the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi) derived from the spot 4 satellite has been widely used to monitor moisture-related vegetation condition. the relationship between vegetation and climate index, however, is complex and has not been adequately studied with satellite sensor data. to better understand this relationship, an analysis was conducted on time series of monthly ndvi (1999–...

the effect of forest roads on the extent and type of fire damage occurred in forests and rangelands of the neka county in mazandaran province was investigated. for this purpose, all fire spots, stand number, percentage and type of injury and damage to tree species, and average diameter at breast height (dbh) were noted with 100% inventory; area and geographic location of access roads were deter...

Training is seen as the key instrument in the implementation of Human Resource Management policies and practices in both the private and public sector. The choice of the type of training, focused on human or technical skills, is crucial in designing the training process. This field study investigates the personal and occupational characteristics of 444 public managers, candidates for human and ...

The main focus of research in machine learning and statistics is on building more advanced and complex models. However, in practice it is often much more important to use the right variables. One may hope that recent popularity of open data would allow researchers to easily find relevant variables. However current linked data methodology is not suitable for this purpose since the number of matc...

BACKGROUND The high incidence of postprocedural atrial tachycardia reduces the absolute arrhythmia-free success rate of extensive ablation strategies to treat nonparoxysmal atrial fibrillation (NPAF). We hypothesized that a strategy of targeting low-voltage zones and sites with abnormal electrograms during sinus rhythm (SR-AEs) in the left atrium after circumferential pulmonary vein isolation a...

We consider voluntary disclosure of nonproprietary information. Established research knows two classes of models. Some authors assume that the manager can be fined prohibitively high if she lies. Others assume that no punishment can be imposed. We generalize and unify those approaches and investigate an intermediate class of models. Our main result is that a clustering of reports may occur. Fir...

A procedure, called α-procedure, for the efficient automatic classification of multivariate data is described. It is based on a geometric representation of two learning classes in a proper multi-dimensional rectifying feature space and the stepwise construction of a separating hyperplane in that space. The dimension of the space, i.e. the number of features that is necessary for a successful cl...

In two perception experiments on read German, we investigate how far different accent positions and accent types are related to degrees of perceived givenness both in sentences in isolation and in context. Results reveal a stepwise decrease in the degree of perceived givenness from deaccentuation and prenuclear accents through low and early peak nuclear accents to high and rising nuclear accent...

A method for the production of clean hydrogen is demonstrated. The process consists of two steps involving the decomposition of methane to CO-free hydrogen and surface carbon in the first step followed by steam gasification of this surface carbon in the second step. This process can be operated in cycles and could be an excellent hydrogen source for fuel cells and other devices or processes req...