Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Initial Spacing on Plantation Black Spruce Lumber Grade Yield, Bending Properties, and MSR Yield

For decades, initial spacing of 2 m X 2 m has been used for black spruce ( Picea mariana ) reforestation in eastern Canada. In recent years, however, wider spacings for black spruce are being advocated to reduce establishment costs and accelerate tree growth. Wider spacings will affect not only return on investment but also the quality of products from the plantations, both of which are critical to the success of reforestation programs. As part of a multidisciplinary project, this study evaluated and quantified the impact of initial spacing on lumber grade yield, bending properties, and MSR yield in this species. Furthermore, visual grades of the plantation-grown lumber were compared for their bending properties and their compliance to the current grade requirements for bending stiffness. A total of 139 sample trees were collected from 4 different spacings (3,086, 2,500, 2,066, 1,372 trees/ha) in a 48-year-old initial spacing trial, and 849 pieces of 2-in. -thick lumber from the 4 spacings were graded visually and tested for bending strength and stiffness. With decreasing initial stand density from 3,086 to 2,066 trees/ha, branch diameter showed a steady increase. However, the 3 higher stand densities (3,086, 2,500, and 2,066 trees/ha) had a comparable Select Structural (SS) grade yield thanks to the relatively small branches in this species. Lumber strength and stiffness in those 3 spacings were also quite comparable. When the initial stand density was further reduced to 1,372 tree/ha, however, a remarkable decrease in the SS grade yield due to knots occurred, and lumber strength and stiffness also decreased significantly. The real concern occurred when the plantation-grown lumber was compared to that from natural stands currently being processed in eastern Canada. On average, the plantation-grown black spruce lumber stiffness was 28.9% lower than that of lumber from the natural stands. As a result, a high percentage of the plantation-grown lumber did not meet the bending design values. However, the percentage of the compliance to the design values tended to increase with increasing initial stand density. This article discusses the possible causes for the significantly lower bending properties of the plantation-grown lumber, and potential solutions for increasing lumber properties and the percentage of the compliance.
What is the relationship among pre-retirement guidance, social support and psychological wellbeing on retirement adjustment of teacher retirees in Osun State?

The study investigated the level of retirement adjustment of teacher retirees in Osun State, Nigeria. It also explored the extent to which pre- retirement guidance, social support, and psychological wellbeing could individually and collectively predict retirement adjustment. Survey research design was used, with a sample size of 161 drawn through a multi-stage sampling method from a population of primary and secondary schools’ retirees in the study area. Four research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Two adapted and one adopted standardised scales were used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that the majority (75.0%) of the respondents experience moderate retirement adjustment. The results further revealed that social support has a significant contribution (t = 6.90, beta weight = .445, p .125). Finally, additional results showed that preretirement guidance, social support, and psychological wellbeing combine to significantly predict retirement adjustment (R = .676, R2 = .457, p< 0.05). It is suggested, among others, that pre-retirement guidance should be given legal and policy backing to motivate employers to prepare their workers for effective living in retirement. Keywords: retirement adjustment, pre-retirement guidance, social support, psychological wellbeing, retirees, Nigeria.
on CMS information server CMS CR-2016 / 219 The Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment

We present a set of searches for new heavy resonances with the CMS detector at the LHC. Protonproton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is used. Specifically, we consider searches for a W boson decaying to a lepton and a neutrino, a Z boson decaying to a pair of taus, and a heavy particle (Z boson or Randall Sundrum Kaluza Klein gluon) decaying to a pair of top quarks. The searches are performed by measuring the mass distributions of the final state particles and testing for deviations from the expected Standard Model background. In the high mass ranges accessible by the Run II LHC, the final state particles are expected to be produced with high transverse momenta. This leads to dijet event topologies, and the latest reconstruction techniques are employed to separate these signatures from backgrounds. The results are presented in terms of upper limits on the model cross sections. Presented at LHCP2016 Fourth annual Large Hadron Collider Physics Searches for Heavy Resonances with CMS Christine McLean∗ On Behalf of the CMS Collaboration, Department of Physics University of California, Davis, CA 95616, U.S.A E-mail: ch.mclean@cern.ch We present a set of searches for new heavy resonances with the CMS detector at the LHC. Protonproton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is used. Specifically, we consider searches for a W ′ boson decaying to a lepton and a neutrino, a Z′ boson decaying to a pair of taus, and a heavy particle (Z′ boson or Randall Sundrum Kaluza Klein gluon) decaying to a pair of top quarks. The searches are performed by measuring the mass distributions of the final state particles and testing for deviations from the expected Standard Model background. In the high mass ranges accessible by the Run II LHC, the final state particles are expected to be produced with high transverse momenta. This leads to dijet event topologies, and the latest reconstruction techniques are employed to separate these signatures from backgrounds. The results are presented in terms of upper limits on the model cross sections. Fourth Annual Large Hadron Collider Physics 13-18 June 2016 Lund, Sweden
Potential for calibration of geostationary meteorological imagers using the Moon

Solar-band imagery from geostationary meteorological satellites has been utilized in a number of important applications in Earth Science that require radiometric calibration. Because these satellite systems typically lack on-board calibrators, various techniques have been employed to establish "ground truth", including observations of stable ground sites and oceans, and cross-calibrating with coincident observations made by instruments with on-board calibration systems. The Moon appears regularly in the margins and corners of full-disk operational images of the Earth acquired by meteorological instruments with a rectangular field of regard, typically several times each month, which provides an excellent opportunity for radiometric calibration. The USGS RObotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) project has developed the capability for on-orbit calibration using the Moon via a model for lunar spectral irradiance that accommodates the geometries of illumination and viewing by a spacecraft. The ROLO model has been used to determine on-orbit response characteristics for several NASA EOS instruments in low Earth orbit. Relative response trending with precision approaching 0.1% per year has been achieved for SeaWiFS as a result of the long time-series of lunar observations collected by that instrument. The method has a demonstrated capability for cross-calibration of different instruments that have viewed the Moon. The Moon appears skewed in high-resolution meteorological images, primarily due to satellite orbital motion during acquisition; however, the geometric correction for this is straightforward. By integrating the lunar disk image to an equivalent irradiance, and using knowledge of the sensor's spectral response, a calibration can be developed through comparison against the ROLO lunar model. The inherent stability of the lunar surface means that lunar calibration can be applied to observations made at any time, including retroactively. Archived geostationary imager data that contains the Moon can be used to develop response histories for these instruments, regardless of their current operational status.
ALGORITHM OF FEATURE SELECTION FOR INCONSISTENT DATA PREPROCESSING BASED ROUGH SET

The inconsistency of information about objects may be the greatest obstacle to performing inductive learning from examples. Rough sets theory provides a new mathematical tool to deal with uncertainty and vagueness. Based on rough sets theory and decision table, the paper introduced the devel- opment process and basic features of Rough Sets, as well as its application in data mining. In addition, a kind of rough set feature selection algorithm about preprocessing of inconsistent data is put forward.
An analysis of Selected Aspects of Sperm Quality in Fresh and Cooled-Storage Stallion Semen

This review summarises the most significant findings related to the issue of the quantitative and qualitative indicators of stallion ejaculates, its processing when producing chilled insemination doses and the possibility of influencing the individual steps of the entire process. Artificial insemination, with cooled-storage semen, is increasingly used in horse breeding because it offers many advantages over natural breeding. The parameters of sperm quality and, above all, the standardization of conditions in the production of cool-stored insemination doses are still not clearly specified. There is considerable scope for further development and research in this area.
Is the report of the death of the construct of usability an exaggeration

Mark Twain was undecided whether to be more amused or annoyed when a Journal representative informed him today of the report in New York that he was dying in poverty in London. The great humorist, while not perhaps very robust, is in the best of health. He said: "I can understand perfectly how the report of my illness got about, I have even heard on good authority that I was dead. James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration. " New York Journal, 6/2/1897
Phosphorus gettering in multicrystalline silicon studied by neutron activation analysis

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is a powerful and sensitive technique for measuring trace amounts of impurities. In this work, we have applied NAA to the problem of identifying metallic impurities within the bulk of solar-grade cast multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) wafers. In particular, the change in concentrations of these contaminants after phosphorus gettering is monitored, revealing a marked reduction in some metal species, but not in others.
Lean Six Sigma Approach to Improve the Admissions Process for a Nigerian HE Institute

Lean as a management paradigm has been applied extensively in manufacturing industries, and so little has been done in the area of its studies and application in managing affairs in education. This paper exemplifies the applicability of Lean Six Sigma approach for higher educational institutes. The problem solved is that of ineffective and inefficient admission process in the ELITE state polytechnic. The project is aimed at proffering a workable and a viable improvement process for the admission of candidates for the ELITE state polytechnic that will be more attractive and have more value for customers and above all, create more wealth for the polytechnic community. The need for improvement is presented in responses from respondents in the question two of the questionnaires. A total of 70 respondents, representing 85% indicate their dissatisfaction with the admission process. To improve the admissions process, the Lean Six Sigma based methodology, DMAIC was applied. A qualitative research analysis was used in analyzing the questionnaires, since the method seeks to understand and the research problems from the perspective of the local population. A test shows positive results when compared with the old practice. There were improvements in a circle, takt, lead and utilization times, reductions in idle time and rework, likewise the process circle efficient (PCE). The results are presented in the current flow chart and the value stream maps.
Design and Implementation of a Distributed System for Content-Based Image Retrieval

The aim of this work is to design and implement a distributed system for content-based image retrieval on very large image databases. To realize this system, a standard full-text search engine has been used. In particular, the system has been developed with the open source software Elasticsearch which, in turn, is built on top of Apache LuceneTM, a widely used full-text search engine Java library. In order to allow the fulltext search engine to perform similarity search, we used Deep Convolutional Neural Network Features extracted from the images of the dataset and encoded as standard text. Given the distributed nature of Elasticsearch, the index can be split and spread among several nodes. This makes it easy to parallelize the search, thus leading to a significant performance enhancement. All the experiments have been conducted on the Yahoo Flickr Creative Commons 100M dataset, publicly available and composed of about 100 million of tagged images. A web-based GUI has been designed to allow the user to perform both textual and visual similarity search on the dataset of images.
3D climate modeling of close-in land planets: Circulation patterns, climate moist bistability and habitability

The inner edge of the classical habitable zone is often defined by the critical flux needed to trigger the runaway greenhouse instability. This 1D notion of a critical flux, however, may not be so relevant for inhomogeneously irradiated planets, or when the water content is limited (land planets). Here, based on results from our 3D global climate model, we find that the circulation pattern can shift from super-rotation to stellar/anti stellar circulation when the equatorial Rossby deformation radius significantly exceeds the planetary radius. Using analytical and numerical arguments, we also demonstrate the presence of systematic biases between mean surface temperatures or temperature profiles predicted from either 1D or 3D simulations. Including a complete modeling of the water cycle, we further demonstrate that for land planets closer than the inner edge of the classical habitable zone, two stable climate regimes can exist. One is the classical runaway state, and the other is a collapsed state where water is captured in permanent cold traps. We identify this "moist" bistability as the result of a competition between the greenhouse effect of water vapor and its condensation. We also present synthetic spectra showing the observable signature of these two states. Taking the example of two prototype planets in this regime, namely Gl581c and HD85512b, we argue that they could accumulate a significant amount of water ice at their surface. If such a thick ice cap is present, gravity driven ice flows and geothermal flux should come into play to produce long-lived liquid water at the edge and/or bottom of the ice cap. Consequently, the habitability of planets at smaller orbital distance than the inner edge of the classical habitable zone cannot be ruled out. Transiting planets in this regime represent promising targets for upcoming observatories like EChO and JWST.
An Investigation into the Knowledge of Mediation with English-Teachers

This paper aims to investigate English teachers’ knowledge of mediation and their classroom practices in terms of Feuerstein’s 12 features of Mediated Learning Experience. In order to collect data, a questionnaire survey adapted by Cheng (2011) from Williams and Burden’s Mediation questionnaire, with a reference to Liao’s Communicative Language Teaching questionnaire was employed to 17 English instructors working at a foundation university. The survey composes of two parts; in the first part there are 9 questions based on 4 vignettes and in the second part there are 12 statements related to MLE. The results indicated that the teachers did not have any idea about the notion of mediation, but their responses to the questions relating to their practices indicated that they employed universal features rather than situational features of 12 Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). As a result, it is possible to suggest that the teachers should be trained in terms of mediation to raise awareness for knowing what their roles are as mediators because of their critical roles in the classroom.
Postpartum Learning Needs as Perceived by Mothers at Suez Canal University Hospital

Background:Postpartum period is a serious period in a women's life and contains various changes which results in many learning needs that require working to be met. Aim of the study was to identify postpartum learning needs as perceived by mothers at Suez Canal University Hospital. Design: Descriptive design wasutilized in this study . Setting: The study was carried out in labor and postpartum units at Suez Canal University Hospital. Sample: A purposive sample of 300 mothers who were primipara and hada full term pregnancy. Tools: Two tools were used for data collection,a structured interview questionnaire for mothers, and Likert scale for assessment of postpartum learning needs from the perspective of mothers. Results: Most of studied mothers perceived that information about episiotomy care and C.S wound care, postpartum danger signs of mothers and newborns were important postpartum learning needs. 54.3%of mothers perceived that information about exercisewere important postpartum learning need.Conclusion:new mothers have many learning needs during postpartum period and nurses need to assess the mothers' learning needs before beginning the postpartum teaching that must be based on women's own learning needs. Recommendation: Develop and implement mothers classes during antenatal period about postpartum learning needs.
Number : YTVJL-D17-00838 R 3 Title : Whole-slide imaging : cytomorphological descriptive capacity and intra-observer agreement in canine lymphoma samples

The term 'whole-slide imaging (WSI)' refers to the use of robotic microscopes for computerising entire slides into digital images. This study aimed to assess the agreement between WSI and optical microscopy for evaluating canine lymphoma cytological samples. Forty-four slides were computerised using a WSI scanner. The digital and glass slides were examined by three observers with different levels of expertise. The morphology of neoplastic cells and the lymphoma grade were scored, on the basis of the updated Kiel classification, and the intraobserver agreement was assessed. Moreover, the accuracy of determining the lymphoma grade of the digital and glass slides based on the results of flow-cytometry (FC) was established. The overall intra-observer agreement for the cytomorphological features was fair to moderate (from 0.34 to 0.52) for the three observers, whereas the intra-observer agreement for the evaluation of malignancy grade was moderate (from 0.44 to 0.53). The diagnostic agreement between FC and digital slides was slight (0.16) for the inexperienced observer, fair (0.32) for the mildly experienced observer, and moderate (0.50) for the experienced observer, whereas the diagnostic agreement between FC and glass slides was fair (0.37) for the inexperienced observer, substantial (0.63) for the mildly experienced observer, and moderate (0.50) for the experienced observer. Our findings underline the importance of observer experience in determining the malignancy grade, especially if digital slides are used. The study also identifies some technical limitations of the tested WSI scanner, mainly linked to image quality, which affected the morphological evaluation of the neoplastic cells.
Bi‐level optimal bidding strategy of an aggregator in competition with rival aggregators

: This study formulates a stochastic bi-level optimisation model for an aggregator participating in a two-settlement pool- based market while competing with rival aggregators. The market structure comprises a day-ahead and a balancing market. The upper level problem maximises the profit of the aggregator, while the lower level problem minimises the cost of energy procurement. The novelty of this work is that the aggregator is considered as a price-maker in both markets in which it participates in the day-ahead market by offering energy and price bids, and in the balancing market by offering only energy bids. Therefore, this study formulates an optimisation model where the price-maker economic bidding problem is considered without simplification, and serves as a reference for future studies. The proposed formulation is non-linear due to its bi-level structure and price-maker offers. The problem is then properly linearised into a single-level problem. The concept of conditional value at risk (CVaR) has been applied in the problem formulation to maximise average profit under worst scenarios. Finally, numerical results are presented through an illustrative case study to assess the performance of the proposed model. The results show that the profit of economic bidding is over 100% more than that of self-schedule in low risk cases.
The antecedents of innovativeness in small and medium manufacturing enterprises in Kenya: A critical review of literature

Innovation has been accepted as a key stimulus for growth. This is more so with SMEs which are widely acknowledged as being a significant driver in economic growth. In a review of over 90 peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers; this paper brings together different arguments that have been made in explaining the antecedents for innovativeness. This is a critical review of the literature with respect to innovativeness of manufacturing SMEs. Whereas it is acknowledged that the discussions around innovation are continually evolving, existing literature has shown that there are internal and external factors that affect innovativeness in firms. In addition to this, there is a need to have research that applies universally and hence the need to study this phenomenon in manufacturing SMEs in Kenya and the gaps therein. Even though entrepreneurial orientation, technological capability and environmental dynamism have been identified as variables affecting firm innovativeness, there is no common consensus across various approaches. A need to empirically explore this area further effectively contributing to knowledge in this area has been identified. Key words: SMEs, Innovativeness, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Technological Capability, Environmental Dynamism.
Mastery and Mentorship: Case Study

There has been widespread recognition for some time of the value of a Master’s level qualification for advanced or specialist practitioners within health and social care practice. However, the move to all-graduate preparation for nurses, placing nursing programmes alongside other health and social care pre-qualifying programmes, will inevitably open up the potential for more Master’s level pre-qualifying programmes. Clearly this has implications for the preparation of those who mentor health and social care students. This chapter will contextualise mentor preparation within contemporary political, professional and economic drivers. It will offer definitions of mentorship within pre-qualifying professional programmes and define what is involved in the mastery of professional practice. It will then consider these two aspects in conjunction with a discussion of academic descriptions of Master’s level study. The chapter will then synthesise the attributes associated with both mentorship and the mastery of professional practice and demonstrate the inherent connectedness of these advanced professional activities to the academic characteristics of Master’s level study.