. from Wales, P. drachii, P. leucosticta (includes a British record of P. “miniata var. abyssicola”), and P. “insolita” (includes P. “yezoensis” from Helgoland). Of these, data obtained for P. purpurea, P. dioica, P. amplissima, P. linearis, P. umbilicalis, P. drachii, and P. leucosticta were based on type specimens or material compared with types. Comparison of sequence data for Porphyra spp. and Bangia atropurpurea s.l. (including B. fuscopurpurea, the type species of Bangia) confirms that the species are congeneric. The data also confirm that the number of layers that make up the Porphyra thallus are not taxonomically significant. Comparison of sequence data for species from the northeast Atlantic with those for material of two species from the Pacific reveals that the species fall into two distinct groupings: an Atlantic group, containing P. purpurea, P. dioica, P. amplissima, P. linearis, P. umbilicalis, P. “miniata”, and B. atropurpurea, and a Pacific group, containing P. “pseudolinearis”, P. drachii, P. leucosticta, P. “yezoensis” (including a sample of P. “tenera”), and P. “insolita” (including P. “yezoensis” from Helgoland). The possibility of alien species in the northeast Atlantic is discussed.
Karyotype analysis and biochemical estimation of Coccinia indica: An ethnomedicinal dioecious cucurbit of Tripura, North East India

Coccinia indica Wight and Arn. Commonly used as leafy vegetable in Tripura, North East India. Young leaves and fruits are used as vegetable in different forms of recipes of tribal and rural communities of this region. The cucurbit also widely used for its ethnomedicinal properties among them. The utility of the vegetable as good source of protein and total amino acids with low level of phenolics and sugar clearly indicated its significance as useful health diet and alternative food supplement to the common people. The somatic chromosome number and karyomorphological details were also investigated in these dioecious forms. Somatic chromosome number was found to be 2n=24 with karyotype formula A2B20CX1DY1 and A2B20CX2 in male and female sex forms. Diploid males are heterogametic with 22+XY and females are homogametic with 22+XX. The somatic chromosomes are generally short with median and submedian constrictions except the metacentric X and Y chromosome. X chromosomes are larger than other chromosome complements in both the sex forms and Y chromosome is conspicuously large. The chromosome count and constancy of the karyotype with biochemical analysis recorded in the present study.
The Impact of Resource Commitment, Product Route Efficiency on Supply Chain Performance and Profitability: An Empirical Case Analysis

This study examines the impact of resource commitment and product route efficiency on supply chain performance of the firm through operations management. The firm’s profitability is impacted by the commitment made by its management on resources and also by product route efficiency of transporting goods to its customers. Sixteen hundred survey instruments were mailed to the scrap steel industry with 277 of the 307 returned being useable. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test each related hypothesis.