Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A generalized search scheme for automatic registration of remote-sensing data

A generalized search scheme for automatic registration of level-1 data of multiresolution and multi-sensor remote-sensing data was proposed. The robustness and time efficiency of the automatic registration process is critically dependant on the search scheme for identification of control points. The proposed method consists of three levels of search ranging from coarser to finer. This process was found to be capable of registering images to sub-pixel level which are independent of rotation and scale variations, and also translation that vary by few metres to kilometres. In order to reduce the low pass effect due to multiple transformations involved in the multi-level registration process, a direct correspondence between the reference image and target image was established so that a single resampling needs to be applied. This correspondence also helps to generate products at any desired pixel size and to keep the original resolution intact. In this scheme mutual information (MI) is used as a similarity measure and a non-rigid transformation, thin plate spline (TPS), is used for achieving sub-pixel registration accuracies. MI is found to be better for identification of match points even for images that are radiometrically nonlinear. Unlike global transformation methods, use of non-rigid transformations such as TPS achieves sub-pixel accuracy in the moderate hilly regions as well as high hilly regions where relief displacements are high, provided sufficient number of control points are generated. However TPS transformation demands accurate control points. A robust method for detection of inaccurate control points was adopted and explained in the paper. The scheme was tested on a number of combinations of remote sensing data of the same resolution and different resolution datasets, namely Cartosat-1 with Liss-4 of Resourcesat-1, Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) with IRS-1C/1D and Cartosat-1 with Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM). The results are presented along with accuracies achieved.
Response of Carbon Dioxide Emissions to Warming under No-Till and Conventional Till Systems

Differences in soil organic carbon (SOC) distribution, water holding capacity, and soil temperature between no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems can result in different soil CO2 emissions which could affect global warming but few studies have addressed this concern. An open warming experiment was conducted in situ by infrared heating of long-term conservation tillage management plots in North China Plain (NCP) to determine the effects of warming on soil CO2 emissions and the correlation to changes in soil temperature and moisture. This experiment was conducted from February 2010 to June 2012 and included CT and NT plots with and without warming. Warming treatment increased soil temperature by 2.1 and 1.5 degrees C, and decreased volumetric soil-water content by 14 and 10% for CT and NT systems, respectively. Soil CO2 emissions tended to decrease with time in CT while it consistently increased in NT system over the three wheat seasons and two maize seasons under warming. Our results suggest that differences in soil temperature and soil moisture between the two tillage systems could be enlarged with time by warming, and the potential exist for warming to promote more soil CO2 emission under NT relative to CT. There is a need to consider the differences in response to global warming between these two tillage systems to properly assess the benefits of NT to C sequestration.
Do food commodity prices have asymmetric effects on euro-area inflation?

Abstract This paper analyzes the relationship between commodity prices and consumer food prices in the euro area and in its largest countries (Germany, France and Italy) and tests whether the latter respond asymmetrically to shocks to the former. The issue is of particular interest for those monetary authorities that target headline consumer price inflation, which has been heavily influenced by pronounced swings in international commodity prices in the past decade. The empirical analysis is based on two distinct but complementary approaches. We first use a structural model, identify a shock to commodity prices and check through formal econometric tests whether the Impulse Response Functions of food consumer prices is invariant to the sign of the commodity price shock. Next, we employ predictive regressions and examine the relative forecasting ability of linear models with respect to that of models that allow for sign-dependent nonlinearities. Overall, the empirical analysis uncovers very little evidence of asymmetries.
Central European Journal of Mathematics Boundary vs . interior conditions associated with weighted composition operators Research

Associated with some properties of weighted composition operators on the spaces of bounded harmonic and analytic functions on the open unit disk D, we obtain conditions in terms of behavior of weight functions and analytic self-maps on the interior D and on the boundary ∂D respectively. We give direct proofs of the equivalence of these interior and boundary conditions. Furthermore we give another proof of the estimate for the essential norm of the difference of weighted composition operators. MSC: 47B38, 30H10
Information-theoretic assessment of ASTER super-spectral imagery

This work focuses on estimating the information conveyed to a user by multi-dimensional digitised signals. The goal is establishing the extent to which an increase in radiometric resolution, or equivalently in signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), can increase the amount of information available to users. Lossless data compression and noise modeling are exploited to measure the "useful" information content of the data. In fact, the bit-rate achieved by the reversible compression process takes into account both the contribution of the "observation" noise, i.e. information regarded as statistical uncertainty, whose relevance is null to a user, and the intrinsic information of hypothetically noise-free samples. Once the parametric model of the noise, assumed to be possibly non-Gaussian, has been preliminarily estimated, the mutual information between noise-free signal and recorded noisy signal is easily estimated. However, it is also desirable to know what is the amount of information that the digitised samples would convey if they were ideally recorded without observation noise. Therefore, an entropy model of the source is defined and such a model is inverted to yield an estimate of the information content of the noise-free source from the code rate and the noise model. Results are reported and discussed on true superspectral data (14 spectral bands) recorded by the ASTER imaging radiometer.
Experimental Investigation of Eclogite Rheology and Its Fabrics at High Temperature and Pressure

Eclogite plays an important role in mantle convection and geodynamics in subduction zones. An improved understanding of processes in the deeper levels of subduction zones and collision belts requires information on eclogite rheology. However, the deformation processes and associated fabrics in eclogite are not well understood. Incompatible views of deformation mechanism have been proposed for both garnet and omphacite. We present here deformation behaviour of eclogite at temperatures of 1027–1427 °C, confining pressures of 2.5–3.5 GPa, and strain rates of 1 × 10−5 s−1 to 5 × 10−4 s−1. We obtained a power‐law creep for the high temperature and pressure deformation of a ‘dry’ eclogite (50 vol.% garnet, 40% omphacite and 10% quartz) with A = 103.3 ± 1.0, n = 3.5 ± 0.4, ΔE =403 ± 30 KJ mol−1 and ΔV = 27.2 cm3 mol−1. The two principal minerals of eclogite have greatly different strengths. Progressive increase of garnet results in a smooth increase in strength. Analysis by electron back‐scattered diffraction shows that: (1) garnet displays pole figures with near random distributions of misorientation angle under both dry and wet conditions; (2) omphacite shows pronounced lattice preferred orientations (LPOs), suggesting a dominant dislocation creep mechanism. Further investigation into the water effects on eclogite show: (3) water content does not influence the style of omphacite fabric but increases slightly the fabric strength; (4) grain boundary processes dominate the deformation of garnet under high water fugacity or high shear‐strain conditions, yielding a random LPO similar to that of non‐deforming garnet, despite the strong shape preferred orientation (SPO) observed. {110} [001] slip may dominate the deformation of rutile. Quartz displays complicated and inconsistent LPOs in eclogite. These results are remarkably similar to observations from deformed eclogites in nature.
Entrepreneurship and the Defense of Capitalism: An Examination of the Work of Israel Kirzner

Israel Kirzner has spent a career in articulating and refining concept of entrepreneurship; His work is indispensable for anyone seeking an understanding of the role of the entrepreneur in the economy. This paper provides a critical appreciation of this work, and considers how Kirzners insights might feature in a defense of Capitalism in the post- Socialist world.Israel Kirzner a consacré sa carrière à articuler et affiner le concept desprit dentreprise. Ses travaux sont indispensables pour quiconque cherche à comprendre le rôle de lentrepreneur dans léconomie. Cet article propose une évaluation critique de ces travaux, et examine dans quelle mesure la perspective kirznerienne peut représenter une défense du capitalisme dans le monde postsocialiste.
Using complementary methods for improved flow forecasting

Abstract Forecasting river flow is important to water resources management and planning. Four artificial neural network (ANN) models were developed and compared in order to forecast river flow in the River Trent, UK. The first two are feed-forward networks and were trained with back-propagation and cascade-correlation algorithms; the third is an adaptive linear neuron network; and the fourth an Elman network. Using observations of river flow for 1996–1998, the ANN models were satisfactorily trained and verified. A method that allows the explicit description of the variations in the lag of the system was also used and, when applied together with a real-time updating method, resulted in improved model performance. The research shows that using a parallel data-driven error prediction model to complement the ANNs produces much better flow predictions in comparison to using the ANNs alone.
Review: the behaviour and environmental impact of contaminants in fertilizers

The risks of contaminants accumulating in soils and crops due to inadvertent addition of impurities in agricultural fertilizers and soil amendments were assessed for Australian conditions. Elements considered of concern were arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), fluorine (F), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg). Consideration of background concentrations of these elements in Australian soils, inputs to soil in fertilizers and offtake in harvested crops indicates that Cd and F will accumulate in fertilized soils at a faster rate than As, Pb or Hg. The major factors affecting the accumulation of fertilizer-derived Cd, F, Hg and Pb in soils and their transfer to agricultural crops are reviewed in an Australian context where data are available. Cadmium is the element of most concern as its transfer from soils to the edible portions of agricultural food crops is significantly greater than for other elements. After consideration of the behaviour of F, Hg and Pb in the soil-plant system, we conclude that these elements pose negligible risk of accumulating to toxic concentrations in agricultural food crops. Proposed regulations governing maximum permitted concentrations (MPCs) of F in soils may need review and critical concentrations of F in agricultural soils need definition, given current F loadings to soil from fertilizers. Some agricultural produce currently exceeds Australian MPCs for Cd. However, the levels observed in crops and soils are in a range similar to those found internationally. While Cd concentrations in Australian phosphatic fertilizers have been historically high in comparison with fertilizers used in other countries, lower inputs of fertilizer per unit area and less atmospheric contamination of soils have resulted in similar or lower Cd loadings to agricultural land compared with Europe. In recent years the use of phosphatic fertilizers with lower Cd concentrations and the development of plant cultivars which restrict Cd uptake should assist in control of Cd accumulation by crops. However, acidification and salinization of soils in Australia poses a threat in terms of increasing Cd concentrations in agricultural produce. In comparison with other trace metals, Cd availability to plants appears to decline only slowly with time, if at all. More Cd is currently added to Australian soils than is removed in agricultural produce or by leaching. It is therefore important that the long-term behaviour of Cd in Australian soils be assessed, to determine if Cd concentrations in agricultural produce will slowly increase over time.
Exchange Rates and Oil Prices

The authors document a robust and interesting relationship between the real domestic price of oil and real effective exchange rates for Germany, Japan and the United States. They explain why they think the real oil price captures exogenous terms-of-trade shocks and why such shocks could be the most important factor determining real exchange rates in the long run.
Simulated dry matter yields for aspen and spruce stands in the North American boreal forest

RESUMELa production primaire nette (PPN exprimee par g.m−2.a−1) peut etre calculee a partir du total annuel de rayonnement solaire quotidien utilise pour la photosynthese active (RSQPA exprime par MJ.m−2.d−1) multiplie par le rendement en matiere seche par unite de radiation de photosynthese [ɛ exprime par g.MJ−1 (souvent appele efficacite de radiation)]. Le RSQPA peut etre mesure par teledetection en utilisant l'indice de vegetation par difference normalisee (NDVI). Nous avons utilise un modele de simulation d'ecosysteme, BLOME-BGC, que nous avons adapte pour des peuplements d'especes du genre Picea (epinette) et du genre Populus (tremble) en vue de determiner les variables importantes influant sur la valeur de ɛ en climat boreal. La photosynthese annuelle et l'intensite respiratoire totale etaient plus elevees dans le cas du tremble, tandis que la PPN etait superieure dans le cas de l'epinette, aux deux sites. Les variables de peuplement, comme la biomasse des tiges et l'indice de surface foliaire, ont .
Field collections of mosquito larvae in 2009 and 2010 in Ehime Prefecture, western Japan.

: Field collections of mosquito larvae were conducted from 12 di # erent larval habitats found at 34 collection sites in Ehime prefecture, western Japan during 2009 (cid:2) 2010. A total of 24 mosquito species in 8 genera were collected, includ-ing the following 6 newly recorded species from Ehime Prefecture; Culex infantulus , Aedes oreophilus , Ae. koreicoides , Ae. kobayashii , Topomyia yanbarensis and Orthopodo-myia anopheloides . Three dominant species, Ae. japonicus , Tripteroides bambusa and Cx. sasai , occupied a wide variety of larval habitats and occurred in the entire period of mosquito breeding season from April to November. Four of the newly recorded species, Aedes oreophilus , Ae. koreicoides , Ae. kobayashii , To. yanbarensis were found from restricted types of larval habitats, such as stone pot, bamboo stump and bamboo internode, and larvae occurred in a limited period of breeding season from April to July, suggested a low chance of encounter during larval collections.
Macroeconomic Policy Coordination in a Competitive Real Exchange Rate Strategy for Development

Abstract Recent research has documented a positive relationship between real exchange rate (RER) levels and economic growth in developing countries. The literature has interpreted this correlation as causality running from RER levels to growth rates; i.e., more competitive RER levels tend to favor growth. Little effort has been made, however, on the analysis of the policy instruments required to implement a successful competitive RER strategy. An exchange rate policy targeting a permanent change in the RER may run into difficulties: it is well documented that nominal and real exchange rate movements are correlated almost one for one in the short run but such co-movement vanishes in the long run. Targeting instead a transitory RER undervaluation can have long-lasting effects on economic performance if RER competitiveness is stable and durable enough to provide incentives for modern tradable activities to expand. The ability to provide such an environment may be beyond the scope of exchange rate policy. This paper aims to shed light on the complementary policies that facilitate the success of an exchange rate policy that temporarily increases competitiveness. A formal model is developed to analyze these issues. The main conclusion is that a currency depreciation is more likely to accelerate growth if it is simultaneously implemented with domestic demand management policies that prevent non-tradable price inflation and wage management policies that coordinate wage increases with tradable productivity growth.
Metaanalyse empirischer Abschreckungsstudien Untersuchungsansatz und erste empirische Befunde

Dieses Papier beschreibt in Grundzugen die Vorgehensweise und erste Ergebnisse einer Meta-Analyse empirischer Arbeiten zur negativen Generalpr avention. Von vielen hundert Studien aus allen Fach- und Themengebieten wurden zufallig 200 ausgewahlt und mittels einer Meta-Analyse ausgewertet. Die daraus resultierenden Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Ergebnisse einer Arbeit wesentlich von ihrem Design, den verwendeten Kontrollvariablen und den untersuchten Delikten beeinflusst werden. Es zeigt sich, dass einerseits die Abschreckungshypothese insgesamt eher bestatigt wird, andererseits jedoch noch viele potentielle Hindernisse berucksichtigt werden mussen (Publication Bias, Multikollinearitat, etc.). Klarere Ergebnisse sind zu erwarten, sobald die Datenbasis auf einem wesentlich groseren Anteil aller verfugbarer Studien beruht.
Holocene shore displacement and shorelines in Hordaland, western Norway

A new shore displacement curve from Fonnes, ca. 50 km NW of Bergen, and a revised curve from Bomlo, ca. 80 km S of Bergen, are presented, based on pollen and phytoplankton analysis of organic sediments in present and ancient lake basins. The transitions between marine and lacustrine sediments have been radiocarbon-dated. The Fonnes and Bomlo curves are closely related and show a rapid regression between 10,000 and 8,700 years B.P., from 30 m above sea level to ca. 4 m above sea level. A transgression took place between 8,500 and 7,200 years B.P. when the shore level rose to ca. 11 m above sea level. Between 7,200 and 6,000 years B.P. the shore level was almost constant, before a slow regression took place. The earlier interpretation of the Tapes transgression including two shore level oscillations at Bomlo is rejected. A method is presented for constructing an equidistant shoreline diagram on the basis of three radiocarbon-dated shore displacement curves from three areas arranged in a triangle (Fonnes, Sotra, Ostereidet). When followed along the projection plane, a working model of the shore displacement curve from Fonnes and an approximation of the change in shoreline gradient during the Holocene indicate that the transgression maximum is metachronous.
Bioavailability of phosphorus in Abu Qir Bay and Lake Edku sediments, Mediterranean Sea, Egypt

The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of phosphorus bioavailability (total phosphorus, organic, and inorganic phosphorus) in the sediments from two areas (Abu Qir Bay and Lake Edku) located east of Alexandria City. Abu Qir Bay is a very important productive area of the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt, since it receives nutrient-rich brackish water from Lake Edku as well as El-Tabia pump station. The release of phosphorus from the sediment is generally important for eutrophication, which influences the sea-water quality of the study area. Sediment samples from 10 sites of Abu Qir Bay and eight sites of Lake Edku were subjected to a seven-step extraction procedure to determine organic, inorganic, and total phosphorus as well as phosphorus bioavailability: water-soluble phosphorus (WSP), readily desorbable phosphorus (RDP), algal available phosphorus (AAP), and NaHCO3-extractable phosphorus. Our results indicate low recovery of available phosphorus extracted by CaCl2 for the sediments of the l.
How TRMM precipitation radar and microwave imager retrieved rain rates differ

Analysis of the collocated rain retrievals from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's precipitation radar and microwave radiometer reveals that their difference depends on the intensity and the type of rain – the radiometer‐derived rain rates vary from higher to lower than the radar‐derived ones as rain rate or convective fraction increases. To better understand how this difference occurs, the relations between the two leading EOFs (Empirical Orthogonal Functions) of the observed brightness temperatures and the radiometer‐ or radar‐derived rain rates were examined for convective, mixed and non‐convective rain categories. In all types of rain, the two EOFs respond to the variation of the radiometer‐ and radar‐derived rain rates in a similar fashion in low rain rates, while they respond quite differently in high rain rates.
"Aspekt"

„Aspekt" bedeutet sowohl im Slowakischen wie im Tschechischen: Standpunkt oder Kern eines Problems. Diesen Namen trägt eine Zeitschrift, die 1993 in Pressburg/Bratislava gegründet wurde, einer Stadt, die nur 70 km von Wien entfernt liegt. Vor zehn Jahren allerdings war sie noch in weiter Distanz in einer anderen Welt, weil hinter dem Eisernen Vorhang gelegen. Unter diesem Aspekt betrachtet ist „Aspekt" ein erstaunliches neues mediales Forum: Es beschäftigt sich mit Frauenund Geschlechterfragen aus feministischer Sicht. Der Name und das außergewöhnlich schöne Design drücken das Lebensgefühl einer Generation schon vor Gründung der Zeitschrift politisch sehr aktiver junger Intellektueller aus, die ihre eigene Lebenssicht, ihren eigenen Standpunkt im Leben haben. Bezeichnend ist, dass „Aspekt", wie das Gründungsdatum besagt, just zu dem Zeitpunkt entstand, als die etwas mehr als achtzigjährige staatliche Gemeinschaft von Tschech/inn/en und Slowak/inn/en zerbrach, und dass sowohl Tschechisch als auch Slowakisch die beiden Sprachen sind, in denen die Beiträge in „Aspekt" verfasst sind. Diese ungewöhnliche Zeitschrift im Din A4 Format verdankt ihre Existenz eingehenden Diskussionen und schließlich auch Meinungsverschiedenheiten zwischen tschechischen und slowakischen Frauen zu feministischen Fragen. Weil . Gemäßigte' und . Radikale' wie in manch anderen neuen Bewegungen nicht unbedingt eine gemeinsame Basis fanden, gründeten die Radikalen „Aspekt". Sie brachten trotzdem in bemerkenswerter demokratischer Art die Vernunft und die Toleranz auf, „Aspekt" als erste slowakisch-tschechische Zeitschrift (! ) ins Leben zu rufen. (Wir kommen darauf noch zurück.) Slowakische weibliche Intellektuelle, wie die Chefredakeurin Jana Juráñová, Jana Cviková und Anna Daucíková waren die eigentlichen Initiatorinnen und brachten in die Zeitschrift ihre sprachlichen Fertigkeiten, ihre literarischen Kenntnisse und ihre Erfahrungen aus jahrelanger Arbeit in kulturellen und sozialwissenschaftlichen Periodika ein. Daneben gibt es ein internationales Her-