Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Build-to-Rent and the financialization of rental housing: future research directions

Abstract With the expansion of institutional investors into urban rental markets, many cities have witnessed a rise in Build-to-Rent (BtR). This article reviews the financialization of rental housing literature and identifies opportunities for urban housing scholars to progress understandings of BtR through future empirical and theoretical efforts. In particular, it proposes a broadening of the housing research agenda around three analytical entry points. These entry points relate to relatively understudied structural transformations of our urban housing systems implicated in the rise of BtR, namely: (1) the diversification of build-to-sell development models; (2) the evolution of the private rental sector; and (3) labour market–housing market realignments. Comparative inquiry promises to enrich understandings of BtR by revealing how city rental accommodation and tenancies are recalibrated by the investment imperatives of institutional investors and BtR asset shareholders, and with what benefits and at what costs to whom. Such contributions will also provide rich data to progress conceptual efforts to locate BtR within broader processes of housing financialization.
HyTropes: a WWW front-end to an object knowledge management system

HyTropes is a HTTP server allowing the manipulation of a knowledge base written in the Tropes object-based representation language through the world-wide web. It allows the navigation through the knowledge base as well as the invocation of search queries (filters). The display can be customised in order to best suit the needs of the applications. HyTropes will be demonstrated through three prototypic knowledge bases: ColiGene and FirstFly devoted to the genetic regulation of various organisms and STG, a bibliographic knowledge base.
Reframing Autism in a Mainstream Classroom via the Constructs of Inclusion and Stigma

An investigation was undertaken to explore the social environment in a mainstream classroom that housed both non-autistic and autistic students. The research focus was to see if engaging students in a particular programme, successfully reduced stigma. The research is founded upon the concept of autism as part of neurodiversity rather than only disorder. It posits affective and social outcomes of inclusive education can be a reality once stigma is exposed and autism, reframed. The literature reviewed yielded valuable insights into how best to support the rationale of this study to prepare typical classmates for entry of autistic children. Method: Via a single case-study, an engaging and interactive Peer Preparation Programme (PPP) provided opportunities for the pupils and the focus child to interact with each other; enabling them to acquire knowledge about themselves, each other, autism and ways to minimise the negative impact of stigma. Results: Findings indicated a considerable increase in empathetic attitudes, spontaneous interactions, peer awareness, positive peer imitations and peer advocacy. Conclusions: To reframe autism within mainstream classrooms, although conscious this is a single case-study, the program helped pupils comprehend the sensitive issues of social stigma and encourage empathy in practice.
Analysis of High Frequency Smart Meter Energy Consumption Data

Smart meters for measuring electricity consumption are fast becoming prevalent in households. The meters measure consumption on a very fine scale, usually on a 15 min basis, and the data give unprecedented granularity of consumption patterns at household level. A multitude of papers have emerged utilizing smart meter data for deepening our knowledge of consumption patterns. This paper applies a modification of Okoli’s method for conducting structured literature reviews to generate an overview of research in electricity customer classification using smart meter data. The process assessed 2099 papers before identifying 34 significant papers, and highlights three key points: prominent methods, datasets and application. Three important findings are outlined. First, only a few papers contemplate future applications of the classification, rendering papers relevant only in a classification setting. Second; the encountered classification methods do not consider correlation or time series analysis when classifying. The identified papers fail to thoroughly analyze the statistical properties of the data, investigations that could potentially improve classification performance. Third, the description of the data utilized is of varying quality, with only 50% acknowledging missing values impact on the final sample size. A data description score for assessing the quality in data description has been developed and applied to all papers reviewed.
Employing "Mobile Agents (MAs)" In the Internet services

In this paper, it is obvious show how current technological trends may lead to present the employing of mobile agents in Internet services because of Use of the Internet has exploded in recent years with the appearance of the WorldWide Web, and also It seems likely that, within a few years, nearly all major will be capable of hosting and willing to host some form of mobile code or mobile agents and it is also contributes towards such an evaluation and implements an Internet services using mobile agents. This paper also summarizes the advantages and disadvantages that arise in using these technological trends and discussed some of the trend deployment of mobile agent systems in internet services. It is also discuss other experiences on integrating components internet sites and applications, enabling them to receive and send agents with critical evolutionary and requirements of team work. However other experiences approach involves wrapping the components inside a Java that can be included in any internet services enables the servers to receive and send agents that can query of information. We discuss several technical and nontechnical hurdles along the path to that eventuality. A few years, nearly all major Internet sites will be capable of hosting and willing to host some form of mobile code or mobile agents.
Survey of compliance with the cigarettes and other tobacco products act, 2003 at schools in Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka

Background: Tobacco use is a major problem of public health significance as the tobacco smoking causes a wide range of diseases and adverse health impacts that affect nearly every organ of the body. The COTPA, 2003 i.e., the Indian smoke-free legislation “Prohibition of smoking in Public places” which forbids smoking in public places, including educational institutions. The main objective of this study is to assess the compliance of Section 4 and Section 6(b) of cigarettes and other tobacco products act (COTPA), 2003 in schools, to observe compliance of smoking ban at public places, to observe compliance of display of signboards at prominent places, to observe for direct and indirect evidence of smoking and other tobacco products used in school buildings and premises, to study the availability of tobacco products within 100 yards of school premises.Methods: A cross sectional survey in 100 schools in Dakshina Kannada district using compliance guide developed by partners of Bloomberg School of Public health to reduce tobacco use.Results: In 100 schools, 55 were rural area and 45 from urban area, further division shows government/semi-government schools were 44 and Private schools were 56. Section 4 for the presence of signboard, there is an association between the Management wise schools and presence of signboards (p=0.001), for section 6(b) of COTPA, there is an association between this Section and type of management (p=0.004). Conclusions: The schools depending upon the location show varied compliance towards the law. The Section 6(b) shows better compliance than Section 4.This study will help to address the implementation issues of COTPA.
Augmented Reality Markerless Multi-Image Outdoor Tracking System for the Historical Buildings on Parliament Hill

Augmented Reality (AR) applications have experienced extraordinary growth recently, evolving into a well-established method for the dissemination and communication of content related to cultural heritage—including education. AR applications have been used in museums and gallery exhibitions and virtual reconstructions of historic interiors. However, the circumstances of an outdoor environment can be problematic. This paper presents a methodology to develop immersive AR applications based on the recognition of outdoor buildings. To demonstrate this methodology, a case study focused on the Parliament Buildings National Historic Site in Ottawa, Canada has been conducted. The site is currently undergoing a multiyear rehabilitation program that will make access to parts of this national monument inaccessible to the public. AR experiences, including simulated photo merging of historic and present content, are proposed as one tool that can enrich the Parliament Hill visit during the rehabilitation. Outdoor AR experiences are limited by factors, such as variable lighting (and shadows) conditions, caused by changes in the environment (objects height and orientation, obstructions, occlusions), the weather, and the time of day. This paper proposes a workflow to solve some of these issues from a multi-image tracking approach.
Querying RDF(S) with Regular Expressions

RDF is a knowledge representation language dedicated to the annotation of resources within the Semantic Web. Though RDF itself can be used as a query language for an RDF knowledge base (using RDF semantic consequence), the need for added expressivity in queries has led to define the SPARQL query language. SPARQL queries are defined on top of graph patterns that are basically RDF graphs with variables. SPARQL queries remain limited as they do not allow queries with unbounded sequences of relations (e.g. "does there exist a trip from town A to town B using only trains or buses? "). We show that it is possible to extend the RDF syntax and semantics defining the PRDF language (for Path RDF) such that SPARQL can overcome this limitation by simply replacing the basic graph patterns with PRDF graphs, effectively mixing RDF reasoning with database-inspired regular paths. We further extend PRDF to CPRDF (for Constrained Path RDF) to allow expressing constraints on the nodes of traversed paths (e.g. "Moreover, one of the correspondences must provide a wireless connection."). We have provided sound and complete algorithms for answering queries (the query is a PRDF or a CPRDF graph, the knowledge base is an RDF graph) based upon a kind of graph homomorphism, along with a detailed complexity analysis. Finally, we use PRDF or CPRDF graphs to generalize SPARQL graph patterns, defining the PSPARQL and CPSPARQL extensions, and provide experimental tests using a complete implementation of these two query languages.
Urban Shrinkage and Sustainability: Assessing the Nexus between Population Density, Urban Structures and Urban Sustainability

Urban shrinkage has become a common pathway (not only) in post-socialist cities, which represents new challenges for traditionally growth-oriented spatial planning. Though in the post-socialist area, the situation is even worse due to prevailing weak planning culture and resulting uncoordinated development. The case of the city of Ostrava illustrates how the problem of (in)efficient infrastructure operation, and maintenance, in already fragmented urban structure is exacerbated by the growing size of urban area (through low-intensity land-use) in combination with declining size of population (due to high rate of outmigration). Shrinkage, however, is, on the intra-urban level, spatially differentiated. Population, paradoxically, most intensively declines in the least financially demanding land-uses and grows in the most expensive land-uses for public administration. As population and urban structure development prove to have strong inertia, this land-use development constitutes a great challenge for a city’s future sustainability. The main objective of the paper is to explore the nexus between change in population density patterns in relation to urban shrinkage, and sustainability of public finance.
Usage of laboratory bench scale testing in environmental remediation strategies

The oil sands tailings ponds of the Athabasca region, in Northern Alberta, are complex slurries of residual bitumen, oil organics, naphtha diluent, water, sand, clay and heavy metals. These ponds present a unique, yet challenging environment to work with. Remediation of organic contaminant can occur via abiotic and biotic mechanisms. Acceleration of these processes can be achieved through amendments, such as addition of nutrients, surfactants and oxygen, to the contaminated environment which can stimulate microbial growth and metabolism as well as favourable abiotic reactions. Bioremediation efficacy varies greatly from site to site due to changing environmental conditions, soil characteristics, contaminant composition and complexity and indigenous microbial communities. Due to this complexity, assessment of the feasibility of implementing a biologically-based remediation solution and the establishment of optimal treatment conditions for specific sites is critical to ensure efficacy of the bioremediation process, especially in areas exposed to challenging conditions such as mine and oil sands tailings. The bioremediation potential of a site can be evaluated using laboratory or bench scale biotreatability testing, where field conditions are mimicked and the optimal conditions for contaminant degradation are identified. Advanced approaches to bioremediation may also involve the use of mixed species biofilms (microbial consortia). Biodegradation of a compound is often dependent on a microbial consortium, a mixture of species often including bacteria, fungi and archaea (extremophiles), as individual organisms can metabolise only a limited range of substrates. Bioremediation of tailings could be optimised through better understanding and utilisation of diverse microbial groups that are indigenous to mining environments, and through the use of biofilms. A few studies are presented to illustrate: i) the value of bench scale biotreatability testing; ii) the application of non-conventional microbial and molecular techniques; and iii) biofilm methodology; to gather a better understanding and to test the efficacy of bioremediation programmes prior to implementation in the field.
Effects of online reviews and managerial responses from a review manipulation perspective

ABSTRACT Unlike online travel agencies (OTAs), travel review websites allow travellers without purchase records to share their opinions. However, the effects of two mechanisms, namely, verified and unverified reviews, on traveller decisions remain unclear. In this study, managerial responses (MRs) and traveller bookings data were collected from TripAdvisor (a travel review website) and Expedia (an OTA), respectively. The following findings were drawn after matching the review data from these websites: (1) Expedia has more credible reviews than TripAdvisor. Therefore, higher review volume and valence ratio between Expedia and TripAdvisor significantly increase traveller bookings; (2) more MRs on TripAdvisor is significantly associated with lesser bookings because travellers treat MRs on TripAdvisor as acts of review manipulation instead of positive efforts by hotels; and (3) the number of MRs significantly and positively moderates the effect of review volume and valence ratio on traveller bookings. This study also discusses the practical and theoretical implications of its findings for both academics and travel practitioners.
Impacts of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Rice Production in Thailand during 1961-2016

Received: 24 Nov 2018 Received in revised: 19 Apr 2019 Accepted: 5 May 2019 Published online: 13 Jun 2019 DOI: 10.32526/ennrj.17. 4.2019. 29 The impacts of ENSO and its associated climate variability on Thailand’s rice production, area harvested and yield during 1961-2016 were examined. Analysis showed that year-to-year weather-related variations in Thailand’s rice production, area harvested and yield which accounted for about one third of total interannual variance tended to vary in response to the phase reversals of ENSO events, with large decreases occurred during El Niño events. Rice production, area harvested and yield also exhibited lower (higher) than normal during the years when Thailand experienced deficit (excess) rainfall and lower (greater) number of rainy days. These results in combination with the previous studies suggest that ENSO exerts its influence on rice production and yield in Thailand via inducing anomalies in rainfall and temperature. Another noteworthy finding was the asymmetrical ENSO-Thailand’s rice production relationship. Significant decline was observed only during El Niño events, highlighting a much greater influence of El Niño events on Thailand’s rice production, area harvested and yield than La Niña events. This observation provides additional evidence extending the previously reported asymmetry in the ENSO-rainfall relationship in Thailand to rice production and yield as well. Hence, the asymmetrical ENSO-rice relationship should be taken into account when developing linearly predictive model.
Correlation of Seismic Attributes and Geomechanical Properties to the Rate of Penetration in the Mississippian Limestone, Oklahoma

The rate of penetration (ROP) measures drilling speed, which is indicative of the overall time and in general, the cost of the drilling operation process. ROP depends on many engineering factors; however, if these parameters are held constant, ROP is a function of the geology. We examine ROP in the relatively heterogeneous Mississippian Limestone reservoir of north-central Oklahoma where hydrocarbon exploration and development have been present in this area for over fifty years. A 400 mi2 (1036 km2) 3D seismic survey and 51 horizontal wells were used to compute seismic attributes and geo-mechanical properties in the area of interest. Previous Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) studies have shown that ROP can be correlated to rock brittleness and natural fractures. We therefore hypothesize that both structural attributes and rock properties should be correlated to ROP in drilling horizontal wells. We use a proximal support vector machine (PSVM) to link rate of penetration to seismic attributes and mechanical rock properties with the objective to better predict the time and cost of the drilling operation process. Our workflow includes three steps: exploratory data analysis, model validation, and classification. Exploratory data analysis using 14 wells indicate high ROP is correlated with low porosity, high lambda-rho, high mu-rho, low curvedness, and high P-impedance. Low ROP was exhibited by wells with high porosity, low lambda-rho, low mu-rho, high curvedness and low P-impedance. Validation of the PSVM model using the remaining 37 wells gives an R2 = 0.94. Using these five attributes and 14 training wells, we used PSVM to compute a ROP volume in the target formation. We anticipate that this process can help better predict a budget or even reduce the cost of drilling when an ROP assessment is made in conjunction with reservoir quality and characteristics.
Bayesian spatio-temporal evaluations of spotted fever group rickettsioseswith socio-economic and environmental factors: 2013 - 2018

Recent advances in disease mapping allow for the simultaneous evaluation of space-time dynamics of diseases and the drivers of such dynamics, which are useful for designing public health campaigns and surveillance systems. This study determined the space-time patterns of spotted fever group rickettsioses (SFR), a group of tick-borne Rickettsial diseases widely prevalent in the U.S, and further evaluated the associations of socio-economic and environmental (land cover, climate) factors with SFR. County-level SFR cases reported to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment between years 2013 – 2018 and publicly available covariate data were used in a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework to quantify trends and associations. The results show a steady increase in space-time trend for SFR in Kansas, the spread of SFR to newer counties over the study period, and two clusters of high-risk areas in the southeast and northeastern parts of Kansas. The space-time pattern of SFR is influenced by poverty status, the number of older homes in a county, and higher relative humidity conditions. The relevance of these findings is discussed in the context of public health and climate change implications on health.
Why firms lose their ISO 9001 certification: Evidence from Portugal

More than one million certified companies must choose, every three years, whether to renew or to withdraw from ISO 9001 certification. This paper investigates whether ISO 9001 decertification decision is driven by economic motivations. Using standard event-study methods, the paper looks into this question by comparing the abnormal performance of a sample of Portuguese firms that lose their certification with that of similar, non-event, firms. The paper finds no statistically significant differences in the economic performance of these two sets of firms in their post-ISO certification period. Such evidence suggests that economic underperformance is not the reason why companies are ISO decertifying and further suggests that the decision to decertify is economically irrelevant. The study advances possible explanations for this (ir)relevancy and puts forwards implications for theory and for the ISO 9001 governance system. The governance system must change in order to increase the economic benefits that organisations can expect to gain from ISO (re)certification. This is the first study assessing the impact of ISO 9001 certification on firms that subsequently lost the certificate.
Benchmark 3D eye-tracking dataset for visual saliency prediction on stereoscopic 3D video

Visual Attention Models (VAMs) predict the location of an image or video regions that are most likely to attract human attention. Although saliency detection is well explored for 2D image and video content, there are only few attempts made to design 3D saliency prediction models. Newly proposed 3D visual attention models have to be validated over large-scale video saliency prediction datasets, which also contain results of eye-tracking information. There are several publicly available eye-tracking datasets for 2D image and video content. In the case of 3D, however, there is still a need for large-scale video saliency datasets for the research community for validating different 3D-VAMs. In this paper, we introduce a large-scale dataset containing eye-tracking data collected from 61 stereoscopic 3D videos (and also 2D versions of those) and 24 subjects participated in a free-viewing test. We evaluate the performance of the existing saliency detection methods over the proposed dataset. In addition, we created an online benchmark for validating the performance of the existing 2D and 3D visual attention models and facilitate addition of new VAMs to the benchmark. Our benchmark currently contains 50 different VAMs.
Benefits of green infrastructure - socio-economic importance of constructed urban wetlands (Nummela, Finland)

Key Message: Benefits provided by ecosystem services can be successfully integrated into urban planning and management processes. Monitoring of the Nummela Gateway wetland park over a period of three years shows that constructed wetlands rapidly self-establish, resulting in an increase in biodiversity and the establishment of several ecosystem services (e.g. erosion and flood control, and reduction of pollutants in runoff water). The constructed wetland also provides a range of other benefits including opportunities for recreation and education.