Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate change impacts on the hydrologic regime of a Canadian river: comparing uncertainties arising from climate natural variability and lumped hydrological model structures

Diagnosing the impacts of climate change on water resources is a difficult task pertaining to the uncertainties arising from the different modelling steps. Lumped hydrological model structures contribute to this uncertainty as well as the natural climate variability, illustrated by several members from the same Global Circulation Model. In this paper, the hydroclimatic modelling chain consists of twenty-four potential evapotranspiration formulations, twenty lumped conceptual hydrological models, and seven snowmelt modules. These structures are applied on a natural Canadian sub-catchment to address related uncertainties and compare them to the natural internal variability of simulated climate system as depicted by five climatic members. Uncertainty in simulated streamflow under current and projected climates is assessed. They rely on interannual hydrographs and hydrological indicators analysis. Results show that natural climate variability is the major source of uncertainty, followed by potential evapotranspiration formulations and hydrological models. The selected snowmelt modules, however, do not contribute much to the uncertainty. The analysis also illustrates that the streamflow simulation over the current climate period is already conditioned by the tools' selection. This uncertainty is propagated to reference simulations and future projections, amplified by climatic members. These findings demonstrate the importance of opting for several climatic members to encompass the important uncertainty related to the climate natural variability, but also of selecting multiple modelling tools to provide a trustworthy diagnosis of the impacts of climate change on water resources.
Title : Optimization of the Cathode Long-Term Stability in Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells : Experimental Study and Mathematical Modeling Type of Report : Semiannual Progress Report Reporting Period Start Date : April 1 , 2001 Reporting Period End

The dissolution of NiO cathodes during cell operation is a limiting factor to the successful commercialization of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). Lithium cobalt oxide coating onto the porous nickel electrode has been adopted to modify the conventional MCFC cathode which id believed to increase the stability of the cathodes in the carbonate melt. The material used for surface modification should possess thermodynamic stability in the molten carbonate and also should be electro catalytically active for MCFC reactions. Lithium Cobalt oxide was coated on Ni cathode by a sol-gel coating. The morphology and the LiCoO2 formation of LiCoO2 coated NiO was studied using scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction studies respectively. The electrochemical performance lithium cobalt oxide coated NiO cathodes were investigated with open circuit potential measurement and current-potential polarization studies. These results were compared to that of bare NiO. Dissolution of nickel into the molten carbonate melt was less in case of lithium cobalt oxide coated nickel cathodes. LiCoO2 coated on the surface prevents the dissolution of Ni in the melt and thereby stabilizes the cathode. Finally, lithium cobalt oxide coated nickel shows similar polarization characteristics as nickel oxide. Conventional theoretical models for the molten carbonate fuel cell cathode are based on the thin film agglomerate model. The principal deficiency of the agglomerate model, apart from the simplified pore structure assumed, is the lack of measured values for film thickness and agglomerate radius. Both these parameters cannot be estimated appropriately. Attempts to estimate the thickness of the film vary by two orders of magnitude. To avoid these problems a new three phase homogeneous model has been developed using the volume averaging technique. The model considers the potential and current variation in both liquid and solid phases. Using this approach, volume averaged concentrations of both gaseous and liquid phase reactants are obtained separately. The polarization characteristics of the electrode have been studied for different electrode parameters. The effect of different design parameters on the electrode performance has also been analyzed. Finally, the model has been used to analyze the impedance response of the MCFC cathode.
Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice

Understanding whether, when and why offenders might reoffend following release from prison is a fundamental concern for corrections management and for crime control more broadly. Recidivism among prisoners is traditionally studied by looking at short-term changes in the chances of failure—that is, of returning to prison for a new offence—over a follow-up period. This survival time analysis strategy focuses on the time to failure or recidivism, which is really the probability at each point over a follow-up period that an offender, who has not yet reoffended, will do so (Maltz 1984).
Wheat response to acc-deaminase Fluorescent pseudomonads with varying phosphate solubilizing activity on a phosphorus deficient soil.

Rhizobacterial phosphate solubilization supports plant nutrition under phosphorus (P) deficiency stress. In this filed study we evaluated wheat response to ACC-deaminase-containing rhizobacterial strains, with or without phosphatesolubilizing activity, under varying levels of soil applied phosphatic fertilizer. The experiment was conducted on a Pdeficient soilby using randomized complete block split plot design involving two factors. Factor Ainvolved three P doses (in main plots), i.e. 0(Control), 42.5 and 85 kg P2O5g ha -1 . Factor B included three rhizobacterial treatments (in sub plots), i.e. No rhizobacterial seed inoculation ( control) and wheat seed inoculation with ACC-deaminase Pseudomonas fluorescens with or without P-solubilizing activit y. P nutrition of wheat plants at half and full recommended dose increased various plant growth and yield parameters of wheat in a range of 7.4 to128% and 9.6 to 144%, respectively, against control. ACC-deaminase Pseudomonas fluorescens without or with P-solubilizing activity increased various traits of wheat plants in a range of 1.4 to38% and 2.9 to86%, respectively, against control. The study concluded that Pseudomonas fluorescenswith dual activities of ACC-demainase and phosphate solubilization play significant role in enhancing wheat growth and yield under both low- and high-P sustainable agriculture.
Climate, soil, and vegetation controls on the temporal variability of vadose zone transport

Temporal patterns of solute transport and transformation through the vadose zone are driven by the stochastic variability of water fluxes. This is determined by the hydrologic filtering of precipitation variability into infiltration, storage, drainage, and evapotranspiration. In this work we develop a framework for examining the role of the hydrologic filtering and, in particular, the effect of evapotranspiration in determining the travel time and delivery of sorbing, reacting solutes transported through the vadose zone by stochastic rainfall events. We describe a 1‐D vertical model in which solute pulses are tracked as point loads transported to depth by a series of discrete infiltration events. Numerical solutions of this model compare well to the Richards equation–based HYDRUS model for some typical cases. We then utilize existing theory of the stochastic dynamics of soil water to derive analytical and semianalytical expressions for the probability density functions (pdf's) of solute travel time and delivery. The moments of these pdf's directly relate the mean and variance of expected travel times to the water balance and show how evapotranspiration tends to reduce (and make more uncertain) the mass of a degrading solute delivered to the base of the vadose zone. The framework suggests a classification of different modes hydrologic filtering depending on hydroclimatic and landscape controls. Results suggest that variability in travel times decreases with soil depth in wet climates but increases with soil depth in dry climates. In dry climates, rare large storms can be an important mechanism for leaching to groundwater.
Financial Performance Determinants of Organizations: The Case of Mongolian Companies

This paper is aimed at examining what ratios can determine financial performance of Mongolian companies which are divided into 6 major sectors to increase their competitiveness. This study analyzes the performance of companies in terms of profitability and its association with multiple determinants for 100 Mongolian joint stock companies ( JSC) listed in Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE). Financial statements of those companies from MSE are evaluated by panel regression covering the period of 2012-2015. Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Return on Sales (ROS) are chosen as performance indicators, while growth in sales, growth in profit, growth in assets, earnings per share, gross profit margin, cost to revenue ratio, return on costs, short-term debt to assets ratio, current assets to total assets ratio, long-term debt to total assets, quick ratio, current ratio, and cash ratio are used as explanatory variables. The panel regression results show that ROA has more determinants than ROE and ROS, such as earnings per share, return on costs have positive impacts, while short-term debts to total assets ratio and cost to revenue ratio have negative impacts. Growth in sales, earnings per share and costs to revenue ratio influence positively the financial performance of an organization by ROS, while return on cost has a positive effect on the financial performance measured by return on sale.
Ignition and Quenching Behaviour of High Pressure Ch4 Catalytic Combustion over a Lamno3 Honeycomb

In the present work, we report experimental results for the behaviour of a LaMnO3-based honeycomb in the catalytic combustion of methane, in particular during the start-up and shut-down operations at different pressures. Methane ignition is mainly driven by heterogeneous reactions. The temperature increase due to the heat developed on the catalyst surface is responsible for ignition of homogeneous reactions, allowing the complete fuel consumption. On the other hand, during quenching, the homogeneous reaction front moves towards the exit of the catalytic reactor; a rapid drop in the mean reactor temperature and methane conversion is detected. According to our results, quenching appears to be related to the decrease in the heat generated by homogeneous reactions.
Methods for optical modeling and cross-checking in ellipsometry and scatterometry

Indirect optical methods like ellipsometry or scatterometry require an optical model to calculate the response of the system, and to fit the parameters in order to minimize the difference between the calculated and measured values. The most common problem of optical modeling is that the measured structures and materials turn out to be more complex in reality than the simplified optical models used as first attempts to fit the measurement. The complexity of the optical models can be increased by introducing additional parameters, if they (1) are physically relevant, (2) improve the fit quality, (3) don't correlate with other parameters. The sensitivity of the parameters can be determined by mathematical analysis, but the accuracy has to be validated by reference methods. In this work some modeling and verification aspects of ellipsometry and optical scatterometry will be discussed and shown for a range of materials (semiconductors, dielectrics, composite materials), structures (damage and porosity profiles, gratings and other photonic structures, surface roughness) and cross-checking methods (atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, ion beam analysis). The high-sensitivity, high-throughput, in situ or in line capabilities of the optical methods will be demonstrated by different applications.
Potential Vorticity Dynamics of Coastal Outflows

AbstractA simple quasigeostrophic model is used to examine the outflow from a river, estuary, or strait into a coastal ocean. As shown by Johnson et al., these quasigeostrophic outflows are accurately described by analytical long-wave solutions. This paper first uses these solutions and contour dynamics simulations to discuss the behavior of coastal outflows. Second, it extends the model and the long-wave theory to consider the effects of ambient currents, tides, winds, or a variable source flux. Third, consideration of the momentum flux at the source is used to understand the turning of the current, showing that steady solutions conserve momentum, hence resolving the momentum imbalance paradox of Pichevin and Nof. Finally, a new numerical scheme to compute steady outflow boundaries is developed. The model focuses on the key dynamics driven by the source velocity and the generation of vorticity as the buoyant fluid adjusts. The simplicity of the model, and insight given by the long-wave solutions, enables.
Superintendents’ Human Resources Management Practices and their Relationships with Public School Principals’ Satisfaction and Commitment: Principals’ Perceptions

The study aims at testing Kuwaiti school principals’ human resource management practices (HRMPs) and their effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment in public schools in Kuwait. Although HRMPs have been studied extensively in various industries, only a few studies have addressed the education industry. The data of the current study were collected using the survey method from a sample of 281 public school principals. Using descriptive and regression statistical methods, the findings showed that (a) principals’ perceptions about job satisfaction and organizational commitment were moderate, whereas their perceptions about their superintendents’ HRMPs were less than moderate; (b) superintendents’ HRMPs were significant predictors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment; (c) job satisfaction dimensions also significantly predicted organizational commitment; and (d) superintendents’ HRMPs led to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Relevant recommendations were included.
Evaluation indices of hepatitis-related hepatic cirrhosis and their relations to postoperative awakening time

Objective: To investigate the anesthesia-postoperative awakening time (AT) of hepatitis-related cirrhosis patients and their relations to grading scores, portal venous pressure (PVP), prealbumin (PA), and age, to predict postoperative AT and provide a basis for adjustment of anesthetic doses during operation. Methods: Atotal of 71 patients with hepatic cirrhosis and hypersplenism at ASAgrade I to II were subject to splenectomy and gastric cardia devascularization under total intravenous anesthesia. The depth control of anesthesia (MAP±20% base value; BIS40-60) and the monitoring of muscular relaxation were taken by HXD-I multifunctional quantitative electroencephalogram monitor. Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CPT) and Model for endstage liver disease (MELD) scoring were carried out prior to operation so that intraoperative PAand PVP as well as postoperative extubation time (ET) and AT were determined. Results: Both ET and postoperative recovery time of the cirrhosis group were significantly longer than those of the non-cirrhosis group (P<0.05). There was a linear relationship between each two variables ET and AT (r=0.962, P<0.001). After the stepwise regression, variables of CTP, PAand PVPwere assigned into the regression equation as AT= -39.7+ 8.3×CTP+0.79×PVP-78.57×PA (the multiple correlation coefficient r=0.942, the coefficient of determination r=0.887, and the corrected coefficient of determination r=0.882; F=176.007), (P<0.001). The standard partial regression coefficients of CTP, PA and PVP were 0.460, 0.303 and -0.217, respectively. Conclusion: The anesthesia-postoperative AT of hepatitis-related cirrhosis patients is most closely related to CTP, PVPand PA(CTP>PVP> PA). The anesthesia-postoperative AT can be calculated with the following formula: AT= -39.7+8.3×CTP+0.79×PVP-
Map of the late Quaternary active Kern Canyon and Breckenridge faults, southern Sierra Nevada, California

Surface traces of the Quaternary active Kern Canyon and Breckenridge faults were mapped via aerial reconnaissance, analysis of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) elevation data, review and interpretation of aerial photography, field reconnaissance, and detailed field mapping. This effort specifically targeted evidence of late Quaternary surface deformation and, combined with separate paleoseismic investigations, identified and characterized the North Kern Canyon, South Kern Canyon, and Lake Isabella sections of the Kern Canyon fault and the Breckenridge fault. The mapping presented here provides definitive evidence for previously unrecognized Holocene and late Pleistocene east-down displacement along the Kern Canyon and Breckenridge faults. Our results indicate that much of the Kern Canyon fault has undergone Quaternary reactivation to accommodate internal deformation of the otherwise rigid Sierra Nevada block. This deformation reflects ongoing, seismogenic crustal thinning in the southern Sierra Nevada, and highlights the effects of localized tectonic forces operating in this part of the Sierra Nevada.
Can CBT Be Effective for Aboriginal Australians? Perspectives of Aboriginal Practitioners Trained in CBT

The objective of the study was to investigate whether high and low intensity versions of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) might be an effective therapeutic approach for enhancing the mental health of Aboriginal Australians. Five university‐educated Aboriginal counsellors received in‐depth training in CBT. Over the following year, they used CBT strategies with their clients, and met 10 times as a participatory action research group. The group addressed three key questions: (a) Does CBT appear to be useful for Aboriginal Australians? (b) If so, what elements of CBT are perceived to be effective? (c) What adaptations might be made to CBT to enhance its effectiveness with Aboriginal Australians? The resulting qualitative data were transcribed and analysed. Counsellors perceived CBT to be very useful for their Aboriginal clients and for themselves. They reported that it enhanced their clients' well‐being, their own clinical skills, and their own well‐being, and it reduced burnout. The qualities of CBT that were perceived to be effective were its adaptability, pragmatic here‐and‐now approach, capacity for low‐intensity interventions, safe containing structure, promotion of self‐agency, and valuable techniques. It was suggested that the prime requirement for adaptations to CBT were that they would need to fit different social and cultural contexts.
Smart driving assistance systems: Designing and evaluating ecological and conventional displays

In-vehicle information systems have been shown to increase driver workload and cause distraction; both are causal factors for accidents. This simulator study evaluates the impact that two designs for a smart driving aid and scenario complexity has on workload, distraction and driving performance. Results showed that real-time delivery of smart driving information did not increase driver workload or adversely affect driver distraction, while having the effect of decreasing mean driving speed in both the simple and complex driving scenarios. Important differences were also highlighted between conventional and ecologically designed smart driving interfaces with respect to subjective workload and peripheral detection.
Variations in body size and some life history traits among Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Bruchinae) strains from different areas in three countries of West Africa

In West Africa, Callosobruchus maculatus is the main pest of stored cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata Walp.). An effective control of this pest depends on a good knowledge of its population growth ability and the diversity of strains in cowpea crop areas. In this study strains from Dakar (Senegal), Niamey (Niger) and five localities of Burkina Faso were collected and compared in similar laboratory conditions. We found that body size and life history traits slightly varied among the strains studied. In general, females from the Dakar strain were smaller and had lower intrinsic rate of natural increase. Specifically the small size of Dakar females seems to have caused a decrease in lifespan and fecundity coupled with an increase of development duration. Such variations may also occurred to a lesser extent among populations from the same country as it was noticed for Burkina strains. These results show that despite the apparent homogeneity of C. maculatus populations in West Africa, morphological and biological diversity exists and should be better understood and integrated for optimal pest control methods.
Aura Microwave Limb Sounder observations of the polar middle atmosphere: Dynamics and transport of CO and H2O

[1] The vertical structure and evolution of the wintertime annular modes are studied using 6 years of geopotential height, carbon monoxide (CO), and water vapor (H2O) data from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder. The Northern Hemisphere annular mode (NAM) and the Southern Hemisphere annular mode (SAM) reveal a strong coupling of the dynamics in the stratosphere and mesosphere between 316 hPa (∼9 km) and 0.002 hPa (∼90 km). CO is a good tracer throughout the middle atmosphere, while variable vertical gradients of H2O limit the regions where it is useful as a dynamical tracer. The maximum of the CO NAM and SAM (CNAM and CSAM) indices is used to monitor and characterize the evolution of wintertime polar dynamics as a function of time and height. The CNAM analysis reveals reformation of a stronger mesospheric polar vortex after significant stratospheric sudden warmings in 2006, 2009, and 2010. There is a significant anticorrelation between the mesospheric and stratospheric CNAM indices during 2005–2010 winters, supporting the hypothesis of mesosphere-stratosphere coupling through planetary-gravity wave interactions.
The Impact of Work Family Conflicts on Employee Job Satisfaction: An Investigation of Employees in Private Sector Banks in Kandy District, Sri Lanka

Area of the Study This study discusses the effect of work family conflicts on job satisfaction of employees in private banks in the Kandy district. Problem of the Study There is an empirical and knowledge gap in the Sri Lankan context on the relationship between work family conflicts on job satisfaction of employees. The main objective of this research is to identify the effect of work family conflict on job satisfaction of employees in private banks in the Kandy district, Sri Lanka. The research problem of this study is that Is there an effect of work family conflict on job satisfaction of employees in private banks in Kandy district of Sri Lanka? Method of the Study The data were collected from a convenient sample of 120 employees in three private banks in the Kandy district, which refers to the collection of information from the members who were conveniently available to provide it. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire which consists of 33 questions with five point likert scales. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis, correlation and regression analysis with the SPSS(16.0 version). Findings of the Study According to the empirical evidence of this study, it is found that there is a negative impact of work family conflict on job satisfaction of employees in selected banks in the private sector. Conclusion of the Study It is concluded that there is a negative impact of work family conflict on job satisfaction of private bank employees. Thus, some programs for reducing the level of work family conflict of employees in banks could be recommended. Also a good relationship and good work environment should be maintained with employees in private banks. Keywords: Work Family Conflict Job Satisfaction, Private Banks