Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Origin of dolomites in the Boat Harbour Formation, St. George Group, in western Newfoundland, Canada: implications for porosity development

Abstract The lower part of the St. George Group of western Newfoundland consists of Tremadocian shallow marine platform carbonates of the Boat Harbour (about 180 m thick) and the underlying Watts Bight (about 60 m thick) formations. In the Boat Harbour Formation, dolomitization is pervasive at the top of most shallowing-upward, metre-scale, peritidal hemicycles. Petrographic examination of the Boat Harbour Formation carbonates suggests that the succession has been affected by at least three phases of dolomitization, which influenced the final rock porosity. These phases have crystal-size ranges of about 4 to 40 μm (earliest dolomite D1), 50 to 150 μm (D2), and 300 μm to 20mm (saddle dolomite D3), respectively. They occur as both replacements and cements and exhibit dull (D1 and D3) to zoned (D2) luminescence under the cold cathodoluminoscope. The occurrence of near-micritic size dolomites (about 4–40 μm) may suggest that dolomitization started at low temperatures during early stages of diagenesis. The lack of evaporite interbeds in the formation and the depleted δ18O values (−6.2±0.8‰ VPDB) as well as the low Sr contents (168±45ppm) of the earliest dolomites likely exclude a brine origin from evaporated seawater. The Sr/Ca molar ratios (0.0069 to 0.0017), calculated for the earliest dolomitizing fluid, suggest a mixture of marine and meteoric waters possibly in a mixing zone environment. The petrographic features and geochemical attributes of D2 and D3 phases, such as their depleted δ18O values (−6.9±1.5‰ and −8.3±0.9‰ VPDB, respectively) and Sr contents (177±76 and 117±33ppm, respectively), suggest that they were formed under relatively deeper burial conditions and possibly from hydrothermal fluids which is supported by homogenization temperatures (up to 135° C) and estimates of salinities (up to 23 wt. % NaCl) in the latest dolomites (D3). Based on visual estimates from thin sections, the porosity varies from <1% in most of the formation to about 10% in a dolomitized algal lime mudstone bed in the upper part of the formation, a few metres below the Boat Harbour Disconformity. Except for some vugs, the majority of pores are intercrystalline and associated with D2. The dolomitization events recorded by the Boat Harbour Formation carbonates resemble, in their succession and geochemical signatures, those previously documented in the Aguathuna Formation. However, significant differences are noted with the dolomitization events recorded in the Lower Ordovician Romaine Formation on Anticosti Island; these differences are tentatively associated with the very distinct tectonic settings of each case.
FACHBEREICH MATHEMATIK FunKTIonAlAnAlysIs und GEoMATHEMATIK

In this paper a known orthonormal system of time– and space–dependent functions, that were derived out of the Cauchy–Navier equation for elastodynamic phenomena, is used to construct reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. After choosing one of the spaces the corresponding kernel is used to define a function system that serves as a basis for a spline space. We show that under certain conditions there exists a unique interpolating or approximating, respectively, spline in this space with respect to given samples of an unknown function. The name “spline” here refers to its property of minimising a norm among all interpolating functions. Moreover, a convergence theorem and an error estimate relative to the point grid density are derived. As numerical example we investigate the propagation of seismic waves.
Developing a Scots Pine Breeding Objective: a Case Study Involving a Swedish Sawmill

The aim of this study was to develop a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) breeding objective for a vertically integrated sawmill in northern Sweden. The production system was defined as comprising the sawmill and the forests supplying it. Volume per hectare, wood density, survival and straightness were used as objective traits and the related selection criteria were measurements, collected at young tree age, of height, diameter, pilodyn penetration, vitality and straightness. A bio-economic model was used to calculate economic weights for the objective traits identified. We also investigated the efficiency of different selection indices based on these economic weights, in combination with available data on genetic parameters. Furthermore, we studied the effect of different discount rates on the calculated economic weights. The results showed that, compared to the full index (which included all selection criteria), omitting either vitality or straightness had a negligible effect, reducing predicted profit gain per hectare by less than one per cent. Height or diameter each had a greater effect, with a loss of predicted profit gain per hectare of up to 6%. Excluding pilodyn penetration from the selection index caused the largest reduction in predicted profit gain per hectare, amounting to over 10%. However, when both height and diameter were removed the predicted profit gain per hectare dropped to one-third of that based on the full index. Finally, ranking and genetic selection for the developed breeding objective was insensitive to changes in the discount rate.
Calculation of Bit-Error Probability for a Lightwave System with Optical Amplifiers and Post-Detection

The author's previously published results (ibid., vol.8, p.1816-23, 1990) which dealt with the bit-error probability of a lightwave communication system whose noise contribution was exclusively attributed to spontaneous emission noise of optical amplifiers are extended. The earlier theory was based on an NRZ (nonreturn-to-zero) modulation format with zero signal power assigned to logical zeros. The extension is based on the same mathematical technique but includes Gaussian noise originating after the signal has been converted to an electrical current. This noise could be thermal noise, shot noise, or a combination of both. It is no longer assumed that the pulse representing a logical one fills its time slot completely. Now, the optical pulses can be much shorter than the bit period (solitons), the power level of logical zeros need not vanish, and the thermal noise of the postdetection electronic circuit is taken into account. >
IMPACT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The study of behaviors within educational institutional setting has highlighted critical variables that are supportive or detrimental to the performance of teachers. Professional commitment and Job satisfaction are widely studied factors in management literature which are the precursors of employees’ performance. These factors are even more important to study in academic institutions, especially in self-financing colleges affiliated to Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. Dimensions of job satisfaction namely work-itself, supervision, pay, coworkers and promotion opportunities are taken as variables for the study and its overall impact on the Professional commitment was studied. The extent of job satisfaction and professional commitment were also studied. 250 teachers in self-financing colleges were chosen and simple random sampling was used to collect data through a structured questionnaire. Inter correlation matrix, t-test, ANOVA and regression were carried out to analyze the data. Findings show that teachers have high degree of job satisfaction towards the dimensions of job satisfaction. They have a high degree of job satisfaction and Professional commitment.
Meta-Analytic Choices and Judgment Calls: Implications for Theory Building and Testing, Obtained Effect Sizes, and Scholarly Impact

The authors content analyzed 196 meta-analyses including 5,581 effect-size estimates published in Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Personnel Psychology, and Strategic Management Journal from January 1982 through August 2009 to assess the presumed effects of each of 21 methodological choices and judgment calls on substantive conclusions. Results indicate that, overall, the various meta-analytic methodological choices available and judgment calls involved in the conduct of a meta-analysis have little impact on the resulting magnitude of the meta-analytically derived effect sizes. Thus, the present study, based on actual meta-analyses, casts doubt on previous warnings, primarily based on selective case studies, that judgment calls have an important impact on substantive conclusions. The authors also tested the fit of a multivariate model that includes relationships among theory-building and theory-testing goals, obtained effect sizes, year of publication of the meta-analysis, and scholarly impact (i.e., citations per year). Results indicate that the more a meta-analysis attempts to test an existing theory, the larger the number of citations, whereas the more a meta-analysis attempts to build new theory, the lower the number of citations. Also, in support of scientific particularism, as opposed to scientific universalism, the magnitude of the derived effects is not related to the extent to which a meta-analysis is cited. Taken together, the results provide a comprehensive data-based understanding of how meta-analytic reviews are conducted and the implications of these practices for theory building and testing, obtained effect sizes, and scholarly impact.
Contributing factors of cloud computing adoption: a technology-organisation-environment framework approach

Cloud computing as an emerging high technology has been recognised by organisations and individuals for a wide range of potential applications. Since the concept's first appearance in 2007, the authors found a dominant amount of studies in the non-technological domains, including attempts to define and categorise cloud computing and the challenges and issues of the technology's adoption. Nonetheless, few researches are dedicated to determine the drivers of adopting cloud computing thus the literature is limited on this topic. As more adopters are becoming familiar with the technology and implementing cloud computing in their daily work, understanding what drives their adoption decision is essential to create opportunities for future cloud technologies to be tailored and aligned with the consumer's needs thus promotes exploitations of the technology's promising applications. This research takes a quantitative approach by developing and validating a theory-based conceptual model. Among the theories that are commonly applied in Information Systems research, the authors found Technology-Organisation-Environment framework can encapsulate the adoption's factors into one big picture. The authors conducted a secondary data analysis on the recent large-scale survey of IBM to investigate the drivers and barriers of cloud computing adoption. Structural Equation Modelling and Partial Least Square statistical methodologies provide rigid scientific procedures to validate the conceptual model. This study contributes a statistically validated conceptual model of the drivers and barriers of cloud computing adoption.
The remarkable timing properties of a ‘hypersoft’ state in GRO J1655-40

We report the identification and study of an unusual soft state of the black hole low-mass X-ray binary GRO J1655-40, observed during its 2005 outburst by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Chandra X-ray grating observations have revealed a high-mass-outflow accretion disc wind in this state, and we show that the broad-band X-ray spectrum is remarkably similar to that observed in the so-called hypersoft state of the high-mass X-ray binary Cyg X-3, which possesses a strong stellar wind from a Wolf-Rayet secondary. The power-spectral density (PSD) of GRO J1655-40 shows a bending power-law shape, similar to that of canonical soft states albeit with larger fractional rms. However, the characteristic bend frequency of the PSD is strongly correlated with the X-ray flux, such that the bend frequency increases by two decades for less than a factor 2 increase in flux. The strong evolution of PSD bend frequency for very little change in flux or X-ray spectral shape seems to rule out the suppression of high-frequency variability by scattering in the wind as the origin of the PSD bend. Instead, we suggest that the PSD shape is intrinsic to the variability process and may be linked to the evolution of the scaleheight in a slim disc. An alternative possibility is that variability is introduced by variable absorption and scattering in the wind. We further argue that the hypersoft state in GRO J1655-40 and Cyg X-3 is associated with accretion close to or above the Eddington limit.
Research, part of a Special Feature on Effects of Roads and Traffic on Wildlife Populations and Landscape Function Large Gaps in Canopy Reduce Road Crossing by a Gliding Mammal

Roads and traffic reduce landscape connectivity and increase rates of mortality for many species of wildlife. Species that glide from tree to tree may be strongly affected by roads and traffic if the size of the gap between trees exceeds their gliding capability. Not only are wide roads likely to reduce crossing rates, but mortality may also be increased if gliders that do cross have poor landing opportunities. The road-crossing behavior of 47 squirrel gliders (Petaurus norfolcensis) was investigated in southeast Australia using radio-tracking. The proportion of gliders crossing one or both roadways of a freeway where trees were present or absent from the center median was compared to that at single-lane country roads (control). The proportion of gliders crossing the road at control sites (77%) was similar to the proportion that crossed one or both roadways at the freeway with trees in the median (67%), whereas only a single male (6%) crossed the freeway where trees were absent from the median. The frequency of crossing for each individual was also similar at control sites and freeway sites with trees in the median. The almost complete lack of crossing at sites where trees were absent from the median was attributed to the wider gap in canopy (50 - 64 m vs. 5 - 13 m at sites with trees in the median). This suggests that traffic volume, up to 5,000 vehicles per day on each roadway, and the other characteristics of the freeway we studied are not in themselves complete deterrents to road crossing by squirrel gliders. This study demonstrates that retaining and facilitating the growth of tall trees in the center median of two-way roads may mitigate the barrier effect of roads on gliders, thus contributing positively to mobility and potentially to connectivity. This information will be essential for the assessment of road impacts on gliding species using population viability models.
Predicting Dynamical Evolution of Human Activities from a Single Image

A human pose often conveys not only the configuration of the body parts, but also implicit predictive information about the ensuing motion. This dynamic information can benefit vision applications which lack explicit motion cues. The human visual system can easily perceive the dynamic information in still images. However, computational algorithms to infer and utilize it in computer vision applications are limited. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic framework to infer the dynamic information associated with a human pose. The inference problem is posed as a nonparametric density estimation problem on a non-Euclidean manifold of linear dynamical models. Since direct modeling is intractable, we develop a data driven approach, estimating the density for the test sample under consideration. Statistical inference on the estimated density provides us with quantities of interest like the most probable future motion of the human and the amount of motion information conveyed by a pose. Our experiments demonstrate that the extracted motion information benefits numerous applications in computer vision. In particular, the predicted future motion is useful for activity recognition, human trajectory synthesis, and motion prediction.
Clinical effects of supragingival plaque control on uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects with chronic periodontitis

Aim: To determine the clinical changes occurred in chronic periodontitis patients presenting uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus after a supragingival plaque control period. Methods: Subjects presenting generalized chronic periodontitis were divided into two groups: Non-diabetics (n=20) – healthy subjects presenting chronic periodontitis; and Diabetics (n=14) – subjects with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus presenting chronic periodontitis. All subjects went through 28 days of supragingival plaque control - ST - (including prophylaxis, calculus removal, extraction of hopeless teeth and oral hygiene instructions) and were evaluated at baseline and after 28 days by the following parameters: Full-Mouth Plaque Score (FMPS) and Full-Mouth Bleeding Scores (FMBS), Periodontal Probing Depth (PPD), Gingival Recession (GR) and Clinical Attachment Level (CAL). ANOVA/Tukey’s test and Student’s t test were used for data analysis. Results: No statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between groups were observed at baseline for any parameter. Both groups presented a significant reduction in FMPS and FMBS after 28 days (p 0.05) between groups. Clinically, only the Non-diabetic group showed a significant improvement after ST, in PPD of initially deep pockets (p 0.05). Conclusions: It may be concluded that uncontrolled diabetes mellitus reduces periodontal changes in the supragingival plaque control regimen of subjects presenting with chronic periodontitis.
Tracing black hole accretion with SED decomposition and IR lines: from local galaxies to the high-z Universe

We present new estimates of AGN accretion and star formation (SF) luminosity in galaxies obtained for the local 12 μm sample of Seyfert galaxies (12MGS), by performing a detailed broad-band spectral energy distribution (SED) decomposition including the emission of stars, dust heated by SF and a possible AGN dusty torus. Thanks to the availability of data from the X-rays to the sub-millimetre, we constrain and test the contribution of the stellar, AGN and SF components to the SEDs. The availability of Spitzer-InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) low-resolution mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectra is crucial to constrain the dusty torus component at its peak wavelengths. The results of SED fitting are also tested against the available information in other bands: the reconstructed AGN bolometric luminosity is compared to those derived from X-rays and from the high excitation IR lines tracing AGN activity like [Ne V] and [O IV]. The IR luminosity due to SF and the intrinsic AGN bolometric luminosity are shown to be strongly related to the IR line luminosity. Variations of these relations with different AGN fractions are investigated, showing that the relation dispersions are mainly due to different AGN relative contribution within the galaxy. Extrapolating these local relations between line and SF or AGN luminosities to higher redshifts, by means of recent Herschel galaxy evolution results, we then obtain mid- and far-IR line luminosity functions useful to estimate how many star-forming galaxies and AGN we expect to detect in the different lines at different redshifts and luminosities with future IR facilities (e.g. JWST, SPICA).
Winter‐spring fronts in Taiwan Strait

[1] Fine structures of surface fronts during winter-spring in the Taiwan Strait and their evolution over time are studied using satellite and in situ data. At times, different water masses are interleaved into each other. The northward intruding warm water bifurcates into several branches, causing complicated multiple cross strait fronts with maximum surface temperature gradients at the fronts to be greater than 2°C/km. The mean surface velocity of the fronts estimated from a sequence of satellite images is between 0.15 and 0.3 m/s during the February–March 2001 frontal event. The speed appears to have accelerated during the latter stages from 0.2 m/s during March 2–4 to 0.3 m/s during March 4–6. The total northward transport associated with the passage of the fronts is estimated to be 0.6–1 Sv between February 16 and March 6, 2001. The timescale of the passage of the fronts through the entire Taiwan Strait is therefore at least four weeks. Hydrographic observations in February–March of 1998 and 2000 also demonstrate similar frontal events with strong vertical gradients of water temperature and salinity on the western side of the strait. The 1998 data also show clearly that the low temperature and low salinity Zhemin Coastal Current separates from the coast and enters into the middle of the strait, a feature consistent with the satellite observations.
GaAsSb-capped InAs quantum dots: From enlarged quantum dot height to alloy fluctuations

The Sb-induced changes in the optical properties of GaAsSb-capped InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) are shown to be strongly correlated with structural changes. The observed redshift of the photoluminescence emission is shown to follow two different regimes. In the first regime, with Sb concentrations up to approx12%, the emission wavelength shifts up to approx1280 nm with a large enhancement of the luminescence characteristics. A structural analysis at the atomic scale by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy shows that this enhancement arises from a gradual increase in QD height, which improves carrier confinement and reduces the sensitivity of the excitonic band gap to QD size fluctuations within the ensemble. The increased QD height results from the progressive suppression of QD decomposition during the capping process due to the presence of Sb atoms on the growth surface. In the second regime, with Sb concentrations above approx12%, the emission wavelength shifts up to approx1500 nm, but the luminescence characteristics progressively degrade with the Sb content. This degradation at high Sb contents occurs as a result of composition modulation in the capping layer and strain-induced Sb migration to the top of the QDs, together with a transition to a type-II band alignment.