Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sources and geochemical controls on hydrocarbons in arctic sediments, Kivalliq region, Nunavut

i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . ii TABLE OF CONTENTS . iii LIST OF TABLES . vi LIST OF FIGURES . viii LIST OF EQUATIONS . xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Foreword Notes . 1 1.2 Objectives and Significance of Research . 7 1.3 Study Area . 7 1.4 Thesis Structure . 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 12 2.1 Physical and Geochemical Controls on Hydrocarbons in Marine Sediments . 12 2.1.1 Sorption and Deposition of Hydrocarbons to Seafloor . 12 2.5. 1 Sedimentation and Accumulation of Hydrocarbons . 12 2.1.3 Application of Radioisotopes to determine Sedimentation Rates. 13 2.1.4 Biomixing of Sediments . 15 2.2 Organic Carbon Degradation . 15 2.3 Biogenic Sources of Hydrocarbons . 17 2.4 Discriminating Sources of PAHs . 18 2.4. 1 Biogenic PAHs. 19
Centrifuge modelling of lateral loading behaviour of a “semi-rigid” Mono-pile in soft clay

Abstract Mono-pile foundations have been widely used for offshore wind turbines principally due to their convenient construction and cost-effective nature. So far, little attention has been paid to large diameter “semi-rigid” piles that have distinct behaviours from flexible or ideally rigid piles. This paper presents a series of centrifuge model tests to study the deforming and bearing characteristics of a 5.9 dia. semi-rigid pile under lateral loadings in kaolin clay. For monotonic loading, a modified p–y curve analysis model considering rotational soil flow near the rotation centre of pile was proposed, highlighting the limitation of classic plane-strain based plasticity models to evaluate the ultimate lateral pile-soil resistance. For cyclic loading, a strong correlation between the degree of soil degradation and cyclic load amplitude was identified. Besides, a degradation factor model, accounting for various cyclic stress levels and soil depths, was proposed, which can be used to assess the accumulative displacement of semi-rigid piles under cyclic loadings in soft clay.
A COMPARISON OF ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, AND CURRENT ATTITUDES, OF SECONDARY STUDENTS IN A SIX-PERIOD DAILY SCHEDULE, WITH THOSE OF STUDENTS IN A ROTATE-EIGHT BLOCK SCHEDULE

In part one of this study, secondary students’ mathematics and science achievement levels in a Six-Period Daily (SPD) schedule were compared with those in a Rotate-Eight Block (REB) schedule (eight macroperiods in a two day rotation). In part two, alumni were surveyed to compare current opinions of the schedules’ effectiveness overall and on two subscales. Archival test data and demographic information were obtained on two graduated classes in a selected suburban Midwestern high school, enrollment grades 9 to 12 of approximately 1000 students. Stratified random samples of 50 students from each class were selected based upon treatment, academic ability, ethnicity, and gender. Grade Point Averages (GPAs) and Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores in mathematics and science were examined through univariate three-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) of the differences in the post-treatment means. Where initial equivalence was not found, ANOVA was used to study effects for subgroups. All main effects and interactions were tested. Gender was taken into account by equalizing numbers across subgroups to the extent possible. No statistically significant results or trends based on treatment were discovered as main effects or interactions in part one. The “achievement gap” between African-American and Caucasian students was confirmed in all achievement measures except science GPA, where only ability, not ethnicity or treatment, was found to be of significance as a main effect. Though not of statistical significance, a pattern favoring low ability REB subgroups and high ability SPD subgroups was noted. Heger, Brad, 2006, UMSL, p. vi Analysis of survey results indicated that groups and subgroups differed significantly in scores for effectiveness of the schedules overall, and for the classroom activities subscale. Groups and subgroups consistently rated the effectiveness of the SPD higher. On only one measure did any subgroup rate the REB higher than the SPD: Caucasian males rated effectiveness of classroom activities slightly higher in the REB. The largest opinion differences were exhibited between African-American males and Caucasian males. AfricanAmerican males rated the SPD classroom activities higher than did any other subgroup, and the REB lower (at exactly neutral) than did any other subgroup. Heger, Brad, 2006, UMSL, p. vii
An Improved Global Analysis of Population Distribution in Proximity to Active Volcanoes, 1975-2015

Better and more detailed analyses of global human exposure to hazards and associated disaster risk require improved geoinformation on population distribution and densities. In particular, issues of temporal and spatial resolution are important for determining the capacity for assessing changes in these distributions. We combine the best-available global population grids with latest data on volcanoes, to assess and characterize the worldwide distribution of population from 1975–2015 in relation to recent volcanism. Both Holocene volcanoes and those where there is evidence of significant eruptions are considered. A comparative analysis is conducted for the volcanic hot spots of Southeast Asia and Central America. Results indicate that more than 8% of the world’s 2015 population lived within 100 km of a volcano with at least one significant eruption, and more than 1 billion people (14.3%) lived within 100 km of a Holocene volcano, with human concentrations in this zone increasing since 1975 above the global population growth rate. While overall spatial patterns of population density have been relatively stable in time, their variation with distance is not monotonic, with a higher concentration of people between 10 and 20 km from volcanoes. We find that in last 40 years in Southeast Asia the highest population growth rates have occurred in close proximity to volcanoes (within 10 km), whereas in Central America these are observed farther away (beyond 50 km), especially after 1990 and for Holocene volcanoes.
On the convergence of single-call stochastic extra-gradient methods

Variational inequalities have recently attracted considerable interest in machine learning as a flexible paradigm for models that go beyond ordinary loss function minimization (such as generative adversarial networks and related deep learning systems). In this setting, the optimal $\mathcal{O}(1/t)$ convergence rate for solving smooth monotone variational inequalities is achieved by the Extra-Gradient (EG) algorithm and its variants. Aiming to alleviate the cost of an extra gradient step per iteration (which can become quite substantial in deep learning applications), several algorithms have been proposed as surrogates to Extra-Gradient with a \emph{single} oracle call per iteration. In this paper, we develop a synthetic view of such algorithms, and we complement the existing literature by showing that they retain a $\mathcal{O}(1/t)$ ergodic convergence rate in smooth, deterministic problems. Subsequently, beyond the monotone deterministic case, we also show that the last iterate of single-call, \emph{stochastic} extra-gradient methods still enjoys a $\mathcal{O}(1/t)$ local convergence rate to solutions of \emph{non-monotone} variational inequalities that satisfy a second-order sufficient condition.
Effect of Rapid Changes of Solar Wind Conditions on the Pickup Ion Velocity Distribution

We performed the first systematic analysis of pickup ion (PUI) cutoff speed variations, across compression regions and due to fast fluctuations in solar wind (SW) speed and magnetic field strength. This study is motivated by the need to remove or correct for systematic effects on the determination of the interstellar flow longitude based on the longitudinal variation of the PUI cutoff. Using 2007–2014 STEREO A PLASTIC observations, we identified SW compression regions and accumulated the contained PUI velocity distributions in a superposed epoch analysis. The shift of the cutoff in velocity, interpreted as PUI energization, varies systematically across the compression region and increases approximately linearly with the speed gradient of the compression. Additionally, the shift remains positive into the negative speed gradient at the beginning of the rarefaction region. A similar response is found when PUI distributions are sorted according to the strength of fast fluctuations in SW speed, density, and magnetic field strength. These parameters remain high in the first part of the rarefaction region, suggesting a possible PUI energization through compressive turbulence. Based on these results, we removed the strongest compression regions from the interstellar flow analysis, finding no significant change in direction or uncertainty. Thus, we have revealed the influence of adiabatic compression and compressive turbulence, increasing the PUI cutoff energy, and we have demonstrated that the determination of the interstellar inflow direction via analysis of PUI distributions is robust for a multiyear data set, even in the presence of SW interaction regions.
Dynamics of bubbling wave maps with prescribed radiation

We study energy critical one-equivariant wave maps taking values in the two-sphere. It is known that any finite energy wave map that develops a singularity does so by concentrating the energy of (possibly) several copies of the ground state harmonic map at the origin. If only a single bubble of energy is concentrated, the solution decomposes into a dynamically rescaled harmonic map plus a term that accounts for the energy that radiates away from the singularity. In this paper, we construct blow up solutions by prescribing the radiative component of the map. In addition, we give a sharp classification of the dynamical blow up rate for every solution with this prescribed radiation.
Expansión del rango de distribución de Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 (Gastropoda) en la Argentina y su concordancia con modelos predictivos

Fil: Gutierrez Gregoric, Diego Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Division Zoologia Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina
Urban agriculture in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town: examining the linkages between urban gardeners and supporting actors

ABSTRACT Urban agriculture is an integral aspect of the urban food system in African cities. This is particularly so in Cape Town where despite frequent droughts and harsh physical conditions the activity has thrived largely as a result of the available organisational and material support to urban gardeners. While several supporting actors (e.g. government institutions and non-governmental organisations) provide various forms of assistance to urban gardeners in the Cape Flats, access to this support is little known. Moreover, there is limited knowledge on the level of coordination of activities among supporting actors in facilitating urban agriculture initiatives in the city. This study examines the linkages between urban gardeners and supporting actors in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. It is based on a mixed methods approach that employs questionnaire and in-depth interviews to gather information from urban gardeners and supporting officials. The findings show that the nature and strength of the linkages between urban gardeners and supporting actors are critical in determining urban gardening success. The findings also show that there is minimal cooperation among non-state actors operating in Mitchells Plain. Since the success of urban gardeners hinges on external support, there is a need for increased collaboration and partnership among supporting actors.
Ever since Adam and Eve: the Evolution of Human Sexuality

The late writer and humorist Frank Muir recounted the following tale. A vicar was preaching a sermon on the Ten Commandments. When he came to 'Thou shalt not steal', he noticed that a meek-looking man in the front row looked very anxious and uncomfortable. The vicar continued and, when he came to 'Thou shalt not commit adultery', the man in the front row suddenly looked very relieved. After the service the vicar was curious and asked the man about his strange reactions. 'Well, you see', came the reply, 'when you said "Thou shalt not steal" I thought someone had stolen my umbrella, but when you got to "Thou shalt not commit adultery", I remembered where I had left it. ' Adultery is but one of many topics featured by Malcolm Potts and Roger Short in Ever Since Adam and Evel-their simultaneously reflective, funny, sombre, and thoughtprovoking companion to human sexual behaviour. The outline was drafted on a paper napkin in a restaurant with the aim of creating a television series; curiously that never happened. The authors' mentor throughout life's sexual journey is Charles Darwin, biological evolution being the mirror via which the authors ponder milestones such as sexual intercourse, pregnancy, birth, growing up, ageing and death. So, pausing at adultery for a moment, what do we learn from a biological standpoint? First, that male and female forms represent different reproductive strategies. From the selfish perspective of spreading one's own genes,
MICROBIAL MONITORING OF SOIL AS ADDITIONAL TOOLS FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

The designation the primeval beech forests of the Carpathians as strictly protected areas is a continuing conflicting issue in Ukraine. As they represent an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibit the most complete and comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure, they can serve as indispensable reference areas for scientific research and monitoring. Microbiological investigations may be used as an additional tool for conservation practitioners to evaluate the anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems. A strict nonintervention management is required to protect virgin forests as a treasurer of bidiversity in Ukraine.
On Small Balanceable, Strongly-Balanceable and Omnitonal Graphs

Abstract In Ramsey Theory for graphs we are given a graph G and we are required to find the least n0 such that, for any n ≥ n0, any red/blue colouring of the edges of Kn gives a subgraph G all of whose edges are blue or all are red. Here we shall be requiring that, for any red/blue colouring of the edges of Kn, there must be a copy of G such that its edges are partitioned equally as red or blue (or the sizes of the colour classes differs by one in the case when G has an odd number of edges). This introduces the notion of balanceable graphs and the balance number of G which, if it exists, is the minimum integer bal(n, G) such that, for any red/blue colouring of E(Kn) with more than bal(n, G) edges of either colour, Kn will contain a balanced coloured copy of G as described above. The strong balance number sbal(n, G) is analogously defined when G has an odd number of edges, but in this case we require that there are copies of G with both one more red edge and one more blue edge. These parameters were introduced by Caro, Hansberg and Montejano. These authors also introduce the more general omnitonal number ot(n, G) which requires copies of G containing a complete distribution of the number of red and blue edges over E(G). In this paper we shall catalogue bal(n, G), sbal(n, G) and ot(n, G) for all graphs G on at most four edges. We shall be using some of the key results of Caro et al. which we here reproduce in full, as well as some new results which we prove here. For example, we shall prove that the union of two bipartite graphs with the same number of edges is always balanceable.
Dynamic Effects of Idiosyncratic Volatility and Liquidity on Corporate Bond Spreads

We study the dynamic impact of idiosyncratic volatility and bond liquidity on corporate bond spreads over time and empirically disentangle both effects. Using an extensive data set, we find that both idiosyncratic volatility and liquidity are critical mainly for the distress portfolios, i.e., low-rated and short-term bonds; for others only volatility matters. The effects of volatility and liquidity shocks on bond spreads were both exacerbated during the recent financial crisis. Liquidity shocks are quickly absorbed into bonds prices; however, volatility shocks are more persistent and have a long-term effect. Our results overall suggest significant differences between how volatility and liquidity dynamically impact bond spreads.
BRIDGE: Byzantine-Resilient Decentralized Gradient Descent

Machine learning has begun to play a central role in many applications. A multitude of these applications typically also involve datasets that are distributed across multiple computing devices/machines due to either design constraints or computational/privacy reasons. Such applications often require the learning tasks to be carried out in a decentralized fashion, in which there is no central server that is directly connected to all nodes. In real-world decentralized settings, nodes are prone to undetected failures due to malfunctioning equipment, cyberattacks, etc., which are likely to crash non-robust learning algorithms. The focus of this paper is on robustification of decentralized learning in the presence of nodes that have undergone Byzantine failures. The Byzantine failure model allows faulty nodes to arbitrarily deviate from their intended behaviors, thereby ensuring designs of the most robust of algorithms. But the study of Byzantine resilience within decentralized learning, in contrast to distributed learning, is still in its infancy. In particular, existing Byzantine-resilient decentralized learning methods either do not scale well to large-scale machine learning models, or they lack statistical convergence guarantees that help characterize their generalization errors. In this paper, a scalable, Byzantine-resilient decentralized machine learning framework termed Byzantine-resilient decentralized gradient descent (BRIDGE) is introduced. Algorithmic and statistical convergence guarantees are also provided in the paper for both strongly convex problems and a class of nonconvex problems. In addition, large-scale decentralized learning experiments are used to establish that the BRIDGE framework is scalable and it delivers competitive results for Byzantine-resilient convex and nonconvex learning.
Faces in a Cloud: Intersubjectivity in Personality Theory

In this new edition of their now classic work, George Atwood and Robert Stolorow explore the ways in which a theory of personality is influenced and colored by the subjective world of the theorist. Using psychobiographical analyses of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Wilhelm Reich, and Otto Rank as illustrations, the authors show how the central constructs of personality theories universalize their creators' personal solutions to the nuclear crises and dilemmas of their own life histories. Illuminating the subjective origins of a personality theory does not invalidate the theory, according to Atwood and Stolorow, but rather contributes to establishing the scope of the theory as well as its applicability to particular clinical situations. The first edition of Faces in a Cloud (published in 1979) was the seminal work out of which emerged the now influential theory of intersubjectivity - a framework that calls for a radical revision of all aspects of psychoanalytic thought. This revised edition incorporates significant new material into the psychobiographical analyses and has been completely updated and rewritten to reflect the development of the authors' viewpoint. The terminology used throughout the book to describe personal worlds of experience has been updated and refined in consonance with this contemporary theoretical perspective. The final chapter summarizes key aspects of this new perspective and offers reflections on the subjective origins of intersubjectivity theory itself.
On the Role of Reduced Air Density Along the Lightning Leader Path to Ground in Increasing X‐Ray Production Relative to Normal Atmospheric Conditions

Mallick et al. (2012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD017555) discovered that subsequent‐stroke leaders in natural negative lightning could be more prolific producers of hard X‐rays and gamma rays than the first‐stroke leader in the same flash. However, they had no optical records to confirm that their subsequent leaders followed the same path to ground as the first leader, as opposed to forging a new path to ground through cold air. In this paper, we present new observations, including optical data, showing that a second stroke produced more detectable X‐ray pulses than the first stroke, with both strokes following the same channel to ground. Additionally, we present data for the fifth stroke from a different flash, which show the occurrence of X‐ray emission at the onset of the common streamer zone between the hot channels of the downward negative dart‐stepped leader and upward positive connecting leader. However, there were no detectable X‐rays associated with negative leader steps.
Static creep of modified superpave asphalt concrete mixtures using crumb tire rubber, microcrystalline synthetic wax, and nano-silica

ABSTRACT This research investigates the effect of adding three different modifiers to laboratory-prepared Superpave asphalt concrete mixtures to evaluate their ability to strengthen and reinforce asphalt concrete mixtures and improve their rutting resistance. The three used modifiers were Crumb Tire Rubber (CTR), Microcrystalline Synthetic Wax (MSW), and Nano Silica (NS). The CTR, MSW, and NS modifiers were added at their optimum contents determined previously which were 12%, 2%, and 5% by weight of asphalt binder, respectively. Asphalt concrete mixtures were tested at two temperature levels; 40°C and 55°C, and were compacted at two compactive efforts to simulate high and low levels of traffic with N des = 119 and 82, respectively. Static creep test was used to evaluate the effect of changing modifier type, temperature, and compactive effort on creep properties and rutting potential of modified mixtures through studying five creep parameters. These parameters were accumulated axial micro-strain, creep stiffness, steady state creep slope, creep compliance, and creep compliance parameters. Results revealed that all the used modifiers had improved mixture performance. It was found that CTR modified mixtures had the best performance at high temperature level, while NS modified mixtures showed the best performance at medium temperatures. Moreover, it was found that lower temperatures and higher compactive efforts increase mixture stiffness and decrease deformation and their rutting potential. Statistical analysis was carried out and regression models were developed for the prediction of stiffness modulus, accumulated axial micro-strain, and steady state creep slope as a function of modifier type (MT), testing temperature (Temp) and compactive effort (CE). Models yielded relatively high coefficients of determination (R 2) and adjusted R 2, indicating their ability in explaining much of the variability in the response variables.
A General Analysis Framework of Lower Complexity Bounds for Finite-Sum Optimization

This paper studies the lower bound complexity for the optimization problem whose objective function is the average of $n$ individual smooth convex functions. We consider the algorithm which gets access to gradient and proximal oracle for each individual component. For the strongly-convex case, we prove such an algorithm can not reach an $\varepsilon$-suboptimal point in fewer than $\Omega((n+\sqrt{\kappa n})\log(1/\varepsilon))$ iterations, where $\kappa$ is the condition number of the objective function. This lower bound is tighter than previous results and perfectly matches the upper bound of the existing proximal incremental first-order oracle algorithm Point-SAGA. We develop a novel construction to show the above result, which partitions the tridiagonal matrix of classical examples into $n$ groups. This construction is friendly to the analysis of proximal oracle and also could be used to general convex and average smooth cases naturally.